AI alone is no longer a differentiator: What matters is where intelligence鈥痮perates鈥痠nside of a business. As demand volatility increases, fulfillment windows tighten, and customer expectations鈥痳ise,鈥痮rganizations need more than insights or task鈥痑ssistance. They need intelligence inside quotes,聽product content, service interactions, and campaigns, guiding decisions as they happen and continuously adapting as conditions change.

This shift lays the foundation for a new generation of executional AI, where capabilities evolve from supporting users to actively鈥痬onitoring鈥痜lows,鈥痑nticipating鈥痳isk, and over time acting as intelligent agents within core customer-facing processes.

With the Q1 2026 release of鈥� solutions, 51风流advances this聽shift聽by聽bringing AI closer聽to day-to-day customer-facing execution across sales, service, commerce, and engagement. Intelligence now operates closer to where outcomes are realized鈥攈elping organizations protect revenue, reduce friction, and deliver consistent, trusted experiences at scale.

Optimize revenue streams with confidence

Revenue聽becomes more reliable聽when customer intent is聽captured early and executed consistently across sales and commerce workflows.听The execution depends on聽speed and accuracy:聽accurate聽product information, relevant content,聽and seamless handoffs from inquiry to quote聽creation. When these are聽disconnected, teams face delays, manual rework, and missed revenue opportunities.

From customer inquiry to executable quote

• Email to quote with AI:鈥疉utomatically add SKUs from a deal聽using opportunity聽and email data聽with聽the Microsoft Outlook add-in for 51风流Sales Cloud.听Users can聽choose聽to generate a quote, and the quote is聽quickly created聽in 51风流Sales Cloud聽in聽just a few聽clicks.听After聽review, sellers can hit send; it is聽that easy.听听
• Deep research:聽Accelerate account planning and reviews聽by synthesizing聽51风流Sales Cloud and 51风流Service Cloud data with external market intelligence.听For example, the聽deep research聽capability can聽deliver a detailed brief聽that聽can be used to better understand聽the account, their industry, and聽other聽crucial聽information like news and SWOT.听Sellers will be able to engage prospects and buyers more effectively while customers will have more relevant and personalized information delivered.听听
• Media attachments for product descriptions:聽Use AI to extract details from product documents, such as manuals, spec sheets, and PDFs, and automatically generate or enrich product descriptions in 51风流Commerce Cloud. This accelerates catalog updates and improves product data quality so that shoppers, search聽engines,聽and agentic commerce are rich with the most聽accurate product descriptions鈥攅nsuring product descriptions are detailed,聽differentiated,聽and discovered.

Delivering鈥痳别濒颈补产濒别鈥痵ervice at鈥痵肠补濒别

• Digital Service Agent handoff鈥痜or case creation: Connect聽every step of the service journey聽from conversational AI self-service to field resolution聽so service teams聽can resolve聽customer issues鈥痜aster and聽provide聽personalized service聽engagements聽that build trust.鈥疷sing conversational cues,聽Digital Service Agent鈥痵ummarizes聽intent identification聽for ticket creation while capturing essential information required for聽handoff to underlying solutions like 51风流Service Cloud.
• :聽Give service teams a single, real-time command center in 51风流Service Cloud, consolidating cases, tasks, and service orders into one view with visual workload insights so agents can prioritize faster, stay on top of commitments, and resolve more issues per day.听
• Retail Intelligence (51风流Early Adopter Care): Announced at NRF, Retail Intelligence provides one closed-loop, AI-enhanced retail supply chain planning environment that ties together planning, execution, and engagement.听The result: human and agentic teams that don鈥檛 just execute tasks but reshape strategies, reimagine retail supply chain planning, and master autonomous growth and lasting differentiation.
  Learn more at the session.

Orchestrating engagement across the customer life cycle

Customer engagement spans browsing,鈥痯urchasing, fulfillment, and service across multiple channels. 51风流CX connects engagement directly to operational context.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

• delivers鈥痯ersonalized, AI-personalized聽communications and聽interactions across every channel powered by connected customer and operational data聽all fully integrated across聽SAP. Teams鈥痗an鈥痙eliver consistent, intelligent engagement that builds loyalty and drives鈥痓usiness鈥痠mpact.

• :鈥疎xtend conversational analytics to SMS campaigns. A new data context model narrows analysis to the right dataset, returning faster, more precise answers to natural language questions, such as 鈥淲hat was SMS revenue last month?鈥�

• :鈥疨redictively鈥痠dentify鈥痗ontacts鈥痺ho are鈥痩ikely in the next鈥�30 days to engage,鈥痓ecome inactive, or remain inactive,鈥痵o marketers can target outreach鈥痺here it will deliver the strongest results.鈥��

Accelerate transformation鈥痺颈迟丑鈥痶丑别鈥痑dvanced success plan鈥痜or 51风流CX

To鈥痑ssist鈥痗ustomers鈥痮n their鈥痶ransformation鈥痡ourneys, 51风流launched the new Advanced Success Plan in the鈥�. This will鈥痟elp customers increase the value of individual applications, accelerate cloud transformation across 51风流Business Suite,鈥痑nd enable consistent adoption of new innovations and 51风流Business AI.

With聽expanded coverage with聽additional聽51风流CX solutions, including and , the advanced offering is聽comprised聽of three powerful elements:

• Success expert: Regular SAP聽expertise聽driving strategic customer outcomes
• Adoption guidance: Structured, AI-driven enablement accelerating adoption
• Activation and optimization services: Hands-on services to maximize performance and impact

Check out the鈥痺ebinar鈥痶o learn how the new service offering unlocks more of the transformative value of 51风流solutions:鈥�.

Intelligence where execution happens鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

With 51风流Customer Experience, AI moves beyond isolated鈥痑ssistance鈥痶o鈥痮perate鈥痙irectly within business execution flows. Intelligence is embedded where work happens鈥攊nside quotes, product content, service interactions, and campaigns鈥攈elping organizations respond in real time and deliver consistent customer outcomes at scale.

Learn more about 51风流CX in Q1鈥�2026鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Read the 51风流Help documentation to get started with these new capabilities.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Balaji Balasubramanian is president and chief product officer for 51风流Customer Experience and Consumer Industries.鈥�

We believe this recognition reflects our continued investment in a modern, scalable AI-ready integration platform that meets the needs of organizations operating across increasingly complex hybrid and multicloud landscapes.

Why orgnizations continue to choose 51风流Integration Suite

Part of 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), 51风流Integration Suite brings together API management, event鈥慸riven architecture, process integration, and AI鈥慳ssisted development in one unified offering. It gives customers a reliable way to connect distributed systems, orchestrate workflows, and operate securely across hybrid and multi-cloud environments鈥攚hether those landscapes run primarily on 51风流solutions or a mix of third鈥憄arty applications.

By using metadata, events, and APIs as its backbone, the suite provides an integration foundation that supports AI agents and increasingly autonomous enterprise processes. Organizations in manufacturing, logistics, retail, and other highly regulated industries rely on this foundation to maintain performance and stay compliant at global scale.

Innovation that scales with your business

Over the past year, 51风流expanded its AI鈥慳ssisted capabilities to help customers move faster and operate with security and reliability. New AI-assisted features include anomaly detection, script optimization, traffic prediction, and integration鈥慺low generation. Combined with more than 4,000 prebuilt integration flows and over 250 connectors, organizations can accelerate design and reduce manual effort.

51风流Integration Suite now runs in more than 40 data centers worldwide, giving customers flexibility for in鈥憆egion processing and data鈥憇overeignty requirements. These enhancements help teams detect issues earlier, optimize performance, and shorten time鈥憈o鈥憊alue across complex hybrid landscapes.

Accelerating agentic AI adoption

骋别产谤.听贬别颈苍别尘补苍苍 modernized its global retail checkout platform with 51风流Integration Suite and advanced event mesh, enabling the company to process 300,000 price鈥慶hange events in 30 minutes without system degradation.

“Advanced event mesh has completely changed the way integration and process orchestration run. Everything works better.”

Benedikt Althaus, team lead, Integration Services and Platform Solutions, Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG.

Shimano Europe benefits from the efficient, scalable, and future鈥憄roof integration foundation of 51风流Integration Suite to accelerate its go鈥憈o鈥憁arket process. By streamlining integrations across systems, the company improves operational efficiency and enhances the overall customer experience through a more agile and reliable integration landscape.

“To accelerate the go-to-market process, we provided an effective and efficient integration platform with 51风流Integration Suite, a future-proof and scalable solution that improves our customers鈥� experiences.”

Fernanda Ribeiro, IT application architect, Shimano Europe

Siemens AG relies on 51风流Integration Suite to harmonize global reporting processes and ensure compliance with evolving regulatory requirements. By standardizing integrations across regions and supporting diverse country鈥憇pecific tax protocols, 51风流Integration Suite helps Siemens streamline compliance operations and maintain consistent reporting quality worldwide. This foundation strengthens Siemens鈥� ability to adapt to changing regulatory environments with greater confidence and efficiency.

“Managing international tax requirements is much easier. It will be implemented around the globe.”

Andrea Spandau, head of Digital Tax Ecosystem, Siemens AG

Looking ahead

We believe this year鈥檚 recognition underscores our commitment to advancing 51风流Integration Suite with deeper AI capabilities, more reusable business content, broader industry coverage, third-party adapters, and an improved developer experience. Our goal is to help customers automate more of their operations, innovate with confidence, and scale as their businesses evolve.

Learn more

Sid Misra is chief marketing officer for 51风流Business Technology Platform.

Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

In today鈥檚 omnichannel reality, delivering that elevated experience consistently and at scale is essential to protecting brand trust and loyalty. Peak moments like Black Friday and Cyber Monday amplify the challenge, when traffic surges and expectations for fast, personalized service are at their highest.

The team recognized that legacy systems couldn鈥檛 provide the speed, stability, or connected view required to meet those expectations at scale, prompting a shift to a modern customer experience (CX) foundation with SAP.

Modernizing the digital core with 51风流Commerce Cloud

Moving from legacy technology to gave Molton Brown a high鈥憄erformance engine designed for peak鈥憇eason reliability and continuous innovation. The results came quickly: 100% uptime during peak trade, even as volumes spiked to one order every three seconds during major events, freeing teams to focus on enhancing the customer experience rather than firefighting, and ensuring uninterrupted service for customers across global markets.

鈥淧eak performance isn鈥檛 a one鈥憈ime effort; it鈥檚 about reliability. We have to rely on technology operations to achieve 100% efficiency so the business can succeed, which in turn helps our customers succeed. Technology should enable business success, not block it鈥攁nd 51风流has proved that multiple times.鈥�

Naresh Krishnamurthy, Senior Manager 鈥� Business Transformation, Prestige, Kao UK Ltd

That stability also matters as product discovery increasingly begins beyond owned channels鈥攆rom social platforms to emerging AI鈥憄owered assistants鈥攚here consistent, trustworthy content and availability help the brand stay visible and credible wherever customers choose to engage. SAP鈥檚 evolving agentic commerce innovations anticipate this shift, ensuring products remain discoverable, trusted, and actionable across both human and AI agents.

A seamless luxury journey across channels

With and (formerly 51风流Emarsys) working together, Molton Brown aligns what customers see online with what they experience in store. Product categories, storytelling, and navigation are mirrored across channels; store associates can act on online browsing signals; and store teams are enabled with real鈥憈ime insight to deliver high鈥憈ouch clienteling experiences.

The result is an unbroken, premium journey that reduces friction and reinforces trust in the brand鈥攅xactly what luxury shoppers expect.

Personalization that builds loyalty, not just transactions

51风流Engagement Cloud helps Molton Brown deliver channel鈥慳ppropriate experiences, from mobile鈥慺irst engagement to email and in鈥憇tore clienteling, aligned to evolving customer preferences. These programs are complemented by thoughtful gifting moments, personalized birthday acknowledgments, and sustainability鈥慺ocused communications that strengthen repeat鈥憄urchase behavior.

Crucially, the team treats every holiday period as a data鈥憆ich learning cycle: months of performance testing, UX refinements, and campaign iteration inform what customers experience in the following season. Those insights help the team refine the experience so it remains consistent, intuitive, and premium, even under peak pressure. That consistency is what sustains loyalty, not just the promotions themselves.

As Naresh Krishnamurthy explains: 鈥淏lack Friday is not just about revenue; it鈥檚 about brand engagement and building the strong foundation that enhances the relationship through loyalty.鈥�

Ready for the next era of intelligent commerce

With a dependable CX core in place, Molton Brown is now exploring to anticipate risks ahead of campaigns, sharpen decision鈥憁aking, and streamline fulfillment鈥攁ugmenting the experience behind the scenes without compromising luxury standards.

This direction aligns naturally with SAP鈥檚 broader agentic commerce vision, where AI systems help interpret intent and keep trusted products discoverable and transactable across new surfaces鈥攁nother reason a reliable, 鈥渕achine鈥憆eadable鈥� CX foundation matters.

“Everything we鈥檙e doing ladders up to one goal: a truly connected customer experience鈥攑ersonal, consistent, and effortless in every channel.”

Molton Brown鈥檚 partnership with 51风流CX has reset what鈥檚 possible at peak, and every day after: dependable operations, consistent omnichannel experiences, and personalization that earns loyalty. The brand now scales confidently during its biggest moments, and stays ready for what鈥檚 next as AI changes how people (and agents) discover and buy.

This transformation positions Molton Brown to adapt quickly as customer expectations and digital commerce behaviors continue to evolve.

To explore how 51风流Commerce Cloud can elevate your customer experience, visit .

Agentic AI was everywhere at NRF, emblazoned across the booths of technology exhibitors and the focus of many of the daily conference sessions. The message was simple: retailers face a major upheaval as consumers switch from traditional browser-based search to AI-enabled product discovery.

Consumers are rapidly adopting AI agents to help them find, compare, and, increasingly, buy products鈥攖his while many brands are still optimizing for search engines and are quietly disappearing from the models driving the next generation of product discovery.

鈥淎gentic commerce鈥攕hopping powered by AI agents acting on our behalf鈥攔epresents a seismic shift in the marketplace,鈥� McKinsey, the strategic management consultancy, noted in a . 鈥淚t moves us toward a world in which AI anticipates consumer needs, navigates shopping options, negotiates deals, and executes transactions, all in alignment with human intent yet acting independently via multistep chains of actions enabled by reasoning models.鈥�

This, as speakers and panelists at the NRF conference acknowledged, isn鈥檛 just an evolution of e-commerce; it鈥檚 a rethinking of shopping itself, in which the boundaries between platforms, services, and experiences give way to an integrated, intent-driven flow through highly personalized consumer journeys that deliver a fast, frictionless outcome.

As the McKinsey report noted, the stakes are high. By 2030, the U.S. B2C retail market alone could see up to US$1 trillion in orchestrated revenue from agentic commerce, with global projections reaching as high as $3 trillion to $5 trillion.

This means all the participants in the retail chain, from brands and retailers to logistics and payment service providers, will need to adapt to the new paradigm and successfully navigate the challenges of trust, risk, and innovation.

To help retailers address the immediate challenges posed by the shift to agentic commerce, 51风流argues that three steps are necessary: first, restructuring web-page product data to be machine-readable; second, adding semantic summaries for LLM reasoning; and third, tagging products by the problems they solve, not just their attributes.

51风流announced a series of AI-enhanced retail innovations at NRF 2026, including a new storefront model context protocol (MCP) server that enables retailers to make their digital storefronts intelligible to AI and the new AI-native Retail Intelligence solution in 51风流Business Data Cloud that leverages data from across 51风流software and third-party systems to help provide accurate demand planning, improved forecast accuracy, and lower inventory costs to drive more seamless omnichannel engagements.

