Sydney – 17 March 2016: Telstra innovations, enabled by Microsoft’s Windows 10, are bringing the digital and physical retail worlds together for Australian customers like never before.
In a transformation that is already delivering strong customer and business benefits in its Sydney and Melbourne Discovery stores, Telstra is aiming to redefine the role of the physical store, creating a unique seamless buying experience for customers. With a goal of making interactions simple, fast and personal – when, where and how the customer chooses, Telstra has introduced a highly interactive and engaging retail experience.
A key part of the solution was the use of Windows 10 and the Universal Windows App Platform which allowed Telstra to develop and deploy engaging adaptable content and applications across a broad range of devices and displays throughout the store. This helps put the customer at the centre of the store experience, enabling them to browse, test, learn and compare products and services as they make their purchasing decisions. By using the new solution, Telstra has seen 40% of customers who interact digitally in store continue their interaction online.
“Last year, we saw more than half our service transactions were digital, which has given us the opportunity to think big and redefine the role of our physical stores,” said Telstra’s Director of Retail Operations, Andrew Smith.
Built on Windows 10, Microsoft Surface and other Windows 10 devices and developed with Telstra’s partner Engagis, the solution has enabled Telstra to offer innovations such as “tap and take” cards, which use near field communications (NFC) to help customers build a personalised digital brochure by simply tapping the card on their selected product or service on digital kiosks in store.
Each card has a unique code which enables the customer to access their personalised information online, review and consider products and complete the transaction at their leisure. This provides a seamless experience for the customer as they switch between in store and online shopping. Telstra leverages Microsoft’s Power BI business analytics tool to analyse customer traffic and offer a better mix of products.
To date, the solution has been deployed in six Telstra stores, including its flagship Sydney and Melbourne Discovery stores, and will be an important part of the new retail environment in its wider retail network over the next few years.
In that environment, Telstra store teams plan to also using Surface devices to replace desktop PCs, allowing for products to be searched and payments to be processed and receipted from anywhere in the store without having to return to a dedicated point of sale area. Over the next few years, Telstra intends to roll out more than 5,000 Surface devices across its store network.
“With these customer experience and system improvements, our aim is to reduce the average wait times for customers to around three minutes. This will enable us to drive more sales, serve more customers and importantly, improve their in store experience with us,” said Smith.
“Windows 10 is a great platform for helping our people use small and large devices to be faster, more efficient and provide that seamless customer experience we’re aiming for,” he added.
Evan Williams, Microsoft Australia’s Business Group Lead Windows & Devices, said the exciting development was another example of how Windows 10 is empowering retailers to embrace digital transformation in today’s multichannel retail environment.
“The cloud and digital experiences are profoundly changing the way both businesses and customers interact,” he said. “Forward-thinking companies like Telstra are embracing that change by understanding and adopting the possibilities provided by technology to improve the end-to-end customer experience – from consideration to buy and use. “Windows 10, the Surface devices and Microsoft’s Power BI open up a world of exciting opportunity through interaction, analysis and insight to deliver personal, seamless, and differentiated customer experiences.”
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