# Digital & IT Stack — Retail & Consumer Goods

_Last updated: 2026-06-05_

## Typical retail tech stack

- **ERP/SCM:** SAP S/4HANA, Oracle Retail, Microsoft D365 SCM — majority of large retailers on SAP or Oracle [unsourced]
- **Commerce platform:** Salesforce Commerce Cloud, SAP Commerce Cloud, Adobe Commerce (Magento), VTEX, homegrown [unsourced]
- **POS:** NCR Voyix, Toshiba TCx, Verifone; increasingly cloud-based POS; Microsoft D365 Commerce POS is a challenger [unsourced]
- **Data/analytics platform:** Databricks, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, AWS Redshift — Microsoft Fabric is the challenger [unsourced]
- **CRM/CDP:** Salesforce CRM, Adobe Experience Platform, Segment, mParticle [unsourced]
- **AI/ML platform:** AWS SageMaker/Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Azure AI Foundry — the key competitive battleground [unsourced]
- **Supply chain planning:** Blue Yonder (Panasonic), o9 Solutions, Kinaxis, Oracle SCM [unsourced]
- **Loss prevention:** Sensormatic (Johnson Controls), Checkpoint Systems; computer vision startups (Verkada, Focal Systems) [unsourced]
- **WMS:** Manhattan Associates, Blue Yonder WMS, Oracle WMS, HighJump [unsourced]

## AI/ML use cases in retail (2025-2026)

- **Demand forecasting:** ML-based replenishment replacing statistical/rules-based models [unsourced]
- **Dynamic pricing:** Real-time pricing optimization based on competitor prices, inventory, demand signals [unsourced]
- **Personalization/recommendations:** Next-best-offer, search ranking, product discovery — vector search is key [unsourced]
- **Associate copilots:** Gen AI for store associates (product lookup, customer Q&A, training) — Magic Apron (THD) is a live Azure reference [unsourced]
- **Computer vision:** Self-checkout loss prevention, planogram compliance, age verification, queue management [unsourced]
- **Customer service chatbots:** Order status, product guidance, B2B account management deflection [unsourced]
- **Revenue Growth Management (CPG):** Trade promotion optimization, pack-price architecture, mix modeling [unsourced]
- **Document processing:** Invoice automation, vendor contract analysis, EDI modernization [unsourced]

## Cloud adoption landscape in retail

- Most large retailers are AWS-primary or multi-cloud; Azure is gaining share [unsourced]
- **Azure strengths:** M365/Teams already deployed at most large retailers; D365 footprint at some accounts; Cloud for Retail accelerators; AOAI GPT-4o access
- **GCP strengths:** BigQuery for analytics, Looker, Vertex AI — strong in data/analytics-heavy retailers; Google's retail DNA (Recommendations AI, Vision AI for retail)
- **AWS strengths:** Broadest service catalog, largest partner ecosystem, AWS Retail Competency; Amazon's own retail operational expertise

## Microsoft AI Business Process product surface in Retail/CG

_Alec's role is AI Business Process SE. The table below is scoped to his solution area. Azure infrastructure plays (AI Foundry, Fabric, GitHub Copilot) are flagged as out-of-role — hand to Azure STU SE._

| MS Product (In-Role) | Retail/CG Use Case | Competes With |
|---|---|---|
| **D365 Commerce** | Unified commerce — POS + e-comm + call center on one data model | Salesforce Commerce Cloud, SAP Commerce Cloud, Adobe Commerce |
| **D365 SCM** | Supply chain, inventory, procurement, demand planning | SAP S/4HANA SCM, Oracle Retail SCM, Blue Yonder |
| **D365 Customer Service** | Omnichannel customer service, AI agent deflection, case management | Salesforce Service Cloud, Genesys, Verint, ServiceNow |
| **D365 Field Service** | Pro contractor job management, DSD route service, technician dispatch | ServiceNow Field Service, Salesforce Field Service, SAP FSM |
| **D365 Finance** | Retail/CPG financial operations, landed cost, trade promotion accruals | SAP S/4HANA Finance, Oracle Financials |
| **D365 Sales** | B2B sales (Staples Business Advantage), route sales for Coke bottlers | Salesforce Sales Cloud, SAP Sales Cloud |
| **Customer Insights (D365)** | CDP — unified customer profile, segmentation, loyalty analytics | Salesforce Data Cloud, Adobe Experience Platform, Segment |
| **Copilot Studio** | Associate copilot, customer chatbot, B2B self-service agent | Amazon Lex, Google CCAI, Salesforce Agentforce, ServiceNow |
| **Power Apps** | Associate mobile tools, store ops, field workflows, B2B portals | ServiceNow, Mendix, OutSystems, custom dev |
| **Power Automate** | Business process automation, invoice processing, EDI, approval flows | SAP Business Technology Platform, UiPath, Automation Anywhere |
| **Power BI** | Retail analytics, RGM dashboards, trade promotion reporting | Tableau (Salesforce), Qlik, Looker (GCP), SAP Analytics Cloud |
| **Microsoft 365 Copilot** | Associate + corporate worker productivity | Google Workspace, Slack, ServiceNow Now Assist |
| **Microsoft Sustainability Manager** | ESG/Scope 3 reporting, packaging compliance | Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, SAP Sustainability |

**Out-of-role (hand to Azure STU SE):**
| MS Product (Out-of-Role) | Why Out-of-Role |
|---|---|
| Azure AI Foundry / AOAI | Infrastructure AI — Azure STU SE owns |
| Microsoft Fabric | Data lakehouse / analytics engineering — Azure STU SE owns |
| GitHub Copilot | Dev productivity — Azure STU SE owns |
| Azure AI Search | Infrastructure search platform — Azure STU SE owns |
| Azure Computer Vision | Infrastructure CV — Azure STU SE owns |