Microsoft on the Frontline: Retail Intelligence in Action Part 2

0:11Ron Thurston:Hi everyone, this is Ron Thurston and this is Voices from the Frontline AI in Action, a limited three-part series in partnership with Microsoft. Today we're coming to you from the Microsoft Experience Center in the heart of New York City, a space that's more than just a store. It's where technology and humanity meet. When most people think of a store like this, they picture a space full of beautiful devices and incredible technology. But what makes this space really special is what happens behind the scenes. This is where innovation meets execution, where technology quietly powers connection, collaboration, and creativity for every associate and every customer.

0:55Ron Thurston:So in this next part of the series, we're taking you behind the counter to see how Microsoft tools like Dynamics 365 and Copilot and Teams work together in real time, making every experience seamless, human, and unforgettable. So let's go check it out. So Jasmine, we are approaching here your Xbox Gear Shop, which is really where a lot of customers come in. When you talk about an experience center, Xbox is such an important part of Microsoft's and what you do here. So part of our goal for this segment is to really understand how you use technology to understand inventory and run a request and such.

1:41Ron Thurston:But let's start with how do you experience this floor? So when we're talking to a customer, maybe they're interested in buying an Xbox for the first time or for a family member, a friend, a gift. Sure. We really start with asking those questions because I always tell my new hires, if you're the one that's doing all the talking, you're not doing it right. You want the customer to give you the answers to those questions, right? Because they're the ones that know what they really want, right? So when it comes to the consoles themselves, we have quite a few options in store to our customers for purchase.

2:12So part of our job is explaining those options to them, especially if they're new to Xbox and maybe don't know what's available. So here we have a few examples. This is our Xbox Series X, and we actually have a Doom wrap over it. So if any customers want to express love for maybe their favorite game, they're a huge fan of the brand of Doom. We also have some Call of Duty options in store. They're actually able to customize some of their Xbox options.

2:39Ron Thurston:Nice. In terms of specifications, we also have Series Xs with two terabytes of storage. We have Series Ss, which is a smaller console that started 512. So it's our job to really gear that conversation and see what the customer's needs fit when it comes to a console. Because there's so many options. So many options. And you also have the whole history of Xbox here, like a museum on this base, which is great. Because we love our fans, right? So let's jump to technology. So I'm ready. You've asked me all the questions. I know what I want to get. What's next? So what's next is I actually have my work device here.

3:17I use a mobile phone to access Teams and any other information I need throughout the day. And on here, I actually have a runner chat. So I can directly input a message saying, Hey, I need an Xbox 2TB Galaxy Edition on floor 2. The chat itself is called LiveRequest. Okay. So I will put the at symbol and then live request.

3:39Ron Thurston:Okay. Because, you know, we're mixing people downstairs throughout the day. So we never really know who specifically may be in the basement running product. So that way, anyone who's down there will get a ping saying that a request has come in. They can put a like message on it saying that they've acknowledged the request. So easy. Yep. And then run the product though. Okay. Simple as that. Simple as that. So integrating this for any other enterprise, retailer, hospitality business, anyone that has any kind of request could easily integrate this with Teams, it sounds like. We have a live request and we also have our on-hand inventory channel.

4:15I can check what our inventory or stock levels are like. So if I have a device that's out of stock, I can check to see what is in stock. Maybe I have the same specs in a different color. If the customer prefers color over power, maybe I have something in a different power option, but they get the color that they want. So I have it already available to me. So that way I don't have to stop and talk to someone that's in the inventory downstairs, having them run around, looking to see what's available.

4:43Ron Thurston:Or you've left me here by myself to wander around. I don't know where you are. And then so I've just I've left the building. Exactly. So it keeps me interacting with the customer. So that way they don't feel abandoned. They don't feel like the conversation's over. they don't know what steps to take next. I'm there with you 100 % of the time. Nice. And so you put in the request. Yep, I put in the request. It's going to show up here any minute. I have a like. Oh wait, I think I see Kofi here coming with our Xbox. Hello. Got your Xbox for this. Great. Okay. So excited. So now we have your Xbox. Okay.