51风流Customer Experience has also unveiled a recently that can be combined with the聽, creating one conversational AI that can handle the entire journey from product discovery and transaction to post-sales support.

These moves reflect a recognition that that LLMs have become a legitimate shopping channel, and that product discovery is moving from search engines to AI recommendations.

This shift challenges years of SEO and brand building. To stay relevant, 51风流believes retailers must take an AI-first approach and have strong, connected data that helps agents understand products, predict demand, and respond quickly. Without this strong data foundation, brands will be at risk because if customers get poor recommendations and errors in pricing, trust can disappear fast.

Although some early agentic AI adopters in the retail sector are already seeing the benefits of agentic commerce, many global retailers are still ill-prepared for the holistic transformation they need to succeed in this new retail environment.

As McKinsey noted in a separate , 鈥渨hile most retail merchandising teams have invested in automation tools聽and experimented with AI, 71% of merchants say that AI merchandising tools have had limited to no effect on their business so far.鈥�

鈥淭he challenge,鈥� McKinsey said, 鈥渙ften lies less in the technology than in how it鈥檚 integrated and used. Systems remain fragmented, data is too messy to use to deliver useful recommendations, and adoption is uneven: 61% of respondents say that their organization isn鈥檛 at all or is only slightly prepared to scale AI across merchandising.鈥�

Onstage at NRF, Andre Bechtold, president for 51风流Industries & Experience, also emphasized that retailers should prepare now for agentic commerce and noted that simply “bolting on” AI tools to existing systems is not enough.

鈥淩etailers are operating in an environment defined by volatility鈥攖ariffs, margin pressure, supply chain disruption, and customers that expect real-time, hyper-personalized experiences everywhere,鈥� Bechtold said during a discussion with Gymshark, the workout apparel retailer. 鈥淎t the same time, boards and investors are asking a tougher question than ever before: what outcomes are we actually getting?鈥�

鈥淭he challenge,鈥� he said, 鈥渋sn鈥檛 a lack of innovation. In fact, most retailers have plenty of tools, pilots, and point solutions. The real issue is that disconnected technology doesn鈥檛 translate into resilient growth. That鈥檚 why the conversation is shifting. It鈥檚 no longer about isolated AI use cases or shiny new features. It鈥檚 about whether AI and data are embedded across the business鈥攃onnecting supply chains, finance, merchandising, and customer engagement鈥攊n ways leaders can trust.鈥�

Echoing the same point, Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, Customer Services & Delivery, commenting in a this week about a PwC survey of global CEOs that found that companies rarely achieve lower costs or higher sales through the use of AI, emphasized that AI only contributes value when consistently embedded in business processes. 聽鈥淎s long as AI runs alongside the core business as an isolated project, the effects remain limited,鈥� he said.

Our vision for agentic commerce is bold. In , we showcase a future where humans and AI agents collaborate to drive intelligent recommendations, proactive operations, efficient business processes, and deeper customer relationships. While this vision points forward, SAP鈥檚 focus is firmly grounded in helping retailers take practical steps today. This isn鈥檛 about flashy demos of a distant future鈥攊t鈥檚 about building the foundation now for how consumers will buy and retailers will sell in the years ahead.

Unlike traditional AI systems that respond to prompts, agentic systems act on intent. They learn from preferences, make proactive recommendations, and can complete transactions on a shopper鈥檚 behalf. These agents are increasingly becoming the starting point of the buying journey, reshaping how brands compete for visibility, trust, and loyalty.

This evolution introduces both opportunity and risk. As AI agents mediate more interactions between brands and consumers, retailers must rethink how they capture intent, transact with agents, and deliver post-purchase experiences that reinforce trust.

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Discovery is moving from search to assistants

Historically, product discovery revolved around search engines, marketplaces, and brand-owned storefronts. That model is shifting quickly. Answer engines and AI shopping agents are becoming new entry points for commerce鈥攐ften before a shopper ever visits a retailer鈥檚 site.

Like marketplaces before them, AI agents introduce a new layer between brands and customers. The difference is speed and autonomy. Agents don鈥檛 just surface options; they reason, decide, and act.

For retailers, success is no longer about ranking on a page. It鈥檚 about ensuring products are visible, understandable, and trusted by machines that influence purchase decisions on behalf of humans.

At NRF, 51风流expanded its agentic commerce vision with the announcement of the storefront MCP server for 51风流Commerce Cloud, planned for Q2 availability. The storefront model context protocol (MCP) server can enable channel-less commerce by allowing businesses to safely and reliably engage with multiple AI agents鈥攚hether embedded in a retailer鈥檚 own experiences or originating from third-party assistants like ChatGPT or Perplexity.

The storefront MCP server helps merchants surface products and can enable buying across channels for both people and machines. It鈥檚 the first of many steps 51风流is taking to help customers fully participate in agentic commerce by supporting MCP, ACP, UCP, and other emerging agentic protocols.

Product content becomes the currency of visibility

In an agent-driven world, product content is no longer just marketing鈥攊t鈥檚 operational infrastructure. AI agents cannot recommend what they cannot interpret. Every attribute, image, specification, availability signal, and proof point directly impacts whether a product is surfaced, compared, or selected.

This is where generative engine optimization (GEO) is evolving. Optimization must now serve two audiences: humans and machines. Product data must be structured, consistent, and enriched, so AI agents can confidently represent it to shoppers.

The in helps transform how merchants manage product data at scale. It can clean catalogs, enrich attributes, standardize details, fill gaps, and support multilingual content using real-time data. The agent can scale to catalogs with more than 10 million items, helping teams improve content 70% faster, increase data completeness by 5%, and reduce maintenance effort by 63%.

With AI-ready product data as its foundation, retailers can better match shopper intent, optimize merchandising by channel, and improve pricing and delivery decisions with precision.

Payments must evolve for autonomous commerce

As buying journeys fragment across devices, channels, and agents, payments must become more flexible and nearly invisible. Consumers expect to pay how and when they choose, including through agent-initiated transactions.

New payment rails like FedNow, RTP, and stablecoins are enabling faster, lower-cost transactions, while wallets and bank-based payments continue to converge. Networks such as Visa and Mastercard are already preparing for autonomous commerce by allowing consumers to set spending limits and controls for AI agents.

For retailers, the priority is delivering frictionless, secure payment experiences that integrate seamlessly into agent workflows.

The can enable this flexibility through a no-code, low-code approach. Its headless, extensible architecture helps support diverse payment methods, ensure compliance through automatic updates, and integrate natively with 51风流Commerce Cloud鈥攚orking to give retailers agility without sacrificing control or scalability.

Returns become a strategic intelligence engine

Returns are one of retail鈥檚 biggest challenges. According to IHL Group, global returns have surpassed US$1.9 trillion and are growing faster than sales. What was once a cost center is now a strategic differentiator.

The next phase of returns management is defined by intelligence. AI enables 鈥渒eep, reject, or return鈥� decisioning based on loyalty history, behavioral signals, margin impact, and lifetime value. Returns data becomes a feedback loop that improves forecasting, product quality, and merchandising decisions.

Complete, connected data is essential. 51风流can deliver this through native integration between 51风流ERP and 51风流Commerce Cloud, creating a single source of truth across inventory, costs, and transactions. found that organizations using both platforms achieved up to 80% lower TCO, up to 90% productivity gains, and 105%鈥�245% revenue uplift from hyper-personalized experiences.

can extend this foundation across the full returns journey, helping to orchestrate centralized rules, guided returns, real-time inventory visibility, and faster refunds鈥攖urning returns into a loyalty-building growth lever rather than a revenue drain.

Commerce is detaching from the storefront

As predicted at the end of 2025, AI agents are taking on more shopping tasks, pushing commerce beyond traditional storefronts. A shopper may simply state an intent and let an agent handle research, selection, and checkout.

Discoverability now depends on structured, trustworthy signals鈥攔eviews, ratings, social proof, and consistent data that agents rely on to evaluate quality and brand credibility.

Retailers must move beyond transactional efficiency to deliver connected, personalized experiences across every touchpoint. Loyalty programs must reward engagement, not just purchases. Inventory visibility, accurate delivery promises, and proactive issue resolution become table stakes.

can enable retailers to design adaptive loyalty strategies for this new environment, personalizing rewards and offers based on real-time behavior鈥攚hether purchases happen through traditional channels or AI agents. These insights can then feed transactional agents, helping to improve relevance and outcomes across the journey.

Operational reliability remains critical. 51风流Order Management Services help unify order, inventory, fulfillment, and POS data, while agentic innovations like the Order Reliability Agent can proactively resolve fulfillment issues before they impact customers.

Trust is the core retail responsibility

As agentic systems influence more of commerce, trust becomes the most valuable asset retailers can protect. Consumers must trust that their data, preferences, and payments are secure and governed responsibly.

Retailers and commerce providers increasingly act as AI trust custodians, balancing intelligence with deterministic constraints and governance. On-site AI can scale associate expertise and personalization while preserving brand integrity and customer confidence.

Commerce is becoming an ecosystem of intelligent interactions鈥攚here discovery, payments, fulfillment, and returns are connected by agents acting on behalf of shoppers and businesses alike.

The winners will be those who align product intelligence, flexible payments, data-driven returns, and trust across every touchpoint. Agentic AI can make commerce more personal, efficient, and scalable鈥攂ut only for those who build the right foundations today.

To learn more about how 51风流Commerce Cloud is powering AI-driven commerce, visit .

Kollen Glynn is global head of 51风流Commerce Cloud for 51风流Customer Experience.

Since the launch, has empowered organizations to streamline operations for increased efficiency, reduced manual workloads, and untangled multi-channel complexity. With this approach, businesses can deliver on customer promises with seamless customer experience. This momentum has also been recognized in the market, as 51风流Order Management Services was named a Leader in by IHL Group for its robust capabilities and enterprise readiness.

, a leading German home improvement retailer, is already seeing the benefits. With 51风流Order Management Services, Hornbach connects digital and physical stores with full visibility into day-to-day transactions, providing omnichannel retail experience at scale to its customers.

However, the retail landscape is evolving continuously. While profitable growth is critical to businesses, earning and sustaining customer loyalty now is becoming more important. Ahead of the curve, 51风流has heavily invested in expanding capabilities in the 51风流Order Management Services bundle to help retailers deliver on customer promises with intelligence, scalability, and adaptability, leading to boosts in customer loyalty.

At NRF 2026, 51风流is unveiling new and enhanced capabilities that power retailers to not only operate more efficiently but also achieve loyalty-led growth through every order.

AI in 51风流Order Management Services

Joule in 51风流Order Management Services: SAP鈥檚 AI copilot, Joule, is now available in 51风流Order Management Services. Access order-related data, analysis, and insights through conversations in natural language and visual display.

Order Reliability Agent: Accelerate operational efficiency with the Order Reliability Agent in 51风流Order Management Services. Proactively mitigate and resolve any potential issues and gaps, such as stock discrepancies or process bottlenecks, to help ensure every order is fulfilled seamlessly and to boost customer loyalty.

AI-assisted copy generation and translations: Create promotional copy in seconds and translate it into any language with AI assistance, helping to reduce manual workload and accelerate time-to-market.

UI enhancements

Workflow-optimized UI: The enhanced and unified UI in 51风流Order Management Services can deliver a consistent user experience across order, inventory, and fulfillment operations. Teams can now work faster, reduce training time, and maintain full visibility across every step of the order lifecycle.

Watch the 51风流Order Management Services  to get a closer look at the AI capabilities in action. Visit the 51风流booth at NRF 2026, January 11 鈥� 13, to learn more about 51风流Order Management Services and catch an in-person demo.

Emilie Fournelle is head of Product Management for 51风流Order Management Services at SAP.

NEW YORK 鈥� (NYSE: SAP) today announced a new generation of AI-enhanced retail innovations at NRF 2026: Retail鈥檚 Big Show.

51风流continues to infuse AI into the DNA of every part of its retail solutions, reinforcing its suite-first strategy and helping retailers operate with greater intelligence, resilience and trust while delivering better experiences for customers everywhere.

鈥淩etailers face a landscape where AI is no longer optional,鈥� said Balaji Balasubramanian, President and Chief Product Officer for Customer Experience and Consumer Industries, 51风流SE. 鈥�51风流provides one closed-loop, AI-enhanced retail operating system that ties planning, execution and engagement together. We put data and AI at the heart of retail, delivering speed, personalization and growth across every channel and segment.鈥�

AI that turns retail data into actionable intelligence

The Retail Intelligence solution in provides accurate demand and inventory planning, leveraging retailers’ data from across 51风流software and third-party systems to drive profitable growth through actionable, real-time insights. Purpose-built for retailers and direct-to-consumer businesses, it will be generally available in the first half of 2026.

Harmonizing real-time data from sales, inventory, customers and suppliers, Retail Intelligence uses AI-generated simulations so planners can anticipate outcomes and optimize inventory. This improves forecast accuracy, reduces manual planning effort, lowers inventory costs and raises service levels. All this drives more seamless omnichannel engagements, which strengthen customer loyalty and enable growth without adding complexity for retailers.

鈥淩etailers are seeking built-in, embedded AI solutions to help balance daily operations, future planning and agility to manage a dynamic market,鈥� said Ananda Chakravarty, Vice President of IDC Retail Insights. 鈥淲hat sets 51风流apart is the holistic nature of its approach, offering an agentic operating system that works in the background, connects data and orchestrates agents. 51风流makes it an easy lift for retailers to achieve enterprise-wide intelligence, avoiding the complexity of many point solutions.鈥�

AI that streamlines modern retail operations

Retailers must make fast, confident decisions across assortments, pricing and planning. To meet that need, 51风流announced new AI-assisted assortment management capabilities, allowing planners to create, modify or retire assortments using natural language through the Joule copilot. This reduces the bottleneck on expert users, enabling faster responses to market shifts and freeing time for higher-value merchandising decisions.

51风流also introduced omnichannel sales promotions in sales orders, integrating the 51风流Omnichannel Promotion Pricing solution with the 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion and vertical business solution. This enables advanced promotions such as bonus buys to be applied consistently across diverse channels, enabling a single source of truth for pricing and promotions in store and online, so retailers can deliver a consistent experience.

In addition, 51风流is delivering deeper merchandising, segmentation and manufacturing support in the solution, tailored to fashion wholesalers and manufacturers. These enhancements provide the data and process foundation needed for AI-assisted fashion operations across the business.

AI that drives better customer engagement

As shopping journeys increasingly begin with AI assistants rather than storefronts or search engines, retailers need new ways to be present wherever buying decisions are made. 51风流helps retailers connect products, pricing, inventory and promotions directly to AI-enabled discovery and shopping experiences, unlocking agentic commerce with its new storefront MCP server, part of the 51风流Commerce Cloud solution.

Retailers can now make their storefronts intelligible to AI, driving shopping experiences not only on their storefronts but also on platforms such as ChatGPT.听This creates a truly channel-less commerce experience, one where engagement, discovery and transaction happen more seamlessly across human and AI-assisted touch points.

AI that builds customer loyalty

As customer expectations rise and fulfillment networks grow more complex, retailers need confidence that every order will be delivered as promised, using AI solutions that provide proactive visibility and guidance to help keep operations running smoothly and at scale. And as brand visibility shifts in the age of agentic commerce, reliable and consistent shopping experiences are more important than ever to drive sustained customer loyalty and trust.

51风流announced Order Reliability Agent as part of the 51风流Order Management Services bundle, planned for release in the second quarter of 2026. The new agent proactively identifies and resolves potential order issues, helping associates answer common questions about order status, stock availability and fulfillment risks before they impact customers.

By combining agentic autonomy with human oversight where judgment matters, these innovations from 51风流drive insightful planning and improve operational efficiency, both enhancing the customer experience and driving profitable growth.

