# Store Operations & In-Store Technology

_Last updated: 2026-08-03_

## Store tech stack overview

- **POS:** NCR Voyix, Toshiba TCx, Verifone (payment terminals); cloud POS emerging (D365 Commerce POS) [unsourced]
- **Self-checkout:** Increasing penetration across all large-format retail; AI-augmented loss prevention now required alongside [unsourced]
- **Digital shelf labels (ESL):** Replacing paper price tags; real-time pricing updates — TJX high-value use case [unsourced]
- **RFID:** Item-level inventory tracking; strong in apparel and home goods (TJX, HomeGoods) [unsourced]
- **Computer vision:** Loss prevention, planogram compliance, queue management — Azure AI Vision is the MS play [unsourced]
- **Associate mobile apps:** Handheld devices for receiving, inventory lookup, customer service [unsourced]
- **Task management:** Digital task dispatch for associates — Power Apps / Microsoft Teams Shifts opportunity [unsourced]

## Named account store ops highlights

- **THD:** Magic Apron — AOAI-powered assistant for store associates and customers; 2,300 stores, ~500K associates; live Azure reference [unsourced]
- **Lowe's:** AI-powered perpetual inventory using computer vision/AI; associate mobile tools; Lowe's Vision Store smart store prototype [unsourced]
- **Staples:** ~1,000 US stores increasingly serving as B2B fulfillment hubs; associate tools for B2B order fulfillment critical [unsourced]
- **TJX:** 4,900 global stores; high-velocity receiving and pricing; treasure-hunt experience requires rapid assortment changes — associate tools for speed are key [unsourced]

## Key in-store AI use cases

- **Associate copilot:** AOAI-powered product knowledge and task assistant — THD Magic Apron is the live reference. POC motion at Lowe's (deepen), Staples, TJX [unsourced]
- **Computer vision — loss prevention:** Detecting sweethearting at self-checkout, cart analysis at exit, ORC (organized retail crime) detection [unsourced]
- **Computer vision — planogram compliance:** Automated shelf audit vs. target planogram image — relevant at THD, Lowe's [unsourced]
- **Demand sensing:** In-store sensor data + external signals for real-time shelf replenishment triggers [unsourced]
- **Queue management:** Computer vision for checkout queue prediction, associate dispatch [unsourced]
- **Energy management:** Azure IoT + smart building integration for store energy cost reduction (big-box stores = massive energy consumers) [unsourced]

## SE play surface

- **Azure OpenAI / Copilot Studio:** Associate copilot (Magic Apron reference POC) — pitch at Lowe's, TJX, Staples
- **Azure AI Vision / Computer Vision:** Loss prevention, planogram audit, queue management — displacing Sensormatic/Checkpoint proprietary systems
- **Microsoft D365 Commerce POS:** Cloud POS displacing NCR Voyix/Toshiba where legacy POS is aging
- **Power Apps:** Low-code associate mobile apps (receiving, inventory lookup, task management, floor moves)
- **Microsoft Teams + Viva (Frontline Workers):** Shift scheduling, task management, walkie-talkie for store associates
- **Azure IoT Hub:** In-store sensor aggregation — cold chain for Coca-Cola DSD delivery points, energy management for big-box