Microsoft Dynamics for Retail shows off new partnerships, customers, AX roadmap alignment

At this week's NRF's annual BIG show, Microsoft will be showcasing Dynamics for Retail's expanding capabilities, new customer stories, and new partnerships. The product remains aligned with the latest releases of Dynamics AX, meaning it will enjoy enhancements in transportation, logistics, and warehouse management that are planned for AX 2012 R3 later in 2014.

Features of the Dynamics for Retail spring 2014 release, in conjunction with AX 2012 R3, focus on both customer relationship and supply chain management. They include new call center features for responding to customers, updated point of sale, and new transportation capabilities.

The Microsoft presence at the retail event this week will feature reference customers like Delta Air Lines, Jean Coutu, and Ashley Furniture. The company will also highlight new partnerships with Vantiv Inc. (payment processing) and Sitecore (customer experience management), as well as an expanded relationship with IBM.

The updated IBM partnership will add AX 2012 R3 for retail and distribution in IBM's enterprise retail solutions group. The relationship also includes plans for IBM to develop and deploy "differentiated intellectual property" based on the Microsoft software, according to a statement.

The Vantiv relationship will combine payment processing with scenarios like usage of Dynamics for Retail's mobile POS, hardware like the Surface 2, and selling through a retailer's own sales force to create interesting mobile scenarios, says Michael Griffiths, Microsoft's global product industry director for retail and distribution. It will help Dynamics for Retail "cover any scenario at any scale in the mobile space," from mobile payment collection to retail store operations, he said.

E-commerce remains an important channel for Dynamics for Retail, Griffiths says. ...