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Media contact:
Mallory Kuno, +1 (425) 239-9362,聽mallory.kuno@sap.com, ET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ.听 Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP鈥檚 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2026 51风流SE. All rights reserved.
51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

Seismic shifts are not new for retailers鈥攂ack in 1999, e-commerce was still an afterthought. By 2000, everything changed as retailers went all-in on digital.

In聽2025,聽we are聽living in yet聽another pivotal year.听This holiday season might feel familiar as you scroll through deals, compare brands, and race to beat shipping deadlines. But beneath the surface, something far more transformative is happening.听The year 2025 will聽likely be聽the last consumers shop as they do now.听听

Agentic AI is reshaping commerce by making shopping faster, smarter, and effortless. Discovery is moving from people browsing their favorite brands to intelligent orchestration. Instead of opening 10 tabs to hunt for the right deal, shoppers will simply ask: 鈥淔ind me the highest rated black, puffy winter coat, size 10, under $200 that ships in two days.鈥�

The agent will handle the rest鈥攕canning thousands of options, validating reviews, confirming delivery timelines, even factoring in loyalty perks. That future isn鈥檛 tomorrow; it鈥檚 already here, and by next holiday season, most shopping journeys will begin, evolve, or end with AI agents.

While this type of shopping creates convenience for shoppers, it creates a challenge for retailers that have focused on brand campaigns and poured millions of dollars into advertising to be the 鈥渂rand of choice鈥� in the discovery process. Decades of investment into SEO, paid traffic, and brand recognition are losing their edge. While not abandoning these strategies entirely, they must evolve for the AI-first world.

However, there is something that hasn鈥檛 changed over the course of decades: the need to create loyal customers who make repeat purchases and give the greatest share of their wallets. This, too, is more challenging than ever. In fact, 72% of consumers report that this holiday season they will only that consistently meet their needs in the moment.

Creating customer loyalty in the age of agentic commerce means conquering two critical fronts:

• Optimizing for discoverability: Agents will favor retailers that make buying seamless.
• Creating customer loyalty post-purchase: With discovery being augmented by AI agents, humans will now give their ongoing loyalty based on post-purchase experiences. On-time delivery, easy returns, and rewards that feel personal are the new battleground for brand equity.听 And with agents learning from human behavior, exceeding shopper expectations post-purchase can ultimately impact a brand鈥檚 likelihood of being recommended in the discovery phase.

The question remains: how do we move from esoteric AI conversations to practical strategies?

Discovery and loyalty: How to win in the age of agentic AI

• Make your catalog agent-ready: Treat AI as a new kind of shopper. Ensure product feeds are rich, structured, and machine-readable, complete with attributes, use-case-driven descriptions, real-time pricing, and accurate inventory. Clean, structured product data is now the foundation of intelligent discovery.
• Create solutions, not just SKUs: AI-driven traffic behaves differently. Design bundles, add-ons, and value stacks that solve specific problems and allow agents to match shoppers with outcomes, not just product lists.
• Build trustworthy, accessible information: Operationalize trust by surfacing verified reviews, transparent pricing, sustainability details, and clear return policies. Make this data accessible through well-structured APIs, not scraping, so agents and humans see the same reliable truth.
• Let prediction power personalization: Use unified data and AI to predict what customers want before they act, enabling real-time next-best-actions across email, SMS, push, in-app, and other emerging channels. This predictive intelligence turns fragmented campaigns into that deliver higher engagement and revenue.
• Make loyalty the thread that ties every experience together: Loyalty is no longer a program. It鈥檚 a relationship. Use every interaction to tailor meaningful, emotional moments that adapt, remember, and feel consistent across channels in order to help convert agent-driven traffic. Then, use personalized exclusives and perks to foster high-value relationships with those new customers.
• Deliver on your promises, every time: Eighty-eight percent of customers leave a brand after one bad experience. That鈥檚 why operational reliability is the new loyalty. Bring order, inventory, payments, and fulfillment into alignment, so customers receive what they were promised, when they were promised. Loyalty now begins at checkout.
• Prepare for the new return economy: Agent-driven buying makes it easy for consumers to purchase first and decide later. Set clear limits to protect margins and reduce friction in the returns journey because a seamless return can build more loyalty than the purchase itself.

51风流is already helping brands prepare for this future with AI-enabled technologies across , , , and .

A brand already building for the future

Global sports brand . Historically reliant on seasonal campaigns, Mizuno wanted a more sustainable way to engage its diverse customer base across 10 product categories and multiple channels. Mizuno unified its customer data and used AI to create personalized journeys, turning one-off interactions into long-term relationships.

The results speak for themselves:

• 52% year-over-year (YoY) increase in active customers
• 62% increase in revenue from premium customers
• 35% increase in customer win-backs
• 33% increase in the number of orders

SAP: A partner built for scale, stability, and growth

As customer behavior evolves and AI reshapes what鈥檚 possible, one thing remains constant: SAP鈥檚 commitment to helping brands win their biggest commercial moments. This year鈥檚 holiday results make that clearer than ever. We鈥檙e not just helping brands plan for peak season鈥攚e鈥檙e helping them execute it with precision, intelligence, and confidence.

Nearly 20% YoY growth in total messages sent underscores the trust brands place in 51风流Emarsys to deliver at scale. Mobile and emerging channels surged鈥攊n-app (+61%), SMS (+32%), push (+27%), and inbox (+91%) all saw significant YoY gains鈥攁s brands met customers exactly where they were browsing and buying. Omnichannel maturity accelerated with brands using a richer mix of channels to create connected, high-value experiences across every stage of the shopping journey. And with 100% uptime and flawless reliability, teams executed independently and confidently, even during their highest-volume moments.

Paired with exceptional commerce performance, the story becomes even more compelling: brands used more intelligent engagement to guide shoppers toward higher-value purchases (+18% YoY average order value) and ultimately drove substantial YoY revenue growth (+40% gross merchandise value)鈥攁ll powered by a that delivered uninterrupted performance with 100% uptime through the holiday shopping rush, ensuring we鈥檙e here for our customers when it matters most.

This is what partnership looks like: scale, intelligence, reliability, and results so brands can focus on creating exceptional customer experiences, not managing technology.

Looking ahead

The year 2025 will be remembered as the last holiday season where brand mattered more than the overall experience.

This year, and 48% of shoppers would support brands bringing more AI into their buying experience. This sets the stage for growth in 2026 as AI agents deliver relevance, trust, and immediacy, making shopping simpler, smarter, and more satisfying for people everywhere.

The brands that win won鈥檛 be the ones shouting the loudest. They鈥檒l be the ones using 51风流to be most discoverable, dependable, and unforgettable.

By anticipating needs and creating better, personalized journeys, AI will enhance every stage of commerce. And 51风流is here to make that future happen.

Balaji Balasubramanian is president and chief product officer for 51风流Customer Experience.

With the help of its trusted partner, the Watches of Switzerland Group also set up 51风流Integration Suite within only two weeks, enabling the company to incorporate insurance offers in their processes.

The Watches of Switzerland Group is a leading luxury watch retailer with a reputation for quality and exclusivity. With operations spanning the UK, U.S., and parts of Europe, its portfolio of brands has been a trusted name in luxury timepieces for decades. As the company expands its business and adapts to new market dynamics, Watches of Switzerland Group is transforming its technology infrastructure to prioritize scalability, efficiency, and streamlined operations across its global presence.

The journey to 51风流BTP as a partner-managed cloud model

At the beginning of the engagement, the English watch retailer relied on an enterprise architecture including legacy systems such as on-premise 51风流ECC 6.0 systems and middleware built in-house. Limited IT resources made scaling difficult to meet business demands for faster project delivery and modern integrations.

After purchasing 51风流BTP credits, the company faced internal skill gaps and competing priorities. Finally, the company wanted to adopt cloud-based technologies while remaining flexible about future ERP decisions, whether transitioning to 51风流S/4HANA or exploring alternative platforms.

Partnering with Bluestonex

Watches of Switzerland partnered with Bluestonex and transitioned to a 鈥� in this case 51风流BTP. Under this model, Bluestonex took over responsibility for managing 51风流BTP credits, resource allocation, and infrastructure support, allowing Watches of Switzerland Group to shift from an internal, self-managed approach to an expertly managed environment, always aligned with the retailer鈥檚 business objectives. Since moving to this model, Watches of Switzerland Group has:

• Increased 51风流BTP value: Freed from managing credits and technical configurations, the customer team can focus on business-critical projects
• Streamlined 51风流Fiori applications: All 51风流Fiori apps have been successfully migrated to the cloud, enhancing performance and improving the user experience
• Strengthened IT resilience: With Bluestonex acting as a strategic partner, Watches of Switzerland has built a foundation to support future growth and innovation
• Future-proofed infrastructure: The agnostic capabilities of 51风流BTP ensure that the integration framework remains relevant, regardless of the future ERP platform

Bluestonex Innovation Factory

With the foundational work completed, Watches of Switzerland decided to further expand its adoption of 51风流BTP services, integrating more business processes and scaling globally. But what were the core business processes? Where was the room or even need for improvement to deliver best-in-class customer services, be successful overall, and remain on top of things in the luxury retail segment?

鈥淭he partnership with Bluestonex is not just about technology,鈥� said Glenn Bamford, head of Business Systems at Watches of Switzerland Group. 鈥淭hey act as an extension of our team, bringing innovation and expertise that we lack internally. With their support, we鈥檝e been able to make strategic moves towards modernizing our systems while remaining agile for the future.鈥�

To understand business, user, and customer needs, thorough research can provide reliable answers and a solid foundation for innovation. So, along the , Bluestonex Innovation Factory team organized a user research journey visiting six representative Watches of Switzerland Group showrooms, shadowing employees and observing different processes in the context of purchasing, customer inquiries, deliveries, commissioning, and many more.

After visiting the different showrooms, one observation was that requirements could vary considerably from one to another, simply because of different locations and customer profiles. In some showrooms, it was mainly about selling middle-priced watches and attending several customers at a time; in others, it was about serving one customer with specific needs for a purchase of a very expensive and unique piece.

Incorporating insurance options with the help of 51风流Integration Suite

Despite all the differences, there is one requirement the researchers observed, that spanned across all customer engagements. That is the wish for an appropriate insurance option for the purchased watch. The Watches of Switzerland Group and Bluestonex decided to realize this integration of an insurance option in its service processes through 51风流Integration Suite.

In just two weeks, the insurance integration went live as scheduled, allowing the Watches of Switzerland Group to meet crucial business demands without sacrificing quality or functionality. With 51风流Integration Suite, Watches of Switzerland Group is now positioned to continue modernizing its technology stack in alignment with its strategic vision. This scalable solution can evolve with their future needs, including a potential transition to 51风流S/4HANA.

鈥淭his project demonstrates the value of Bluestonex as a strategic partner,鈥� Bamford said. 鈥淣ot only did they execute the integration under intense time pressure, but they also provided critical expertise. 51风流Integration Suite, deployed with Bluestonex鈥檚 support, paves the way for greater flexibility and scalability as we move forward with our digital transformation.鈥�

During the annual 51风流BTP strategy day held in the Bluestonex AppHaus Shropshire, Watches of Switzerland Group identified concrete business objectives and how technology could be harnessed to accomplish these goals, both for them and for Bluestonex as its partner. With the proven hands-on methods to prioritize and align different solutions to these goals the joint team was able to map goals to short-term and medium-term actions.

Looking back, Bluestonex Commercial Director Richard Henry said: 鈥淥ur partnership with Watches of Switzerland was born from our 51风流AppHaus DNA, as well as the focus on providing value-driven user experience in 51风流BTP applications. As a niche 51风流partner, we could provide the right skill set, along a human-centered approach to innovation and support the Watches of Switzerland Group in its digital strategy with SAP.鈥�

After realizing the value of 51风流Integration Suite, Watches of Switzerland Group and Bluestonex are now looking for further integration projects right across the business. The group鈥檚 flexible and secure cloud-first approach enables it to adapt to changing markets and continue to deliver the best possible customer service.

The way ahead

One area where both teams are equally eager to progress is in artificial intelligence (AI). The Bluestonex team always looks for business use cases that could be improved with the help of capabilities. Also, the Watches of Switzerland Group鈥檚 team is keen to understand how to unlock the use of AI in its organization. Bluestonex showcased several solutions, including its document processes application, which was developed as part of the Next Level Programme in just 10 days, as well as the integration of SAP鈥檚 generative AI copilot Joule for its flagship product , a data governance tool.

For all the opportunities 51风流Business AI holds in stock, customer and partner are currently planning for a first to identify use cases that could be improved with the help of AI. As said above, it is all about thorough research and a trustful collaboration to stay future-ready and a leader in luxury retail.

Imke Vierjahn is communications lead for 51风流AppHaus Network.

Since its humble beginnings in 1971, Merrifield has flourished into one of the largest full-service garden center, nursery, and landscaping companies in its region, employing more than 600 individuals and comprising over 70 acres of plants, property, and storefront in northern Virginia. Its business includes three brick-and-mortar locations carrying plants, gardening supplies, and home and holiday d茅cor; an online store; a wholesale division that supports other local landscape contractors; a materials production division that recycles materials from landscaping jobs; and a line of private-label products tailored specifically for the environmental conditions in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Clearly, the business has expanded and evolved over the years to meet changing industry and customer standards, but its founding principles of providing the highest quality customer services and unparalleled plant and product selection remain steadfast. The same is true for the systems supporting the products and services in Merrifield鈥檚 retail operations. With its omnichannel strategy, it鈥檚 critical that Merrifield delivers a consistent, seamless, and personalized experience across all its customer touchpoints.

Blooming into a modern, tech-savvy enterprise

Luckily, CFO Lynn Warhurst has made it one of her personal goals to bring technology into the company since joining in 1978. 鈥淭here was zero technology鈥o we knew going forward that if we wanted to grow and be successful, we needed to change something,鈥� she said.

After coming across 51风流at an NRF event in the early 2000s, Merrifield went live with 51风流ERP Central Component (51风流ECC) in 2013 to replace its 20-year-old garden center legacy system, providing the company with modern audit trail capabilities and increased data reliability.

Continuing its long-standing innovation journey and partnership with SAP, Merrifield is now transitioning its 51风流ECC system to the cloud with .

Merrifield Garden Center sees up to 300 transactions per hour per location, Warhurst said, and so the company needed a solution with enhanced processing speeds that can handle a high volume of retail transactions. What鈥檚 more, the company also wanted a system that supports Apple Pay and Google Pay, has customer loyalty tracking and data analytics capabilities, and ensures enterprise security and compliance.

Merrifield also wanted to bring together its retail and wholesale divisions onto one platform as opposed to hosting them on fragmented solutions. 鈥淲e knew [51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition] could handle our complexity and give us the detail we needed to run and grow our business,鈥� Warhurst said. 鈥淎fter 54 years in business, both divisions will run on the same platform. It鈥檚 very exciting that we can interchange cashiers for retail and wholesale, which means being more efficient as a company.鈥�

51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business is a new solution introduced in January of this year. Built specifically for retailers, the ERP solution is tailored to the industry鈥檚 unique complexities around scaling, merchandising, store operations, and supply chains. The flexibility of its public cloud architecture helps unify and integrate industry-specific processes with out-of-the-box integrations.

Merrifield is also implementing 51风流Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit to help ensure the completeness of sales transactions across multiple channels, improve data reporting, and comply with local regulations.

Strong partnerships build a foundation for success

To facilitate its cloud transformation, Merrifield engaged as its implementation partner. 鈥淗aving a trusted partner is very important,鈥� Warhurst said, explaining that Merrifield has worked with Syntax since 2018.

