Microsoft Corp. recently announced a major support upgrade, clearer road maps and a new financing option for its Dynamics range of business applications.

On the support side, Microsoft will offer five years of extended support beyond the five-year mainstream support period for its CRM (customer relationship management), ERP (enterprise resource planning) and retail management products.

"Ten years in this industry is quite a long time," said Kirill Tatarinov, a vice president in Microsoft's division that deals with business applications, who introduced the program during a keynote speech at Convergence 2007.

The plan, called Business Ready Customer Care, means customers won't necessarily be forced to upgrade. The price of the support will vary according to what software the customer has.

"We don't want customers to upgrade on our timeline," said Barb Edson, senior marketing director for Microsoft's Dynamics products. Tatarinov said customers who still don't want to move to a new version of a Dynamics product can also buy custom support for older versions, which will extend support beyond 10 years.

Microsoft has also extended its premier support service to Dynamics. The service includes 24-hour technical support and can accommodate on-site visits. Microsoft's Dynamics line includes the ERP programs AX, GP, NAV and SL; its CRM application, and its Retail Management Solution products.

In another announcement, Tatarinov said the company will release a new version of its Dynamics products every two years, with a feature or service pack every year or so. He also said Microsoft will publish documents that give a clear road map of its forthcoming products up to 18 months in advance.

On the financing side, Microsoft is adding a new financing plan that lets customers make fixed, regular payments for software under its Total Solution Financing program. That program is now in 14 countries and will be expanded to others.

Source: Microsoft

Back in August of 2007 Retail Hero “Extra” brought you a story about Visa “contactless” payments that were going through trial runs in Europe. This wireless communication technology allows a cardholder using a contactless chip card to exchange payment information securely between the card and an EMV card acceptance terminal. Well now in Dayton Ohio, the NCR Corporation in partnership with ViVOtech has introduced a suite of contactless payment terminals for the point of sale (POS). These solutions enable mobile and contactless payment at a variety of customer touch points, including retail checkout, restaurant drive-thru and the diner’s table.

Executives attending the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention & Expo, Jan. 13-16, in New York, will be able to see demonstrations of the NCR RealPOS™ contactless payment readers in the NCR booth (No. 1327).

“NCR’s unparalleled experience in payment transactions, combined with ViVOtech’s expertise in contactless technology, provides retailers with the latest contactless payment options and a platform for future near field communication (NFC) applications,” said Greg Egan, NCR vice president for Retail Assisted Service Solutions. “This line of NCR RealPOS contactless readers is designed to help merchants achieve a successful contactless and mobile payments program, and provide a new level of service to their customers.”

The NCR RealPOS contactless payment products are compatible with a variety of other NCR solutions including NCR RealPOS workstations, NCR EasyPoint™ kiosks and NCR FastLane™ self-checkouts, in addition to NCR and partner POS software applications.

To maximize retailers’ investments, NCR contactless solutions are supported by NCR’s global services team, which offers a portfolio of services – including consulting, deployment, integration, hosting and support – to meet individual retailer needs.

Despite a fast-evolving and competitive international market, leading Canadian retailers are thriving. But Canada's retailers must stay ahead of their competitors, both global and domestic, if they are to protect their markets and foster sustainable growth.

The holy grail for Canadian retailers is sustainable growth strategies. Companies large and small are battling for market share on a global scale, and there will be increasing polarization between retailers of all sizes struggling to boost profit margins throughout 2008. In this climate, the ability to predict and act on growth opportunities is the key to survival.

Understanding how to respond to these trends will be critical to making the strategic decisions that will drive future growth. Here then, are six key issues that can help retailers drive sustainable growth.

1. New market entrants will force increased productivity.
Canada is a diamond mine for foreign retailers. Where new entrants can't buy, they will build more stores to capitalize on their strong economies of scale, branding and technologies. More U.S. companies are expected to cross the border in 2008. And let's not forget the competition between Wal-Mart's new Supercenters and the superstores of the Loblaw chain. Because Canadian retail productivity growth has significantly lagged its U.S. counterparts for the past 15 years, capital investments, process change and innovation are imperative if homegrown retailers are to survive the competition.

2. Technology will be at the epicenter of retail success.
Technology will be critical to helping Canadian retailers manage costs and inventories. Continuous improvements in supply chain management (improving shorter cycle times) and technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID), will be faced by all CIOs in retail. In addition to back-end technology support, a focus on innovative technology to support the storefront is on the rise. Self-checkouts, customer relationship management tools and marketing technologies all support and track target customers, providing retailers with vital information about the consumer.

3. E-commerce is a huge missed opportunity.
Canadian retailers are lagging behind their U.S. counterparts in Internet sales. Recently, Canada's e-commerce readiness dropped to the lowest ranking of developed countries, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Surprisingly, the largest impediment to developing e-commerce capability is inertia. Many retailers, including clothing, food and beverage, and electronics and furniture operators, believe they are not well suited to the Internet. This is simply not true. A number of successful models — Future Shop, La Senza, and even food retailer Grocery Gateway — offer proof that there is opportunity for growth online.

4. The Canadian shopper is more complex.
The Canadian consumer is older, time pressured, connected to the Internet, discerning, and focused on his or her well-being. Canadians are far more complex for retailers to serve than U.S. shoppers; this is due to demographic factors, such as high levels of cultural diversity and changing family dynamics. What does all this mean? A one-size-fits-all shopping experience no longer applies. Plus, Canadians' expectations about quality for the price paid are rising. Retailers will need to respond with sophisticated product lifecycle management.

5. Improved customer service and personalized marketing represent growth opportunities.
Canadians value good customer service. Unfortunately, up to 26% of Canadians say they've noticed a slight decline in the quality of service they've received, according to an AC Nielsen survey. Savvy Canadian retailers should differentiate themselves with strong experiential branding. For instance, retailers could provide a compelling shopping experience with improved customer service or with effective use of personalized direct marketing. It is anticipated that consumers will expect further personalization of marketing campaign management and communication.

6. Green retailers will add green to the bottom line.  
In late 2005, Wal-Mart unveiled a plan to boost energy efficiency, cut down on waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, signifying an important trend. Long-term, sustainable green strategies can actually result in savings for companies over the long run, net more sales from scrupulous consumers, and prevent consumer backlash by activists. Shoppers increasingly want clean, energy-efficient products, and they will respond positively to companies that are good stewards of the environment.

Source: Canadian Retail Association