5:13Two terabyte Galaxy edition. Yes. And from here with the customer, the way our gear shop is laid out, we have a lot of the the accessories already here. So if the customer needs an additional controller, headset, whatever the case is, they can pick out anything here. And then we can move this over to our POS system.

5:32Ron Thurston:So we don't have to go back downstairs. We don't have to do anything else. We're just gonna stop right here. Everything is local to the floor. Okay. So from here, I can pull out my POS. I scan your Xbox, maybe got controller, couple months of game pass, finish the transaction, bag it up, and you're free to go. unless you want to stay and hang out with us some more. Which, of course we would. We also love that. Yeah, amazing. Thank you. So it sounds very easy to use, sounds like easy to set up, right? Easy to integrate and can work then with any kind of inventory levels for anyone to just someone that's already using Microsoft tools could get this up and running pretty quickly.

6:10In a matter of minutes.

6:10Ron Thurston:In a matter of minutes.

6:15Ron Thurston:So, Jasmine, One of the things that must be incredibly busy all the time here in the Microsoft Experience Center is the answer desk. People come in for answers. They have questions. They want to learn new things. They want to understand co-pilot. So tell me about the answer desk, and then I'm going to have you book me an appointment for my Surface. I would love to. Great. So for booking an appointment with the Experience Center, there are a few ways to do that. Okay. People can find us directly online at Microsoft.com. Okay. Or when they come into the Experience Center, we have a few ways of getting them in for an appointment.

6:49They are QR codes scattered throughout the space. So that way, if anyone has a smartphone on them, they're able to directly scan the QR code and book an appointment on their own. And that connects directly through Dynamics 365, so we can manage it on the back end.

7:05Ron Thurston:And what do most people come in for? A wide variety of things. As far as what we service, it could be technical support on a Surface device or any Windows device. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Surface. It could be M365 and doesn't have to be even a Windows device. It could also be a business consultation for anyone who's looking to start a business, as well as something we recently introduced called a Discover More. Oh, what's that? That is along the lines of a personal training where if someone wanted to come in and learn about something new, like Copilot, will actually sit down with them and walk them through how to get started with that.

7:40Ron Thurston:Amazing. And what kind of things do they want to learn generally? So generally, because we are public facing, it's, hey, I keep hearing about this thing called Copilot. I know it has something to do with AI. How do I get started? What does it even do? What can it do for me? And those are the peeling the onion moments where we sit the customer down, talk about what their day-to-day is, and we have to tailor their experience to where they can not only use ColdPilot, but use it to better their everyday experiences and make them more productive. So I'm coming in with my Surface. I think maybe something's going on with it.

8:15Ron Thurston:I have questions. What do I do? Absolutely. Well, first, if you don't have an appointment, I'll get one booked for you. And once you are booked in, I'll take you to the answer desk and we'll start your appointment process. So I'll walk you through our work authorization form, get your device details, and then we'll start troubleshooting your issue. Now, there's a few ways we can go about that. Normally, it would have to be someone is highly technically skilled or has knowledge base on the issue at hand. But now what we've done is with a co-pilot agent, I'm able to assist my new hires that we talked about earlier in diagnosing your device by asking co-pilot, what are some troubleshooting steps I can take to resolve this issue?

8:53Okay. And the great thing about using this agent is once the appointment has concluded, we can actually have it write our closing notes for us, which is something that can take a long time depending on how complex the issue was or maybe how easy it was. But since the agent has already gathered the information based on what I told it on what your issue is, it'll just instantly write the closing notes.

9:17Ron Thurston:Like create the notes for the service that I'm having. One of the most important parts about the series is understanding how AI positively impacts the frontline experience. And part of the frontline experience is to make sure you understand everything about the customer. And maybe in this part of the conversation, it's about seeing all of the history of their notes. And how do you prevent a customer from needing to tell their story again and again and again, to your point of like, no one wants to do that. So how do we make sure that you've got everything at your fingertips to give the best experience possible?

9:53Well, when we do see an appointment description, it can range from something very broad, as if I don't really know what my issue is, but I have an issue, or it can be very descriptive. Prior to an appointment coming in, we're actually able to go into Dynamics and have co-pilots summarize their appointment history for us. So we can build that story prior to the customer coming in so that they're not equally frustrated and having to repeat the same conversation over and over again.