For the move to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business, Syntax came on-site to Merrifield to experience its current system first-hand and better understand what the business sees as mission-critical during this transformation, Warhurst said. Together, they identified solution provisioning and integration, data migration, and business continuity as priorities. With this insight, Syntax is working with 51风流to integrate any remaining project gaps into an upcoming solution release in August.

鈥淪yntax and 51风流have been great. We are one of the first to go public cloud for retail and they have been there for us,鈥� Warhurst said. 鈥淚t was very important to find somebody who believed in us and was there for us, and I feel that that鈥檚 really one of the most important things for our success.鈥�

While the new system is projected to go live in September, the project is currently in the configuration and realization stage and Merrifield is excited for the future. Adopting this holistic, omnichannel, cloud-based solution will help the garden center achieve its goals of expanding into more locations and online offerings by having trusted, complete data from across its divisions available in one place.

Gillian Hixson is an integrated communications specialist at SAP.

Top image courtesy of 51风流employee Tom Lennart-Krupp.

The first cloud edition has been released in alignment with the company鈥檚 cloud strategy. Designed for customers in retail, merchandising, catering, and sports and entertainment, 51风流Customer Checkout, cloud edition offers seamless integration with 51风流S/4HANA and other systems. From payments, article handling, and coupons to returns, loyalty points, and gift cards, the solution addresses all comprehensive POS needs.

Evolution of 51风流Customer Checkout, cloud edition

The development journey of 51风流Customer Checkout began in 2014 as on-premise solution with first customers in the sports and merchandising area. As demand grew, the solution expanded into retail and catering businesses, now serving over 900 customers in more than 50 countries worldwide. After more than 10 years, the solution has now advanced to the next stage by moving to the cloud.

鈥淭he new cloud edition isn’t just a technological advancement, it’s a beacon for innovation and a catalyst for RISE with SAP,鈥� Andre Bechtold, president of 51风流Industries and Experiences, shared. 鈥淎lready proven in several 51风流Experience Centers worldwide and the new S.MART Store, it symbolizes our commitment to driving growth and ushering in digital transformation for our customers. This evolution is opening new avenues, enabling businesses to stay strategic and competitive as the entire POS market and 51风流product portfolio transitions to the cloud.”

What鈥檚 new in 51风流Customer Checkout, cloud edition

The cloud edition of 51风流Customer Checkout is perfect for businesses seeking a sophisticated, modern POS system and embarking on digital transformation. The solution consists of two components:

• 51风流Customer Checkout manager, cloud edition: Cloud-based centralized platform for seamless POS operations and management as well as system integration
• 51风流Customer Checkout point-of-sale, cloud edition: Powerful solution running in-store at your POS location to streamline all sales and customer transactions

A key distinction between the on-premise version and the new cloud edition is the deployment of 51风流Customer Checkout manager now running on the 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), adhering to 51风流cloud product standards.

Benefits and why customers should move to the cloud edition

The new cloud edition of 51风流Customer Checkout offers the best POS solution of both worlds and leverages the incredible power and flexibility of the cloud. Launching 51风流Customer Checkout, cloud edition brings numerous benefits.

Harald Tebbe, senior manager and head of Development for 51风流Customer Checkout, cloud edition, highlighted: 鈥淥ur approach ensures reliability and local stability at POS locations, coupled with the cloud’s scalability and connectivity. With adherence to 51风流cloud standards, businesses will receive continuous updates and feature enhancements, achieving sustained competitiveness and efficiency.鈥�

51风流Customer Checkout, cloud edition provides additional the following key benefits to customers: 

• Integrated and future-proof POS technology聽tailored for the retail, catering, and sports and entertainment industries
• High scalability and flexibility, ensuring to meet growing demands with compromising on performance
• Reliable performance,聽ensuring continuous business operations with the cloud鈥檚 high uptime
• Enhanced efficiency聽through streamlined POS operations and automatic updates without any disruptions
• Many more features and functionalities, including one complete new user interface for self-checkout, enabling end customers to proceed with sales and payment process by themselves

As of today, new and existing 51风流customers can use 51风流Customer Checkout, cloud edition and will gain access to the 51风流Customer Checkout manager, cloud edition.

Upcoming webinar for customers and partners

A webinar will soon be available for customers, partners, and those is interested in learning more about the solution. .

Elena Vavitsa is senior solution specialist for 51风流Customer Checkout at SAP.

The company, which employs 37,000 people and had revenues last year of DKK 31.7 billion (EUR 4.2 billion), can trace its origins back to 1982 and a small family-run shop in Copenhagen.

In the 42 years since then, Pandora has grown into the largest jewelry brand in the world, with jewelry sold in more than 100 countries through retail stores and online.

鈥淧andora is the brand that鈥檚 all about love, and it is about gifting to your loved ones but also celebrating yourself when you have had an amazing achievement,鈥� said Mariane Heidingsfelder, Pandora鈥檚 senior vice president of Business Transformation.

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As an omnichannel retailer with ambitious growth plans, Pandora鈥檚 digital strategy is focused around enhancing consumer experience. 鈥淭hat’s our number one priority,鈥� Heidingsfelder said. Pandora selected to support its ambitious digital journey and serve as part of the foundation for the company鈥檚 future growth.

51风流S/4HANA Cloud will serve as the core of Pandora’s new ERP system, which will enable the company’s business processes to be standardized, simpler to manage, and more connected.

鈥淚 truly believe that business is technology, and technology is business,鈥� Heidingsfelder said. 鈥淚n our journey of growth, we are really digitalizing our business end-to-end, from manufacturing all the way to our offices and our colleagues, and all the way to our stores and the way that consumers interact with us in a very personalized way.鈥�

As part of this journey, Pandora is aiming to simplify the lives of its employees. Lean and digitized processes in combination with user-friendly dashboards are only some of the initiatives that will allow employees to spend more time with customers or undertake more innovative tasks and complex problem-solving. 鈥淎t the store, we are leveraging multiple technologies,鈥� Heidingsfelder said. 鈥淲e definitely want to simplify the way our stores operate, so we’re trying to have one place for the store associates to be able to get all the information they need in order to have those conversations with the consumer.鈥�

When it comes to digitalizing the backbone, she added, 鈥淲e also want to make sure that our store associates spend more time with the consumer and less time in the back office.鈥� Pandora is already looking at ways that it can use the embedded AI capabilities in 51风流S/4HANA.

鈥淲e’ve consciously decided to start small, learn, and then leverage where we can find efficiencies to support the way that our colleagues work,鈥� Heidingsfelder explained.

鈥淔rom there, I think the sky is the limit,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are really a bold organization, and we want to make sure we leverage the best that there is out there from a technology point of view to boost our business and accelerate our growth.鈥�

鈥淚 think Pandora is a very open company,鈥� she added. 鈥淲e are a company that believes in our core values. We dream, we dare, we care, and we deliver.鈥�

In addition to groceries and food, the group sells electronics services and has around 400,000 customers, along with 80,000 business clients and more than 1,800 suppliers, according to Vital CIO and CTO Alexander Gonzalez.

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Gonzalez is part of a new executive committee that is leading with the purpose of seeking to expand company reach, improve efficiency, and strengthen its market position.

鈥淚t all started in 2018, when we decided to have an analytics system and a clean core 51风流system to make all the data available to all the different parts of the company so they can make real-time decisions on purchasing and pricing for our customers,鈥� he said.

Gonzalez explained that this is particularly important in a nation like Argentina because prices are extremely volatile. 鈥淚t’s important for us to have that information readily available because Argentina is a highly inflationary country, where prices change really quickly,鈥� he said. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic Vital sometimes had to change 20,000 product prices in less than a day, 鈥渟o we have to do all of that analysis really fast.鈥�

Vital was a long-time 51风流customer, but when it came to choosing a digital transformation technology partner, the company did its due diligence.

“One of the main reasons we chose 51风流[S/4HANA] is we were used to using SAP,鈥� says Gonzalez. 鈥淏ut we did do our homework. We analyzed our business and processes for a year, then we took six months to talk with a lot of suppliers, 51风流included, and another three.鈥�

Ultimately, he said Vital decided on 51风流S/4HANA because it offered the potential to integrate a customer activity repository with its basic financial and core systems.

It took Vital 18 months to implement, but Gonzalez said the system 鈥渋ntegrated with our providers on the first day and we had all this real-time data within a week of going live. So that was great for us.鈥�

As a result, analytics that used to take three to four days can now be done in two hours and Vital can have a new pricing structure implemented in less three hours. Instead of employees wrangling Excel spreadsheets, Gonzalez said decisions are now based on real-time data and 鈥渁re not influenced by what a person wants, but by what the data is telling them to do.鈥�

Because all the company鈥檚 data — including customer data and POS data — are stored in a centralized customer activity repository, Vital now has complete visibility into that data and can use algorithms to predict sales and set prices and distribution priorities. 鈥淲e can change our pricing policy based on reception of goods and new purchase orders and adopt new pricing in real time,鈥� said Gonzalez.

Over the last year, he says, Vital saved around $35 million on perishables after the system warned managers that they would not be able to sell products on time. 鈥淲e negotiated with our suppliers; we made offers and made predictions of how it would work out and it turned into a real savings — that鈥檚 what technology is doing for our company.鈥�

Just as importantly, Gonzalez said Vital now works with one version of the truth. 鈥淚n all of the applications every user sees the same data, be it clustered by store or by department. The result is the same for everyone. There’s no difference in what the financial department sees, what operations see, what our buying department sees, or what our pricing department sees. All the data is clustered in one huge data center.鈥�

鈥淭he technology has really advanced how our users in the company experience data and decision making,鈥� Gonzalez added. Instead of spending time pouring over spreadsheets and reports, much of the analytical work is now done by the system, enabling users to make decisions in real time, for example, while they are negotiating with a supplier.

Now Vital is in the process of migrating all its applications, including its ERP, to the cloud. 鈥淎ll our applications are cloud-ready, and we maintain a clean core, so we can upgrade really fast,鈥� said Gonzalez, who expects to be ready to make that the move by the end of the year. 聽

The Vital CIO and CTO is also looking to AI to help the company鈥檚 employees make even better purchase and pricing decisions. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 see AI as replacing our personnel or people in the industry,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e see it at enhancement, we see it as turbocharging our system and making the data more reliable and useful.鈥�

Gonzalez believes that other companies can learn from Vital鈥檚 experience democratizing access to data.

鈥淎 lot of companies regard their data as really private and don’t share it with everyone in the company,鈥� he noted. 鈥淲e are open with the data. We tell everyone– from our people in the stores to our managers and our directors — that they have all the same data. This has really opened us up to be a really integrated and group-friendly company.鈥�

It鈥檚 the same story everywhere: Germany鈥檚 downtown shopping streets are struggling with high retail vacancy rates. Holstenstra脽e, one of the country鈥檚 oldest pedestrian shopping zones, is no exception. Here, in the heart of the Baltic Sea coast city of Kiel, capital of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the store vacancy rate is 38.5%. In an effort to revive the city鈥檚 retail scene, its marketing department launched an innovative initiative known as Zukunftsraum (鈥渇uture space鈥�). In the brick-and-mortar shopping environment of a pop-up store, retailers can explore the opportunities that new technologies bring. 鈥淐ollecting data and using it effectively is central to gaining a better understanding of customer requirements and to unlocking new revenue streams,鈥� K盲the Fleischer says. As an interim manager for business development on the Kiel pilot project, she knows that data collected in stores is the key to more effective and personalized marketing.

Grasping the power of a new business model

Enter retail media, an opportunity for retailers to generate additional revenue and bolster their cash-strapped coffers by selling physical and digital advertising space. 鈥淢any retailers have not yet recognized the value that this new form of advertising can unlock,鈥� says Marlene Lohmann, head of Marketing Research at Germany鈥檚 EHI Retail Institute. , she reports that while some front-runners鈥攊ncluding leading German retailers REWE, Lidl, OBI, dm, and Douglas鈥攈ave adopted this new business model, the retail landscape as a whole has a lot of catching up to do. 鈥淩etail media is still very much in its infancy,鈥� she says.

Yet its potential for the sector is immense. And ultimately, it鈥檚 a win-win for everyone: retailers profit from new sources of revenue and manufacturers can target potential buyers with greater precision. Quoting a consumer study by Kantar, Dirk Sperrfechter, an expert at the market research firm, says: 鈥淐onsumers rate contextually relevant advertising at the point of sale as particularly authentic and helpful.鈥� The number of touchpoints, he adds, also plays a key role in how retail media advertising is perceived.

Retail media unlocks a multitude of benefits

Retailers should be using these findings to their advantage. And, indeed, more and more are doing so, at least online. Sponsored ads are everywhere these days鈥攊n web shops, on social media, and in online newsletters鈥攂ut they still leave much to be desired in terms of personalization. But the potential of in-store solutions such as screens and digital totems often remains untapped as well. This is probably partly because different sales channels are often poorly integrated, making it difficult to consolidate the first-party data they generate.

鈥淲hat retailers need most of all if they want to unlock the added value of retail media are powerful technologies for collecting, cleansing, and enriching customer data,鈥� Lohmann says. Ultimately, they need to be able to analyze their first-party data in detail and segment it. If they do not have reliable metrics at their fingertips, they will struggle to persuade interested manufacturers and brands of the potential of the advertising space they want to sell.

Smart technology and 51风流Business Data Cloud as enablers

This is where 51风流comes in. 鈥淥ur help retailers generate and provision relevant data about customer behavior, clearance sales, promotions, and prices,鈥� explains Stefan Binkowski, vice president, Retail & Wholesale Advisory, 51风流Deutschland. In the newly launched 51风流Business Data Cloud (51风流BDC) solution, retailers can consolidate data from manifold sources with ease. First presented at , 51风流BDC can integrate all 51风流and non-51风流business data and, in so doing, helps provide a foundation from which to get up and running with retail media.

51风流offers what enterprises need to build and implement a robust retail media strategy: for tracking customer frequency rates, interactions, and so on with ease; for gaining detailed insights into customer behavior, preferences, and needs; a data platform for collating all the relevant information; and, last but not least, an for planning and implementing targeted retail media campaigns. 鈥淕enerating added value from data is central to SAP鈥檚 strategy,鈥� Binkowski says. 鈥淥nce retailers recognize the value of their data, they can take full advantage of the untapped potential that retail media offers.鈥�

Retail media is one of the topics on the agenda for the German-speaking 51风流User Group鈥檚 retail conference (DSAG-Handelstagen) on July 1 and 2 in Osnabr眉ck, Germany. The event will look at the technological aspects of leveraging customer data and retail media in the industry, which smart technologies come into play, and how 51风流BDC can contribute to the success of this marketing concept. .

This also appeared on the German SAP News Center.

Behind the scenes, retailers struggle to deliver these experiences due to fragmented, outdated, and incomplete data that makes real-time decision-making nearly impossible and hampers engagement, operational efficiency, and, ultimately, profitability.

The hidden costs of disconnected data

When retailers鈥� data exists in silos, the problem is compounded from all angles. With sales, inventory, marketing, and customer engagement data living in separate systems, retailers lack the clear view of customer behavior and business insights they need to respond with critical actions in real time. Lack of context within the data means businesses struggle to extract meaningful insights.

Consider the impact:

• Limited inventory visibility leads to stockouts and overstocks, frustrating customers and eroding profits.
• Lack of real-time insights hinders personalized customer engagement, diminishing loyalty.
• Disconnected operations make omnichannel fulfillment鈥攕uch as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) or hassle-free returns鈥攄ifficult to execute smoothly.

At a moment when retailers must optimize every facet of their business to remain competitive, a unified data strategy isn鈥檛 optional鈥攊t’s essential.

