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Building management optimization in the retail industry

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There are many moving parts in the retail industry. From customer movement to the status of products and store devices, it's important for you as a retailer to understand your retail space. This understanding can help you provide innovative customer experiences and optimize in-store operations.

Business outcomes of building management

Real-time data from in-store sensors and IoT beacon technology empowers retailers to create a smart, connected store environment and optimize building management. These technologies make it possible to track everything from store occupancy and checkout line patterns, to energy usage and maintenance needs.

The real-time observational data gives retailers the opportunity to:

  • Make informed decisions. You can harness real-time analytics and alerts about energy usage and warehouse operations.
  • Improve marketing ROI. You can optimize store space to enhance your ability to target and increase advertising and marketing efficiency.
  • Provide optimal shopping experiences. Improve customer experiences by triggering alerts based on real-time data from video cameras, beacon technology, and IoT sensors.
  • Reduce energy costs. Increase the efficiency of store and warehouse operations by applying analytics and AI. Visualize data for quicker decision making.

Building management optimization challenges

Many retail establishments lack visibility into physical assets, such as security cameras, shelves, lighting, and equipment. This limitation impacts store performance and profitability.

There are challenges that you must navigate as a result.

  • The inability to determine the store's busiest cash register. This problem makes it difficult to optimize customer flow for all registers.
  • The lack of visibility into occupancy levels inhibits the ability to comply with social distancing requirements.
  • The inability to effectively monitor energy consumption negatively impacts efforts to manage costs and advance sustainability initiatives.

Retailers must embrace advances in analytics, AI, IoT, and other technologies to overcome these challenges and join forces with the right technology partner.

How Microsoft helps optimize building management

As a trusted technology partner, Microsoft works with retailers to build the future technology for the industry. Our building management optimization offerings apply advances to help you make more informed decisions and improve customer experiences.

Azure offerings for building management

Azure offerings support your efforts to optimize building management.

  • Connect the retail environment: Connect physical retail environments with IoT sensors and mixed reality to create a stream of data inputs.

  • Collect and ingest data: Collect and ingest data from input sources using Azure App Service, Azure Functions, and Azure Event Hubs.

  • Store data: Store data in Azure Data Lake.

  • Create virtual replicas of physical retail spaces: Create digital models of stores using Azure Spatial Anchors and Azure Digital Twins. These models offer insights that drive optimized operations, reduced costs, and breakthrough customer experiences.

  • Visualize customer and store data: Integrate with Power BI to visualize customer preference, store performance, equipment maintenance, and advertising data in real time.

Building management optimization success stories

Discover how Starbucks used technology to brew up a more personal connection with its customers.

See how Coop Italia is creating the supermarket of the future.

Next steps

The following articles can guide your cloud adoption journey and help you succeed in the cloud adoption scenario for the retail industry.