Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP Solution Now Available to Retail

This past week, Microsoft Dynamics AX for the retail industry made its public release. The ERP solution is currently available in 16 markets, including North America, parts of Europe, and parts of Asia; in the coming months, the product will be expanded to 22 additional markets.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is intended for midsized specialty retailers. It offers functionalities for point of sale, store management, supply chain management, merchandising, business analytics, and customer service. The ERP product operates in role-defined user interfaces that provide different application overviews based on the user’s employee role in the company. It also fully integrates with other Microsoft solutions and services.

An example of Microsoft Dynamic AX retail-specific function is managing loyalty points campaigns. At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in July, a demonstration showed how loyalty points earned by customers could be totaled by a touch screen or card swipe, which is immediately recognized in the retailer’s ERP system.

In order to address these challenges, retailers need to adopt what we call a “Connected Experience for Retail,” said Michael Griffiths, Global Directory of Product Management in a Microsoft press release. “Connected is the ability to capture customer information at the point of sale and have it populate in real time at headquarters and across the entire chain of stores to be acted upon immediately; Connected is the store associate who can provide real time visibility to a customer about product availability and location – helping build loyalty and differentiated service; Connected is a RoleTailored user experience for each employee optimized to drive speed of service, reduce training times, and drive organizational efficiency. Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail offers all of this and more out of the box. It’s more than another retail solution – it’s a new philosophy in how to deliver a retail solution, reduce complexity, and address the pain that retailers have been feeling for a long time.”

Griffiths also noted that Microsoft partners, “including Aldata, Columbus IT, Avanade, Tectura Corp., Maginus, Ideaca, and the Microsoft Dynamics Retail partner of the year, Junction Solutions,” have already met with success in deploying the ERP application for retail businesses.

Tags: Microsoft Dynamics AX