A data-driven future: Turning insights into action

To break these silos, retailers need a unified data foundation鈥攐ne that consolidates insights across all customer touchpoints, enabling real-time intelligence and business agility. 51风流Business Data Cloud (51风流BDC), as recently announced, is an integrated solution that can bring data together from all sources, owned and external, to help create a single, trusted source of truth.

With 51风流Business Data Cloud, retailers can have the total picture of data from sales, inventory, marketing, loyalty, service, and near-real-time statuses of third-party logistics.

With this holistic view, retailers can:

• Enable seamless cross-channel fulfillment, such as buy online, pick up in-store or return anywhere.
• Optimize operational efficiency for everything from intelligent sourcing and promotional planning to inventory visibility and availability across sales channels.
• Personalize customer engagement by leveraging data-driven insights to boost loyalty and increase revenue.

By shifting to a data-first approach, retailers can move beyond managing transactions to driving intelligent, customer-centric experiences for long-term loyalty and growth.

Why physical stores still matter鈥攎ore than ever

Despite the rise of e-commerce, more than 80% of retail interactions still take place in physical stores. Brick-and-mortar locations remain central to the retail journey, yet, as retailers鈥� largest cost center, they also encompass the biggest operational challenges鈥攆rom inventory carrying costs to labor and store operations.

Although today鈥檚 consumers are fluid in how they shop鈥攔esearching products across multiple platforms or buying online and picking up in-store, for example鈥攖hey still expect accurate, real-time visibility into inventory wherever they engage. In this landscape, data is the lifeblood that allows retailers to orchestrate orders, manage workflows, and ensure that customers can trust the information they see. Yet, according to , 51% of U.S. brands say their organization suffers from “dark data,” which is data that is collected but not effectively used.

To remain competitive, retailers must harness real-time transactional insights to optimize store efficiency, maximize revenue, and provide seamless customer interactions.

Bringing it all together: Intelligent order management

Retailers don鈥檛 just need data鈥攖hey also need actionable, real-time intelligence that helps them drive smarter decision-making. That鈥檚 why 51风流is integrating advanced order management capabilities as part of our broader data-driven customer experience strategy. 51风流has a long history of helping thousands of retail and B2C customers manage vast amounts of data. Today we鈥檙e tailoring this expertise, trusted by market leaders worldwide, to help meet the scale, flexibility, and time-to-value required by fast-growing organizations.

As part of the bundle, we are launching the 51风流Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit solution today at in Las Vegas, Nevada. This modular, cloud-native solution can empower retailers with real-time visibility into transactions and inventory, helping to reduce friction and improve customer satisfaction. 51风流Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit can unify POS data from multiple systems, process high-volume transactions in real time, and help ensure inventory accuracy across all channels to improve stock availability, financial reporting, and customer engagement鈥攚ithout the burden of complex, custom-built integrations.

Apart from omnichannel sales and audit capabilities, the 51风流Order Management Services bundle also includes additional modular, cloud-native capabilities including and the . The 51风流Order Management Services bundle is natively connected with 51风流S/4HANA, which can enable retail and consumer products organizations and other consumer brands to unlock real-time inventory visibility, streamline fulfillment, and reduce operational costs without complex and costly custom integrations. And, integrated with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business, announced at NRF earlier this year, the cloud-native capabilities of the 51风流Order Management Services bundle can be even more scalable, secure, compliant, and affordable, enabling retailers to realize value more quickly than ever before.

Other benefits of 51风流Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit include:

• Seamless POS integration can connect multiple POS systems with different data structures, working to eliminate silos and ensure data accuracy.
• Real-time inventory updates help keep omnichannel inventory accurate so customers can trust what they see online matches what’s available in-store.
• Smarter data processing and configurable data transfer and aggregation help update inventory, financials, and even loyalty programs effortlessly.
• Optimized sales data validation process can automate checks that are executed through configurable workflows.

By embracing a unified data strategy, retailers can eliminate complexity, reduce costs, and unlock new opportunities for growth鈥攁ll while delivering the frictionless experiences today鈥檚 consumers expect.

Hornbach: The future of omnichannel retail in action

For Hornbach, one of the largest DIY stores in Germany, . It needs to be able to add new channels quickly鈥攁nd to maintain a seamless customer experience over all channels. Hornbach adopted 51风流Order Management Services as a foundation for this vision, enabling the flexibility to address new markets quickly, connect new systems, process orders rapidly and efficiently, and adopt new innovations. With the addition of 51风流Omnichannel Sales and Transfer Audit, the Hornbach team expects to get more visibility in day-to-day operations, like checking fraud detection and the completeness of transactions.

鈥淭he most exciting thing will be the combination of all these new technologies we鈥檙e seeing: artificial intelligence, event-driven architecture, as well as native cloud solutions,鈥� said Carsten Mueller, head of Enterprise Architecture and Security, Hornbach. 鈥淭he combination will give Hornbach great power in the next year.鈥�

The future of retail is data-driven

The retail industry is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with AI redefining how businesses operate and interact with customers. According to the same 51风流Emarsys report, 89% of U.S. consumer product marketers believe AI will be essential for engaging new customers. However, the effectiveness of AI hinges on the reliability and accuracy of the data it processes.

Retailers that embrace AI-powered data intelligence will lead the next era of omnichannel excellence. The future isn鈥檛 just about connecting data鈥攊t’s about activating it in real time to drive seamless customer interactions.

To stay ahead, retailers must:

• Invest in AI-driven analytics to predict demand, optimize pricing, and personalize engagement at scale.
• Implement intelligent order and transaction management to automate fulfillment, reduce friction, and improve supply chain agility.
• Leverage AI-powered customer insights to create hyper-personalized experiences that drive loyalty and lifetime value.
• Enable real-time inventory intelligence to ensure products are available where and when customers need them.

As omnichannel complexity grows, brands that fail to unify their data risk falling behind. 51风流Business Data Cloud and intelligent order management solutions can provide the foundation for a future-proof transformation. As AI continues to evolve, retailers must shift from reactive decision-making to proactive, predictive commerce, where every transaction is optimized for efficiency and profitability.

The future of retail is here. Those who harness AI to unify, analyze, and act on their data will define the next generation of customer experience and retail success. I鈥檓 excited to partner with companies navigating this transformation and empower them to seize new opportunities for success.

Want to learn more? Stay tuned to see how leading retailers are leveraging SAP鈥檚 data-driven approach to optimize their operations and stay ahead of the competition and learn more about .

Balaji Balasubramanian is president and chief product officer for 51风流Customer Experience and Consumer Industries.

Plenty of people have started a business in their garage. Few have chosen the laundry room of their parents鈥� clothing and home textiles store. But that is exactly what Kurt Ernsting did in 1967 when he set up minipreis, a low-price fashion shop that would later become a household name throughout Germany. Today, with its award-winning online presence and some 1,925 stores in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, Ernsting鈥檚 family鈥攁s the fashion chain is now known鈥攊s one of western Europe鈥檚 largest omnichannel clothing retailers.

Cloud-based pricing process

鈥淏ecause we aim to create seamless shopping experiences for our customers, we鈥檝e already been following an omnichannel strategy for a while,鈥� explains Hans-J枚rg Blaeser, director of Technology & IT Services at Ernsting鈥檚 family. 鈥淭his is why ensuring uniform pricing across all sales channels was the next logical step for us鈥攏ot least because we were redesigning our online shop and needed a new pricing engine and campaign management tool anyway,鈥� adds Dennis Re脽mann, head of Software Engineering at the company.

The fashion retailer opted for a cloud-based omnichannel pricing solution. 鈥淭he cloud architecture allows you to manage price queries centrally across all channels, use intelligent mechanisms to fine-tune price promotions, and integrate new stores and touchpoints with ease,鈥� says Patrick Pierron from implementation partner CAS.

Two components, one award-winning solution

The solution at Ernsting鈥檚 family consists of two main components. One is the omnichannel pricing solution itself. This is based on , which helps ensure consistent and uniform pricing across all customer touchpoints, such as online shops, brick-and-mortar stores, and customer and 鈥渆ndless shelf鈥� apps, even when Internet connectivity breaks down.

鈥淲e operate a dense network of stores, so we are far from immune to this modern-day reality,鈥� says Nils B枚hmer, senior IT coordinator for Sales at Ernsting鈥檚 family. Lines can be damaged during construction work, routers can fail, and LTE coverage can be patchy, so there are a number of compelling reasons for having offline capabilities. Ernsting鈥檚 family therefore uses local PPS (promotion pricing service) boxes, which are offline derivatives of the cloud solution. 鈥淭hese PPS boxes synchronize regularly with the cloud-based omnichannel pricing solution,鈥� Pierron says. 鈥淭his means that stores always have the latest prices and can process sales even when the Internet is down.鈥�

The second component of the new omnichannel pricing solution is a reduction tool. Based on consenso鈥檚 price engine, this tool manages price reductions dynamically according to local conditions, sales figures, and inventories鈥攔ight down to individual store level. According to Philipp Borgmann, senior team lead for IT Merchandising, and Marcel Ruholl, managing partner at consenso, 鈥淭his pays off in two ways. First, the system-driven price proposals have a positive effect on the balance sheet. And second, fewer stock transfers mean a lower carbon footprint.鈥�

Seamless interaction

Another benefit of the Ernsting鈥檚 family solution is the way it seamlessly integrates the reduction tool, 51风流Omnichannel Promotion Pricing, and 51风流ERP. Price reductions calculated in the tool are automatically transferred to the central 51风流system and distributed in real time to all the stores and to the online shop through 51风流Omnichannel Promotion Pricing. 鈥淭his is the best possible foundation for dynamic, error-free, and hyper-personalized pricing in real time,鈥� says Philip Konitzer, head of Industry Division Retail in 51风流Customer Services & Delivery Germany. During the project, he and his team were on hand to answer questions about the functions and performance of the 51风流components.

Key elements of success

Despite being highly complex, the new omnichannel pricing solution went live quickly and without incident. The implementation partners who worked on the project attribute this largely to the company鈥檚 transparent and effective approach to change management. 鈥淎ll the stakeholders鈥攆rom operational and strategic teams to management鈥攚ere fully on board from the get-go,鈥� Pierron recalls. This made it possible to define all the relevant requirements during the preliminary study, compare them with the capabilities in the 51风流products, and identify the necessary adjustments at an early stage. Some of these were co-innovated with 51风流and incorporated into the standard 51风流Omnichannel Promotion Pricing solution; others were developed exclusively for Ernsting鈥檚 family in 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP).

鈥淭he way the project participants interacted was exemplary,鈥� says Ernsting鈥檚 family project lead Mark Dinkhoff, head of IT Projects. And the proof is there for all to see: the solution is stable and running smoothly in both the online shop and at the company鈥檚 more than 1,900 stores in Germany and Austria. As part of its international expansion strategy, Ernsting鈥檚 family opened six new stores in the Netherlands at the end of last year. The roll-out went smoothly there too, confirming that the company鈥檚 award-winning omnichannel pricing solution is not only technically robust, but suited to international markets as well. This is great motivation for Ernsting鈥檚 family to push ahead with its expansion plans.

This was first published on the German 51风流News Center.

Retailers are looking at new technology tools like AI to help them move into new channels and discover new growth streams, enter new markets and find new ways to engage with consumers, and work with suppliers to find efficiencies in their supply chain, Kristin Howell, SAP鈥檚 global vice president of Retail Solution Management, said.

鈥淭here is a tremendous market out there for retailers to utilize AI and improve their business processes,鈥� she said during an open theater session at the 51风流booth during the show.

Over two days, retailers who came to the 51风流booth spoke about the challenges they face, talked about data, data management, and the opportunities presented by AI, and heard about how new solutions and services from 51风流tailored specifically to the retail sector can help them become more efficient and serve their customers better.

51风流officially launched the at the show. The new solution helps centralize operational data and can integrate finance, procurement, and merchandising processes.

“Whether you’re a franchisee with a handful of stores or the biggest retailer out there, there’s a certain level of complexity that comes with running any retail business, especially with consumers who expect a very flexible fulfillment experience,” Howell said during a press briefing. “In order to really fulfill these expectations profitably and meet the needs of these consumers, we believe that this retail-tailored ERP solution is going to make the difference for them.”

51风流also announced plans to bolster its retail offerings with two new tools鈥攁 refreshed loyalty management cloud service and a generative AI assistant designed to give store employees and consumers an easier way to find what they need.

51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition retail, fashion, and vertical business is available immediately, while the shopping assistant, which is based on聽, SAP鈥檚 unified copilot, will be released during the first half of 2025.听

The shopping assistant is designed to make recommendations and help shoppers find what they are looking for more easily while also helping store associates close sales. Because it can be integrated into the retailer鈥檚 ERP system, users can discover specific information, like the current availability of stock.

The new loyalty management application takes data from 51风流S/4HANA Cloud and applies AI to create profiles around customers and their shopping behavior and preferences.

Howell identified the customer experience in retail, including product recommendations and helping consumers search, 鈥渁s areas where retailers can start consuming AI.鈥� She also expects retailers to be early adopters of AI tools to help with their pricing strategies and to use generative AI copilots, including SAP鈥檚 offering, to ask questions and get answers immediately鈥攁bout inventory for example鈥攚herever they are.

While it’s still early days in terms of adoption, almost every retailer presenting in the 51风流booth theater at the show said they are preparing to implement AI tools and some said they are already testing AI tools in specific use cases. And SAP鈥檚 retail team made it clear at the NRF show that 51风流is ready to help.

From the customer鈥檚 side, this experience could affect the reliability of future purchases. It could make them think twice before shopping there again, especially if they already had concerns about the difficulties in completing transactions. From the company鈥檚 perspective, a website outage implies significant losses, such as direct revenue loss due to a main sales channel being shut down, and a loss of organizational trust, potentially driving customers to competitors.

In retail and e-commerce business, customer experience is paramount. A company whose e-commerce frequently experiences downtime could receive a negative market reaction from investors.

These experiences highlight the importance of robust support readiness programs, especially during holiday seasons when businesses strive for more sales and revenue through their digital platforms. With customer expectations at an all-time high, businesses need reliable, scalable, and innovative solutions to deliver exceptional shopping experiences. Proactive support measures can considerably reduce system failures during peak times, which not only reinforces customer satisfaction but also protects organizational trust and revenue. SAP’s holiday support readiness program is designed to address these needs. It offers a strategic, data-driven approach to help businesses thrive during peak periods.

The holiday support readiness program is a customer experience program by 51风流to help safeguard and establish strong support for digital commerce and retail customers during high shopping times. Key features of the program include:

• 鈥�Comprehensive coverage: It can cover events ranging from Singles Day in China and El Buen Fin in Mexico to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year鈥檚.鈥�
• Extensive participation: Last year, 143 customers with 200 tenants used SAP鈥檚 holiday support readiness program to navigate the holiday rush successfully.鈥�
• Early preparation: Preparation begins 4鈥�6 months in advance, involving collaboration among customer support, cloud operations, and product engineering teams.鈥�

The focus on customer experience has increased due to the expansion of interfaces through which customers interact with companies. , 70% of respondents bought products or ordered services electronically in the preceding 12 months. For corporations, this online influx depicts a figure of more than . To approach these complexities, companies have steadily turned to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen their support systems.

In 2024, 51风流introduced a preventative care model under the transformation blueprint, aimed at delivering predictive, proactive, bi-directional support integrated with AI-driven insights and automation, allowing teams to predict potential problems and address them before they impact customers鈥攁nd potentially millions of users. SAP鈥檚 proprietary AI tools are deployed to help streamline support processes, enhance operational insights, and enable predictive and proactive engagement.