10:26Ron Thurston:So Jasmine, there's a lot of conversation about Copilot. We've talked about it in every conversation I've had here in the Microsoft Experience Center. tell me about Copilot and how you use it here on the front line to help you be more efficient. I'd love to. So one of my most recent examples is actually onboarding a few new hires. So normally the way we would go about training is we have a SharePoint site, we call it Store Portal, and it houses all of the knowledge regarding anything operational in the Experience Center. The issue with that is that it's a lot of clicking, especially for someone coming new to the company.

11:04So what we've done is using Copilot, we're now able to have a SharePoint agent that can scan through the entire website and help our new hires in learning any new processes. They're actually able to ask the Copilot agent, hey, can you tell me this process and procedures again? And not only will the Copilot agent find where the file is, it'll actually give them the overview and the steps on how to complete that process. We can ask it simple questions like, hey, I forgot a process and procedure for returns. Remind me again. Give me a refresher on how I can do that. Or I can say, I saw an announcement last week.

11:41There was a training that needed to get done by the end of December, but it's not there anymore. Can you tell me more about that?

11:48Ron Thurston:Okay. So it's a very great tool in staying on top of any information. Tell me about you and you kind of training your own agent. What does that mean within Copilot? So for me using Copilot, working in the event space, it can get very hectic, especially during certain times of the year. We're doing 10 plus events in a month. So with me, when emails are just coming in, I'm trying to help customers on the sales floor, but I'm also trying to get back to my other customers online in a timely manner. It really helps me in keeping myself organized by reading through my unread emails, making sure I'm on point with my events calendar, that all the information is there.

12:28It correlates. It's ready to go. And if I'm missing anything, Copilot will actually help me make my event strategy better. So it's been very much a time saver and has helped me definitely keep on track.

12:42Ron Thurston:Because 10 events a month, over 100 a year, is a lot of events. And so you're right. The consistency. I'm sure every request is its own unique story that's being told. Of course. So using an assist like Copilot should really help you. It could be a podcast. It could be a gaming event, it could be an enterprise showcase, it can even be a business consultation if we schedule them in advance. So there's a lot that goes into play when we're planning all these events in the space. What about learning just new updates and new things that are happening here at Microsoft? How do you use Copilot? Just training the team.

13:17So when we're learning new things with Copilot, the biggest thing now is actually agents. So we've actually tried building our own agents to help make our day-to-day lives a little more efficient. I actually built one for our answer desk support downstairs. So there's a few things that incorporates. It can show our employees. We call it a front of house process. So let's say step by step. It tells them you need to get this. We call it a WAF, work authorization form. Customers have to sign it for every single appointment. These are the pieces of information you need to make sure you have in every single WAF.

13:50And this is the information you need to have for every single device. that way for a new person coming in. Or maybe someone who needs a refresher, hasn't taken an appointment in a while, they can make sure they don't miss those important steps.

14:02Ron Thurston:And the agent's helping them do that. Yep. Got it. And then how do you share all of that with kind of big enterprise customers that are coming in that want to learn how to use Copilot in maybe just a bigger way? A few ways. With our enterprise customers, NRF is definitely our biggest moment, especially in retail. So when customers are coming in, we do offer enterprise showcases that'll encompass some of these things. Even for last year's NRF, we actually showcased the, well, a version, earlier version of SharePoint agents that we were talking about earlier so that they can get kind of a preview and incorporate it into their own space.

14:38Ron Thurston:And I'm sure they love that. Again, limited time and resources always. So having that assistant should really help them with their business. Yeah, absolutely. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. So that's the future right there. AI delivering insights, saving time, and allowing the frontline to focus on what matters most, the people right in front of them. When we combine great technology with great humans, we don't just make retail more efficient, we make it more meaningful. Every click, every chat, every AI insight helps frontline teams focus on what they do best, serving, solving, and connecting.

15:20Ron Thurston:The magic of the Microsoft Experience Center, when people feel supported by technology, they don't just do their jobs better, they unlock their greatest potential. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you soon.