This represents a pioneering shift in the industry, positioning 51风流as a front-runner in AI-driven, predictive, and proactive support solutions.鈥疶he model provides a comprehensive, 360-degree customer support profile, helping to accelerate issue detection and anticipate potential problems, with AI-integrated features like a virtual support assistant, resource and鈥痺eb traffic predictions, a鈥痳ecommendation engine, case history analysis, issue correlation, and pattern recognition.

To operationalize this model, 51风流leverages collaboration approaches among product engineering teams, cloud operations鈥攄atabase administrators and technical operations managers鈥攖echnical support, and mission-critical teams to convey comprehensive case analysis reports and detailed recommendations and action plans for each customer. This can allow 51风流to identify and resolve future issues before customers are affected, helping to reinforce system stability during peak sales periods. For example, the proactive support process for the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events involved holistic health checks for over 143 customers鈥痑nd 200 production environments, setting a new standard in holiday readiness.

When aligned with the organizational strategy, a support program can foster a more positive customer journey, resulting in improved customer loyalty. “The holiday support readiness program isn’t just about managing the current peak; it’s about preparing for the next one. Our focus on preventative, AI-driven support means that our customers can focus on their business, not on system stability,” says Stefan Steinle, executive vice president and head of Customer Support & CLM at SAP.

For enterprises, joining the holiday support readiness program can also offer the following advantages:

• Minimize downtime: It helps ensure e-commerce platforms are ready when it matters most.鈥�
• Optimize performance: It uses AI and automation to help maintain peak system health and customer satisfaction.鈥�
• Stay ahead: Proactive monitoring and predictive support help keep organizations one step ahead of potential outcomes.鈥�

Looking forward, preparing for upcoming retail peak seasons cannot be overstated. 51风流Sapphire in 2025 will hold dedicated sessions to help ensure customers are well-equipped for these challenging periods. From live demos to expert interactions, attendees will be able to witness firsthand how SAP’s tools help keep businesses running smoothly and engage directly with solution experts.

Our commitment at 51风流Sapphire in 2025 is to equip customers with the knowledge and tools needed for uninterrupted success during every peak period. The holiday support readiness program is about turning challenges into opportunities for growth. With these resources, businesses will be better prepared to face uncertainties and use favorable circumstances in demanding times, ensuring sustained development and customer satisfaction.

Don’t wait until the next holiday season to find last-minute solutions. Be a part of the holiday support readiness program now and secure your business’s performance for future peak sales periods.

• 51风流also debuts solutions to address loyalty gap as new survey results show 80% of U.S. consumers feel undervalued by brands

NEW YORK 鈥� (NYSE: SAP) announced a slate of new solutions and capabilities catering to the retail industry at , the flagship industry event hosted by the National Retail Federation.

SAP鈥檚 top news is the general availability of the 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business solution. This enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is built specifically for retailers and marks a significant milestone in bringing tailored ERP capabilities to retailers of all sizes worldwide.

鈥淪AP鈥檚 announcement of an all-in-one platform tailored for retail represents a meaningful differentiator in the market,鈥� said Leslie Hand, Group Vice President for IDC Retail Insights. “Retailers often struggle with fragmented solutions that excel in some areas but cannot deliver the end-to-end integration necessary for seamless retail operations.”

鈥淲颈迟丑 , 51风流brings the same best-in-class functionality trusted by market leaders and recognized worldwide, now tailored to meet the scale, price and time-to-value required by fast-growing organizations,鈥� said Balaji Balasubramanian, senior vice president and global head, Commerce and Consumer Industries at 51风流SE. He added that retailers, in order to deliver personalized experiences, need an ERP system with retail-specific processes and capabilities that are tailored to the complexities of merchandising, store operations, and retail supply chains. Balasubramanian notes that generic ERP systems lack these end-to-end retail processes and aren鈥檛 flexible enough for today鈥檚 digital consumer.

SAP鈥檚 latest offering addresses these challenges through a solution built on the flexibility of public cloud architecture that unifies industry-specific processes, data and AI and offers out-of-the-box integrations. It also provides a comprehensive suite of capabilities designed to streamline processes, enhance customer experiences and drive sustainable growth. The new platform offers integrated management of finance, procurement and merchandising, with unified operational data and ready-to-use AI.

New loyalty solution to feature data-driven personalization

51风流also announced a new loyalty management solution aimed at retailers and consumer packaged goods companies, scheduled for release in the second half of 2025.

According to , four in five (83%) U.S. consumers feel undervalued by the brands they remain loyal to, with many questioning their loyalty altogether. This new solution aims to equip organizations with experiential journeys and personalized, real-time offers to help earn customer loyalty through integration with the 51风流Commerce Cloud, 51风流Service Cloud, 51风流Emarsys and 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business solutions.

Key features include:

• Loyalty profiles that connect every shopper with a cloud-based loyalty wallet, facilitating targeted and personalized offers, entitlements, and real-time basket analysis.
• Multi-brand loyalty management, as well as shared loyalty programs with partners that centralize loyalty programs across regions and markets, enabling combined brand programs for gaining market share.
• A single place for omnichannel promotion planning with real-time redemption to deliver any type of offer, digital payment and gifting to all customers on any channel.
• Loyalty journey planning that delivers experiential omnichannel journeys tailored to customer needs through personalized commerce, marketing, service and retail interactions.
• Quantifiable metrics that track promotion performance and loyalty-related liabilities, linking to financial systems to measure ROI, and enable settlements with the member and partner brands.

Artificial intelligence to make online shopping easier than ever

51风流also announced the general availability of an AI shopping assistant in the first half of 2025. This intelligent assistant, delivered with the , expands the existing AI capabilities of 51风流Commerce Cloud, transforming the online shopping experience through natural language conversations that help customers quickly find exactly what they need.

Visit the . Follow 51风流at .

Media Contact:
Mallory Kuno, +1 (425) 239-9362, mallory.kuno@sap.com, ET

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Through Cyber Week, 51风流Commerce Cloud powered US$12.2B in gross merchandising value (GMV) for our customers, with a 23.42% year-over-year (YoY) increase in number of orders processed through the solution and 100% uptime. This level of success requires personalized customer engagement, and, for Cyber Week 2024, 51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement delivered a 10% YoY increase of overall engagement across all channels, with mobile channels seeing a 200% growth YoY.

But more than just numbers, we鈥檙e drawing insights and learnings from some of the largest brands we serve around the world.

Imitation Is a Form of Flattery for B2B Companies

Many industries have looked at how B2C retail companies reach their customers historically and used it as a model. This year, we saw our wholesale distribution customers running Black Friday and Cyber Week promotions to their customers 鈥� B2B buyers 鈥� with outstanding results. In fact, customers in the wholesale distribution industry saw a 125.2% increase YoY in GMV.

Holiday Shopping Continues to Start Earlier Each Year

E-mails, SMS, social ads, and more for Black Friday sales have been circulating since well before November 29^th. Understandably so, as retailers compete for market share. , retail sales saw an increase of 2.3% in October, which beat analyst predictions and is a good early indicator for the holiday shopping season. For 51风流customers in electronics, appliances, and personal care and beauty, we saw spikes in sales in mid- to late-October, which supports the U.S. Commerce Department鈥檚 findings.

However, getting started early doesn鈥檛 mean that retailers are simply shifting their sales and then finished. Instead, getting started early allows retailers to do both 鈥� lean into a first round of promotions earlier than the 鈥渟hopping season鈥� and a second round during peak Cyber Week shopping, leading to a higher total year-end volume. In addition, by providing two rounds of promotions, companies were able to capture customers who may have missed the initial offering. 51风流customers, particularly in the home improvement and personal care industries, were able to achieve this success with a 鈥渢wo-hit鈥� strategy.

Consumers Perceive Deals May Get Sweeter If They Wait

It鈥檚 been the belief for years that the best deals happen on Black Friday, but we鈥檝e seen a shift this year. Our data shows that on Cyber Monday the GMV values were significantly more than Black Friday, with an explosive 71.8% increase YoY. Was this trend due to shoppers rushing to take advantage of sales on the last day of the sales event? Or have shoppers been re-conditioned to wait for the best deals on Cyber Monday? We鈥檒l see if this shift has a stronghold in the upcoming years.

Cyber Week Isn鈥檛 About the American Thanksgiving Holiday Anymore

With the adoption of e-commerce and the desire to seek out deals, this major sale event has become a global phenomenon, and 51风流Commerce Cloud data shows it. Last year, we reported that the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region was comparable to North American sales, with the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region showing explosive growth 鈥� and now it is official!聽Our data shows EMEA with 139.6% and APJ with 49.7% Cyber Week GMV growth. Customers in countries like Germany (+314.3% GMV), the United Kingdom (+106.1% GMV), and South Korea (+12.3% GMV), continue to adopt this sales event, and it鈥檚 looking like a mainstay for the future.听

A Village Is Key to Success

To achieve this kind of success takes months of work from entire teams 鈥� both from our customers鈥� side and from SAP. By infusing artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools to predict, prevent, and address issues proactively, our team of dedicated engineers created 360-degree action plans for our customers and created recommendations to help achieve peak holiday success. With 24×7 control room support, real-time monitoring, and risk mitigation, 51风流helped ensure seamless performance and availability during peak traffic periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with 100% uptime, setting a new benchmark for holiday readiness.

To learn how 51风流Customer Experience solutions can help your organization drive transformational innovation, .

Balaji Balasubramanian is senior vice president and global head of Commerce & Industry Cloud at SAP.

As consumers demand more convenience and accountability, retailers that are ready to integrate omnichannel flows and eco-friendly packaging will be primed to lead. So here are some hot takes from the report to stay ahead in the evolving retail game:

AI and Personalization

Retailers not using AI to meet customer expectations risk being left behind, as AI is not just a one-time tool but a transformative asset. While 61% of shoppers support more AI in retail, 40% believe most marketing emails lack relevance and 23% think retailers do not personalize content effectively. By adopting AI for personalization, 78% of marketers have increased customer engagement and 75% reported improved customer loyalty. The takeaway: Investing in AI-driven personalization not only meets customer demands but can significantly boost engagement and loyalty.

Omnichannel Integration

Seamless customer experiences across digital and physical channels are now the standard, with 80% of retailers syncing customer carts across platforms. By making returns easier, as 65% of retailers already do, businesses can enhance loyalty and encourage repeat purchases. The opportunity is clear: retailers that can capture more customer loyalty; for newer brands, this is a strategic differentiator.

Dynamic Pricing and Inventory Management

AI-driven dynamic pricing is becoming a game-changer in the retail space, allowing real-time price adjustments based on market conditions. AI-based pricing can increase revenue by 1.3% annually on average. Additionally, 67% of consumers want real-time stock updates and 31% find items are often out of stock, underscoring the need for . Retailers that leverage AI for both pricing and stock visibility can enjoy enhanced profitability and meet customer expectations more reliably.

Returns as Revenue

Returns — often seen as a hassle — present untapped revenue potential. By adopting strategic return incentives such as in-store bonuses, retailers can boost foot traffic and secondary sales. Thirty-three percent of U.S. shoppers intentionally over-purchase with plans to return some items. AI-led returns processing can reduce return rates by an average of 26%. Creative return programs, such as second-chance sales and re-commerce, offer a way to turn returns into customer loyalty and revenue opportunities rather than costs.

Sustainable Packaging

Upcoming regulations across the EU, U.K., and certain U.S. states mandate heightened recycling targets — 65% recycling by 2025 in the EU, for example — within the near- to mid-future. While many businesses are aware of the targets, they are not ready for them. As packaging solutions evolve, brands investing in eco-friendly packaging and reusable solutions can gain a competitive edge and connect with increasingly eco-conscious consumers. Retailers that see beyond short-term recycling and invest in sustainable, or even regenerative, packaging are positioning themselves for long-term success in an environmentally driven market.

As retail transforms, staying adaptable, data-driven, and customer-focused is essential. The 51风流report reveals the winning strategies of top brands, from harnessing AI to reimagining returns and leading in sustainable packaging.

for actionable insights and strategies that can elevate your business — and catch these insights live at industry events like NRF, where retail鈥檚 future is on full display. Your blueprint for the next big move starts here.

Joerg Koesters is head of Consumer Industries Solutions Marketing at SAP.

Fernet-Branca originated in Italy in 1845 as the creation of herbalist Bernardino Branca, who intended it as a medicinal digestif. Produced from a secret recipe of herbs, flowers, roots, and spices 鈥� thought to include saffron, rhubarb, myrrh, and artichoke 鈥� the drink remains popular for its many curative properties.

While the strong bitterness and unique flavor is arguably an acquired taste for most, sales of Fernet-Branca remain robust for global producer Fratelli Branca Distillerie, headquartered in Italy with production plants in both Italy and Argentina and from there they export to other countries.

Gaston Vega, director of IT at Fratelli Branca Distillerie in Argentina, summarizes the brand鈥檚 success: 鈥淚n the last three years, counting until 2023, Fratelli Branca has been exceeding the sales level every year 鈥� meaning that each year of the last three, from 2021 to 2023, was a record.鈥�

But with such success comes pressure to meet rising demand. For many years, Fratelli Branca in Argentina relied on a patchwork of outdated tools and time-consuming manual methods for its customer relationship management (CRM). To become a world-class, sales-driven organization, Fratelli Branca needed to carry out a digital transformation to modernize and automate its CRM processes for improved efficiency. But first, it urgently required an internal champion who could devote time to investigate the technology market and introduce new digital solutions. Vega, who had only recently joined the company in 2022 after many years in the consumer products industry, came to a disquieting realization: 鈥淚n the mass consumption sector, the truth is we were quite behind,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here were many opportunities for automation, digitalization, and technology modernization.鈥�

Valuing a Tradition of Continuous Innovation

For more than 175 years, Fratelli Branca has honored the company motto 鈥�Novare serbando鈥� 鈥� a Latin phrase that means to keep innovating while respecting tradition. This commitment to continuous innovation is evident in the broad portfolio of premium beverages that the company produces, including many brand-name brandies, liquors, vermouths, vodkas, and whiskies.

Now it was time for the sales organization to champion this commitment to innovation through its digital transformation. Would the team be ready for a new way of working? Yes, Vega says: 鈥淲hen I raised the idea of implementing a CRM, I had the unconditional and absolute support of the sales director and the entire commercial area.鈥�

With key stakeholders in agreement, Fratelli Branca evaluated a range of CRM solutions on the market. It chose 51风流based on best performance, value, and ease of integration with the organization鈥檚 existing 51风流enterprise resource planning software. 鈥� solutions won in that bid for different reasons: first, we liked the application better, for cost, for different reasons,鈥� Vega says, explaining that 鈥渂asically, the need arose from automation. Many very manual processes were being done here. The sales order system was obsolete, almost unsupported. That was why we looked for an application like this.鈥�

The sales team participated in the demo sessions and asked detailed questions to gain an in-depth understanding of how the new 51风流solution could enhance productivity. 鈥淚t is an application that they really liked from the first moment,鈥� Vega says. 鈥淭hey thought it was super agile, super versatile, and that it was going to bring them many benefits. Reducing their manual and administrative tasks meant that they gained productive time. So, that’s a very big benefit.鈥�

51风流Sales Cloud: Optimizing Each Customer Interaction for Improved Profitability

is an advanced CRM solution that helps sales-driven organizations maximize customer interactions and profit margins simultaneously. Using a data-driven approach, the solution expedites a comprehensive strategy to help optimize sales, customer service, and marketing operations. The integration of AI features can enable sales representatives to turn data into actionable insights to help enhance customer engagement, drive customer retention, and ultimately increase sales.

51风流Sales Cloud鈥檚 success can also be attributed to its versatility and adaptability; it can be seamlessly integrated into an organization鈥檚 existing IT infrastructure without interrupting routine workflow.

Dynamic and Strong Support Drives Project Success

To ensure project success, Fratelli Branca chose global consultancy , an 51风流partner with a proven track record in helping clients accelerate value from digital transformation of core technologies. The work chemistry with Avvale was an important consideration, Vega says: 鈥淲e have a great dynamic with them. They are people who understood very well what we needed and did not try to go a different path. They recommended things to us; we adopted them. So, that was the first milestone.鈥�

Also, 51风流continued to monitor the project鈥檚 progress, so Fratelli Branca was never alone or stuck for answers. 鈥�51风流obviously sold us the product, it sold the licenses, but it never stopped accompanying us in the implementation,鈥� Vega says. 

With a strong team and stakeholder support, the implementation of 51风流Sales Cloud, including the platform, proceeded quickly, so that within five months, Fratelli Branca was ready to introduce the new CRM solution to the sales team. The implementation team knew that selecting highly motivated key users would be necessary to ensure acceptance and spur adoption. 鈥淲hen you bring a new tool that no one knows about, finding the key user who is your internal partner is essential,鈥� Vega says. 鈥淟uckily, we had that commitment on the side of the key users.鈥�

Real-Time Data Access with Mobile-Ready Solution

With a host of powerful capabilities for sales teams, 51风流Sales Cloud offers a mobile-ready solution to help meet the needs of a remote and traveling workforce, meaning that salespeople can have immediate access to critical data and analytics from anywhere. For the sales team at Fratelli Branca, access to real-time information while in the field has been a game-changer.

With sales coverage responsibility for the entirety of Argentina 鈥� from rugged Patagonia in the south to the wine-growing region of Cuyo in the west and the sunny wetlands of the Argentine Littoral in the northeast 鈥� Fratelli Branca鈥檚 sales team is on the go to meet customers, take sales orders, check invoices, and monitor sales progress. Now equipped with tablet computers and mobile phones, the team is achieving new levels of efficiency, as they can better perform their work in the field. 鈥淸It鈥檚] everything that a CRM gives you and in a super agile way,鈥� Vega says. 鈥淚magine that we went from almost prehistory to modernity.鈥�

Fratelli Branca continues to evolve its use of the new digital solution to further automate sales processes and eliminate onerous manual and repetitive tasks. One of the features it plans to implement is a survey module that can save photographs at the point of sales 鈥� usually a bar or restaurant 鈥� and gather important sales-related information about pricing and competitor data.

Overall, Vega describes the adoption of 51风流Sales Cloud as 鈥渟uper positive, with always good positive comments. The truth is that I never had a complaint.鈥� He notes that previously the 鈥渟ales team was manual and today they are digitalized; you clearly notice that the sales team and the directors value precisely this greater efficiency [from] having digitized certain processes.鈥�

Known for its extensive range of products, competitive pricing, and customer-centric approach, Hornbach has built a solid reputation over the years. Founded in Germany in 1877 as a small workshop, the retailer has grown into a major player in the European DIY market, employing 25,000 people. The company remains family operated, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction and long-term growth.

鈥淲e have more than 170 stores operating in nine European countries, and we keep expanding our footprint across Europe,鈥� Mueller says. 鈥淎s Hornbach focuses on providing the best price to its customers, efficiency of processes 鈥� and especially an efficient software solution 鈥� is key for us.”

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Expanding the Business Model: From Stores to Reseller Platform

The DIY retailer focuses on four key pillars: a wide product range with more than 120,000 products in categories including building materials, tools, garden, and decorative supplies; large store formats often exceeding 10,000 square meters; a low-price policy with high-quality products; and well-trained staff providing support for DIY projects.

鈥淓verything you need for your garden or home renovation, you can get at Hornbach,鈥� Mueller explains. To offer customers even more products for their personal projects, the retailer decided to level up its online store and create a reseller platform where it will connect offerings from other retailers with its own customer base.

To build a system that would scale to accommodate the expected growth within the next 10 years, Hornbach implemented 51风流Order Management foundation as a stable foundation for its corporate strategy.

鈥�51风流Order Management foundation is a system that helps businesses process orders efficiently,鈥� explains Pano Papadopoulos, business development manager for 51风流Retail.

鈥�51风流Order Management foundation uses an event-based architecture to rapidly channel any orders through various business systems, including ERP and fulfillment systems,鈥� Papadopoulos adds. 鈥淭his intelligent system not only processes orders swiftly but also harnesses order data for strategic analysis, enabling smarter business decisions for the future.鈥�

Hornbach already realized the benefits of this solution, Mueller says: 鈥�51风流Order Management foundation allows us to access new markets quite fast and connect all the systems we need. In the first month of its launch, we have processed more than 100,000 orders and we can respond to a customer鈥檚 order within milliseconds. Today we process up to 1,000 orders in under one minute. This will allow for the order volumes we expect in the future. We measure the success of the solution by using OpenTelemetry, an open source standard, and monitor the processing speed of incoming orders. This way we can tackle potential issues early.鈥�

Besides dealing with large order volumes, Hornbach鈥檚 system landscape already proved its adaptability. Due to the flexibility of its modular system landscape, the retailer could integrate a recent acquisition into its operational system in a very short time.

Hybrid Architecture: Connecting to Cloud Services

Hornbach is running on a hybrid system architecture, following its 51风流S/4HANA transformation project step-by-step. 鈥淲e chose a cloud-native architecture that can scale 鈥� for all system loads that we might not be aware of today,鈥� Mueller says. 51风流Order Management foundation is a cloud-native solution connecting to an on-premise system backbone.

Hornbach wants to be able to add more channels fast and create a seamless customer experience across all its channels. 鈥淲e aim for a composable enterprise architecture, and for that we use event-driven architectures,鈥� Mueller says. 鈥淭hat’s where 51风流comes in, because we’re able to connect our enterprise event mesh to plug in business created through platforms of hyperscalers like Amazon or Azure.鈥� By moving to an event-driven architecture, Hornbach will be able to leverage the power and innovations from hyperscalers as well as connect new systems with current on-premise systems.

In the future, Hornbach will keep transforming its system landscape. 51风流Order Management foundation will be rolled out to further countries and the scope of the solution will be extended: B2B orders as well as orders from external marketplaces will be routed through 51风流Order Management foundation. Additional solutions like 51风流Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit will be next on the retailer鈥檚 list.

鈥淭he combination of new technologies like event-driven architecture, AI, and cloud-native solutions will give Hornbach great power for growth in the next years,鈥� Mueller says, smiling.

Key to BrandAlley鈥檚 success is its deep understanding of its members and the impressive fact that 70% of these customers keep coming back for more. Fifty-two percent of them buy instantly, purchasing an average of three items, or 拢140 of value.

Michelle Hurney, head of Marketing at BrandAlley, explains the company鈥檚 core principle: 鈥淲e launch up to 40 campaigns every day that offer up to 75% off on some of the best brands such as Reiss, Dyson, Levi鈥檚, and many more.鈥� Campaigns are exclusively for members and interested customers have to sign up to browse the website and to shop. Registration is free.

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Focus on Brand Fans

鈥淲e have been rethinking the way we identify our best customers, moving away from the traditional view of the most valuable customers being those who spend the most,鈥� Hurney says. For BrandAlley, the true value lies in its brand advocates who provide more than just what they鈥檙e spending. She refers to them as brand fans: 鈥淚t’s about who they’re recommending to BrandAlley. When they tell their friends and family about our site, that鈥檚 where the real value is. Word-of-mouth marketing happens to be one of the most effective ways to acquire new customers.鈥�

To segment its customers, BrandAlley doesn鈥檛 only rely on the lifetime value of a customer (total amount spent by one customer), but accrues the amount spent across a customer鈥檚 connections and network. 鈥淭hrough the Advocacy Intelligence platform, we’re tracking the true economic value, or 鈥榚xtended customer revenue鈥� of our VIPs, the people who are sharing their favorite brands,鈥� Hurney adds. 鈥淭his way, we can engage and reward them, and keep them doing what they’re doing.鈥� According to her, other insights become visible as well, like the fact that customers overall are spending less these days while customers from referrals spend more on average and are also far more likely to recommend.

Integration of Mention Me Tactics with 51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement

To identify these advocates BrandAlley is working with 51风流partner Mention Me, the world鈥檚 first customer advocacy intelligence platform. The Mention Me platform uses advanced AI technology to track and provide detailed insights into customers鈥� advocacy behaviors, like recommending products or services to others. Additionally, the solution includes prebuilt Mention Me advocacy tactics that can allow companies to quickly build personalized campaigns through various channels designed to motivate fans to share and recommend more frequently. Prebuilt workflows make the integration of Mention Me鈥檚 unique advocacy data with 51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement seamless and easy.  

Kat Wray, director of Strategic Partnerships at Mention Me, explains the benefits: 鈥淥ur integration feeds Mention Me鈥檚 first-party AI-powered advocacy data into 51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement in real time to identify BrandAlley鈥檚 current and future brand advocates and activate them to drive growth. The combination of advocacy know-how and AI-based insights with 51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement have led to a 25% increase of the repeat purchase rate at BrandAlley.鈥�

The overall improvements are impressive: since the go-live of the solution in September, BrandAlley鈥檚 customer base has grown, with 12% more customers acquired organically through referrals and a 拢9.6 million increase in new customer revenue. Customers who are referred to the brand spend 63% more in their first six months, are two times more likely to purchase again, and are three times more likely to refer their friends.

Wray explains how advocacy insights impact customer engagements: 鈥淭raditionally one would offer a discount code to a customer who is about to defect, together with a message along the lines of 鈥榃e’ve not seen you for a while, here鈥檚 a discount to come back.鈥� Based on advocacy data, we can now see that some of these customers might not be ready to spend but are more than happy to share and recommend the brand to friends instead 鈥� driving indirect revenue. They aren鈥檛 inactive customers but engaged advocates.鈥�  

Machine Learning Advances Customer Loyalty

鈥淎t Mention Me, we use AI and machine learning to optimize referrals. We have our own AI engine with predictive capabilities that enable marketers to focus their activities on specific customer cohorts,鈥� Wray says. She explains that it is key to understand that not all customers are ready to refer; some people just aren’t at that stage yet, but future advocacy behavior of specific individuals can be predicted. Machine learning also identifies a customer’s propensity to refer at a given moment. Customers with a high propensity to refer will be encouraged to do so. Once brand loyal, customers鈥� propensity to refer grows, and sometimes so does their propensity to purchase again.

Asked about BrandAlley鈥檚 next step regarding advocacy management, Hurney answers: 鈥淎s we build on our strategic partnerships with Mention Me and 51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement, we鈥檙e excited to see how our shift of focus from VIPs to 鈥榲ery important advocates鈥� will play an even greater role in our marketing and growth strategy.鈥�

Top photo courtesy of BrandAlley

Companies that prioritize sustainability in their operations, such as using recycled materials, reducing carbon emissions, or supporting social causes, are gaining popularity among consumers. But those consumers demand proof of these values and product promises at the point of sale.

鈥淭he rise of sustainability isn’t just a movement; it is a shift in consumer consciousness,鈥� said Dania Fayyaz, 51风流North America sustainability program manager. 鈥淭oday’s consumers are redefining their purchasing patterns, opting for products and brands that align with their values, and driving a demand for eco-conscious practices and ethical sourcing.鈥� In her conversations with retailers that visited SAP鈥檚 booth at NRF 2024, the world鈥檚 largest retail fair, she saw a high interest in sustainability solutions.

Consumers 鈥� and Markets 鈥� Demand Visibility

When the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) comes into effect for large enterprises later this year all products sold in the EU containing palm oil, cocoa, soy, rubber, cattle/leather, coffee, wood, and their derivatives will need proof that their harvest didn鈥檛 contribute to deforestation. Non-compliance will result in potential fines of up to 4% of companies鈥� EU annual turnover. To help businesses simplify this complex task, the 51风流Green Token solution can track the geolocation of where raw materials are harvested and automate the creation of due diligence statements (DDS). The solution can also help improve visibility for consumers on where the raw material for their clothing was sourced and offer information on potential reuse and recycling.

Take the example of a cotton shirt made from 50% certified recycled materials. Cotton can be sourced from multiple farms or recycling services and taken to a cotton mill where it鈥檚 spun into thread and later fabric. It becomes impossible to distinguish the different cotton elements 鈥� conventional versus recycled cotton 鈥� once they are co-mingled and the manufacturer loses insight into the sustainability attributes of the raw materials. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to have a sophisticated tracking solution in place. “51风流Green Token can enhance transparency for bulk-traded, co-mingled raw materials by digitally storing sustainability attributes on tokens that traverse the supply chain,” said Fayyaz.

In addition to making conscious decisions on raw materials and products, consumers can also consider circular economy models. 鈥淚’m really intrigued by the idea of revitalizing clothing items,鈥� said Fayyaz. 鈥淚magine being able to exchange a well-loved jacket you’ve had for years and receive credit in return. And the jacket might find a new owner who will genuinely appreciate it.鈥� The 51风流Recommerce solution enables that scenario, helping brands and retailers take back, manage, and resell secondhand inventory to help accelerate the shift from linear to circular business models. On an even larger scale, 51风流Green Ledger is SAP鈥檚 vision to make transactional carbon accounting a reality. It can enable organizations to track carbon like they do cash, with every financial transaction having a corresponding carbon entry. 鈥淭his is incredibly desirable because we will see taxes for carbon imposed in the future, and decision-makers will want insights into which processes are utilizing the most carbon,鈥� Fayyaz said.

A Glance into the Crystal Ball

At the same time, low-price online platforms continue to attract consumers with their affordable and wide range of products. They offer competitive prices on trendy clothing and accessories using economies of scale and direct-to-consumer models. Despite concerns about their environmental and ethical practices, these platforms remain popular among price-conscious consumers. However, there is growing awareness of the environmental and social impacts of fast fashion and low-price models. As a result, consumers are becoming increasingly discerning in their purchasing decisions, prioritizing quality, longevity, and sustainability over cheap prices and fast fashion trends.

鈥淥verall, the consumer landscape is evolving, with a growing emphasis on sustainability, conscious consumption, and ethical practices,鈥� said Sven Denecken, chief marketing and solutions officer for 51风流Industries & CX. 鈥淐ompanies that can adapt to these changing preferences and demonstrate a commitment to environmental and social responsibility are likely to thrive in the long term.鈥�

WALLDORF 鈥� (NYSE: SAP) today announced a new composable payment solution to help retailers stay ahead of changing customer expectations. The new solution, 51风流Commerce Cloud, open payment framework, helps retailers become more agile as new payment options 鈥� such as buy now, pay later 鈥� gain popularity.

The framework integrates 51风流Commerce Cloud with numerous third-party payment service providers (PSPs), including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay and Airwallex, based on their specific use case. Additionally, SAP鈥檚 composable architecture allows retailers to cherry-pick payment partners tailored to their unique needs and international markets, enabling them to build at their own pace, scale their business faster and avoid being confined to a single provider.

鈥淩etailers want to extend more payments options to shoppers and quickly, and 51风流is leveraging its vast partner ecosystem to fulfill this need,鈥� said Leslie Hand, group vice president, Retail & Financial Insights, IDC. 鈥淲颈迟丑 SAP’s deep understanding of retail and commerce and new offering to have a quick connection to the PSPs, retailers can adopt the plug and play framework they need that greatly reduces the complexity of a traditional integration. It鈥檚 great to see 51风流delivering on its promise to offer composable solutions, so customers can adjust to new market requirements when and where it works best for them.鈥�

51风流Commerce Cloud鈥檚 seamless and native integration capabilities ensure PSPs can be rapidly adopted, and it reduces complexity by eliminating the need to integrate and deploy extensions to the commerce codebase. The framework is extensible and headless, helping ensure the front end and back end are decoupled and operate independently, creating an opportunity to cater to a wide range of channel requirements and add on new solutions, including prebuilt payment experiences available on 51风流Commerce Cloud, composable storefront. It also ensures customers have the freedom to pick their preferred payment method, which enhances the checkout experience.

鈥淪AP鈥檚 unmatched industry expertise is the foundation of our strategy, as it enables us to deeply understand the complexities of delivering seamless and positive customer experiences that reinforce the brand promise with every interaction,鈥� said Sven Denecken, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Product Marketing for 51风流Industries & CX. 鈥淪AP鈥檚 unique, industry-led approach to composability places the retailer’s digital commerce needs front and center while we work with them to manage their digital transformation, navigate pathways to sustainable growth, and deliver on industry expectations.鈥�

This no-code, low-code framework gives retailers a low-cost, adaptive, and agile payments system that can best fit their business and customer needs. It covers common payment needs and end-to-end payment processes across authorization, capture, refunds, and re-authorization as well as automatic updates with security and compliance standards.

• Example use case: A jewelry retailer that leverages a leading PSP wants to expand its payment options to offer a buy-now, pay-later payment option. They can add the new offering with a few clicks, immediately make the option available while meeting security requirements, and help guarantee an end-to-end payment experience for the customer.

51风流Commerce Cloud helps deliver profitable digital commerce growth, from discovery to delivery and beyond, and can be implemented with agility across industries such as retail, automotive, consumer products, utilities, and many others globally through its headless and composable offering. The open payment framework for 51风流Commerce Cloud is in beta and 51风流customers can join now. It is planned to be generally available in H2 2024.

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Jillian Baker, +1 (212) 653-9600, jillian.baker@sap.com, ET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com

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Partner Quotes: 51风流Announces New Commerce Cloud Payment Solution with Partners

WALLDORF 鈥� (NYSE: SAP) today announced a new composable payment solution to help retailers stay ahead of changing customer expectations.

The new solution, 51风流Commerce Cloud, open payment framework, helps retailers become more agile as new payment options 鈥� such as buy now, pay later 鈥� gain popularity. The framework also integrates with any third-party Payment Service Provider (PSP), including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay and Airwallex, based on their specific use case.

51风流partners are an extension of our business, bringing experience and domain expertise that help retailers innovate, transform, and simplify. SAP’s payment partner ecosystem is made up of many providers who are solving some of the most critical industry or region-specific business needs to empower shoppers to buy and pay on their own terms.

51风流partners are important to this initiative. Read the following comments from 51风流partners, many of which have apps available on the 51风流Store online marketplace, about their involvement.

Adyen

“Adyen has a strong foundation of servicing customers through our existing 51风流Commerce Cloud integration, and the open payment framework is the first step of a larger strategic partnership with the goal of enabling digital payments for customers across a larger range of 51风流solutions. Adyen and 51风流support some of the world鈥檚 largest enterprise organizations, and this partnership provides a gateway for those companies to easily migrate to a single global payments platform with the flexibility and support that Adyen is known for. Working closely with SAP, we intend to scale our already considerable payments processing volumes to the next level.鈥�

鈥� Kyle Jenke, VP, Global Head of Partnerships, Adyen

Worldpay

鈥淲orldpay鈥檚 collaboration with 51风流using the new open payment framework for 51风流Commerce Cloud aims to revolutionize the way businesses manage their payment processing, offering seamless and secure solutions for our customers around the globe. By combining SAP’s industry-leading software with Worldpay’s innovative payment technology, we can provide businesses with a comprehensive payment ecosystem that optimizes efficiency, enhances security, and drives growth. We look forward to the exciting opportunities this collaboration around 51风流Commerce Cloud will bring, and we are committed to continuing to innovate and provide cutting-edge solutions in the payment industry.鈥�

鈥� Maria Prados, SVP, Global Enterprise Go to Market, Worldpay

Airwallex

鈥淭his is an important first partnership between Airwallex and SAP, as we mutually look to support merchants with their international expansion plans. As one of four official payment service providers added to the 51风流Commerce Cloud solution, Airwallex鈥檚 global payments and proprietary financial infrastructure will provide merchants with even more choices and payment options that suit their growing customer base. This is the start of a long-term relationship in which we look forward to strengthening our enterprise playbook and further scaling into the Americas and EMEA while supporting SAP鈥檚 business in APAC.鈥�

鈥� Ravi Adusumilli, EGM, Americas, Airwallex

Media Contact:
Jillian Baker, +1 (212) 653-9600, jillian.baker@sap.com, ET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com

Throughout Croatia, some businesses are venturing to a first in the European Union: offering customers . But this 鈥渃harge while you wait鈥� initiative isn’t just about attracting new customers 鈥� it’s about integrating eco-friendly practices into daily routines for a more sustainable future.

According to Ivica Bla啪evi膰, CEO and founder of CEV Technologies d.o.o., 鈥淲hile automakers promise a more-electric future, people are interested in EVs only if they reduce fuel costs, offer convenience in refueling, enhance driving experiences, and demonstrate significant environmental contributions. This latest addition to the customer experience proves how businesses across various industries can play a pivotal role in delivering that vision.鈥�

Greening the Customer Experience with E-Mobility

The transition to a low-carbon economy presents an opportunity for Croatia to enhance citizens’ lives by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and investing significantly in renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. The country also emphasizes energy efficiency in buildings and industries, implementing regulations to curtail energy consumption.

One initiative gaining traction thanks to Croatia鈥檚 growing desire to offer charging stations is sustainable transportation. By encouraging electric vehicle usage while advancing public transport initiatives to reduce fossil fuel dependency, the country can better align with European Union directives and foster a greener economy that champions people, businesses, and communities.

51风流partner , a rapidly growing international charge point operator and e-mobility service provider, aims to support these initiatives. The company offers bespoke e-mobility and smart energy solutions, intending to assist customers in leveraging EV charging solutions and green energy more effectively.

For sustainability-focused countries like Croatia, CEV Technologies sees enormous promise in developing solutions for many industries, including retail, hospitality, and fleet management. And it wants to apply its deep expertise in EV charging technology to create innovative e-mobility features. To realize this aim, CEV Technologies cemented strategic business relationships to help co-create smooth, intelligent, and automated charging experiences.

鈥淚n our partnership with SAP, we develop innovative and intelligent charging experiences for our customers. The focus is on integrating the charging process with individual business models to establish value-creating, end-to-end scenarios,鈥� Bla啪evi膰 explains.

To realize the potential of convenient charging within the customer experience, CEV Technologies implemented the AI-enabled capabilities of the  solution. It can support various scenarios for vehicle charging network construction, management, billing, and reimbursement. In addition, the solution helps optimize renewable energy production through greater transparency into costs, the charging process, and network usage.

But even more stunning is the opportunity to overcome one of the most significant challenges in the e-mobility market: simplifying the payment process at charging stations. Often, this involved a convoluted process requiring membership in exclusive charging networks, managing prepaid accounts, or navigating multiple apps. Now, CEV Technologies is at charging stations. This innovative move streamlines the charging and paying process, eliminating the obstacles to pushing e-mobility closer to a user-friendly, universally adaptable experience.

In return, achieving public, private, and commercial sustainability goals is within reach. Companies can develop, integrate, and adapt business models that address all types of customer needs and sustainability expectations with outcomes including:

• Speeding up onboarding of charging stations by three times through the use of templates
• 30% less effort when setting up relevant infrastructure, including back-end systems
• 20% faster ramp-up of charging stations

For Croatians, these benefits of e-mobility could bring more value to their everyday lives. Take, for example, a typical commute home from work. The navigation system of an EV can route you toward a charging station in a familiar location and effortlessly reserve it through a loyalty platform.

Plugging your EV into the charging point, you initiate the charging process on your phone and decide to capitalize on offers for a complimentary coffee and other exclusive in-store promotions. After checkout, you receive a comprehensive e-mail overview of your charging session and shopping experience and a free charging voucher for a future purchase.

While this customer experience epitomizes the harmonious fusion of technology and convenience, it also shows how a collective dedication to creating a greener, more connected future can positively impact individuals, communities, a nation, and even the world. And more important, the appeal of a straight-forward payment method that is reminiscent of traditional fueling stations might have an even more far-reaching impact on potential drivers’ willingness to adopt electric vehicles.

Aligning Businesses with Societal Stewardship

Croatia is striding more confidently toward a low-carbon economy as EV charging services become more integrated with the customer experience. Thanks to a country鈥檚 vision and CEV Technologies鈥� innovative solutions, companies across all industries can join this eco-shift by offering products along with an integrated sustainable lifestyle.

Korbinian Koblitz is business development lead for Automotive at SAP.

At the recent NRF event, the world’s largest retail conference, the mantra of “adjust and adapt” echoed through the halls. AI and digital acceleration took the center stage, making innovation the heart of the conversation. Retailers also highlighted a crucial focus on a motivated workforce, emphasizing how an empowered workforce is critical to delivering exceptional customer experiences.

In a landscape challenged by high turnover rates, retailers showcased their commitment to navigating complexity through strategic investments in their most valuable asset 鈥� their people. One of the pivotal elements that drives employee motivation and engagement in the retail industry is incentive compensation, where associates are often paid on commission.

During NRF, Daniel Jasper from Neiman Marcus shared insights into how incentive compensation automation transformed the company鈥檚 commission payment process. With over 40 stores and a complex commission structure, Neiman Marcus faced challenges in managing incentive compensation. Its previous incentive management system was cumbersome and complex, which led to errors, delays, and frustration among sales associates. Implementing helped streamline the process, providing real-time monitoring of commission calculations. This allowed Neiman Marcus to identify and resolve issues proactively, resulting in improved accuracy and timeliness of commission payments. “Rather than waiting to hear from associates that something is wrong, we can monitor the calculations in real-time and resolve issues in advance,鈥� said Jasper. This shift has been a game-changer for Neiman Marcus, driving better sales and revenue growth.

51风流SuccessFactors Incentive Management is one of the sales performance management solutions in the 51风流SuccessFactors portfolio, and it offers a sophisticated platform for tailoring incentive programs to suit the unique needs of retail associates. With powerful analytics, embedded intelligence, and built-in workflows, this solution can revolutionize compensation management. Its intelligent design can not only foster trust but also ignite motivation among store associates. Through a user-friendly mobile app, retail customers can enjoy a comprehensive and easily accessible view of both store and individual performance metrics, promoting transparency and a unified understanding of team dynamics and trends. Personalized recommendations, relevant insights, and interactive monitoring help enhance the user experience, while the mobile app helps ensure that store associates can access their incentives anytime, anywhere, from any device.

The solution’s agility helps facilitate a swift rollout of new and updated compensation plans, offering the flexibility to manage broadly or tailor plans to individual needs. With a steadfast commitment to accuracy and traceability, associates can trust the fairness of calculations, fostering a positive work environment. The effective dating functionalities help further empower organizations, allowing seamless management of associate promotions and transfers.

鈥淩etail businesses more than ever need the ability to design and manage incentive plans that align with ever-changing organizational goals, with a focus on store-level personalization and granularity that allow for improved accuracy and timeliness of commission payments,鈥� said Rahul Iyer, general manager of Sales Performance Management at SAP. “With 51风流SuccessFactors Incentive Management, retailers can incorporate key performance indicators, such as sales per hour and units per sale, into their incentive structure. The mobile app can provide visibility and transparency into individual and store performance, effectively motivating and ensuring optimal performance from their associates.”

In essence, 51风流SuccessFactors Incentive Management emerges as an indispensable tool, helping to empower retail customers to optimize workforce performance and drive sustained success. Displaying key performance indicators and incentives has proven to be a game changer, helping to drive focus on store and individual performance. The result? Associates are more attentive to customers, guiding them through purchasing decisions and enhancing overall satisfaction.

In the always-changing retail world, success comes down to three things: using better technology, having happy employees, and keeping customers in focus. The story of Neiman Marcus proves that automating incentives can be a game changer. It shows how a motivated and well-connected team can not just boost how things work but also bring in more sales and money.

To stay ahead in retail, you need to be ready for change and invest in both tech and your team. This is a clear lesson for retailers planning for the future. Learn more about how . To learn more about how sales performance management solutions can support your organization, visit the鈥�.

Kevin Coxwell is vice president of GTM for Sales Performance Management at SAP.

These pioneers, armed with a potent blend of innovation and determination, are reshaping the shopping experience, driving operational efficiency, and connecting with consumers in unprecedented ways. From leveraging AI and machine learning to implementing augmented reality and blockchain, these retail trailblazers are at the forefront of change, seamlessly integrating cutting-edge technologies to redefine what it means to engage customers and deliver exceptional service.

We launched the 51风流Industry Heroes program in 2023 to celebrate companies that leverage technology to transform their business in innovative ways. Let鈥檚 explore the stories of our NRF retail heroes that harnessed the power of technology to transform the traditional retail paradigm into an innovative, customer-centric frontier.

Birkenstock worked with 51风流on its ongoing objectives to expand retail and wholesale presence while fostering customer growth in line with its renowned legacy of function, quality, and tradition.

Brand Alley delved into the rising trend of utilizing advocacy data in marketing strategies, which led to the transformation of brand perspectives on VIP customers and the strategic utilization of advocacy data within paid search and social media campaigns.

FC Bayern, equipped with over 8 million fan data records, crafted a detailed profile of its worldwide fan community, encompassing specific preferences and interests. 51风流technology played a pivotal role in enabling FC Bayern, one of the most accomplished football clubs globally, to curate what it terms as the “golden fan record.鈥�

Grupo Axo effectively transitioned to leveraging internal customer data due to the potential extinction of third-party data. Its journey offers insights into standing out from competitors, increasing revenue, fostering stronger customer relationships, and cultivating a more robust, data-driven culture through the utilization of internal customer data.

Hornbach achieved real-time retail success, processed over 100,000 orders, and effectively addressed omnichannel challenges with 51风流Order Management foundation. Working together with SAP, Hornbach built a composable enterprise.

Neiman Marcus harnessed innovative methods and valuable insights to optimize its compensation management. These strategies are reshaping the retail landscape and revolutionizing team incentives within the industry.

PetSmart, a prominent pet retailer, encountered obstacles in omnichannel order fulfillment, leading to challenges in financial reconciliation and inventory transparency. By adopting 51风流Customer Activity Repository, PetSmart established a robust foundation for omnichannel retail. This implementation significantly enhanced the omnichannel process and elevated overall customer satisfaction levels.

PVH, a global apparel company with a brand portfolio that includes Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Warner鈥檚, Olga, and True&Co, is working with 51风流to build an IT platform foundation for innovation, modernization, digitalization, and scalability.

Qurate Retail Group, known for its innovative strides in the retail sector, leveraged technology to elevate customer experiences, optimize operations, and propel growth together with SAP.

RD, Brazil’s top drugstore chain boasting nearly 3,000 stores across the nation, achieved a transformative implementation of 51风流technology, which led to streamlined processes and customer-centric advancements, marking a new era of operational excellence.

Wella Company, a pioneering force in the beauty industry with 15 distinctive brands, utilizes technology to inspire both consumers and beauty professionals to embrace their authentic selves. Wella Company’s approach of leveraging actionable data to craft tailored solutions strengthens its lifelong relationships across B2C (business-to-consumer), B2B (business-to-business), and D2C (direct-to-consumer) realms.

51风流celebrates these retailers for their outstanding efforts, collaboration, and dedication in driving successful business outcomes with technology. Join us at NRF 2024 to celebrate these 51风流Industry Heroes that will be sharing their stories and learnings at the 51风流booth. .听

Read more about our retail and CPG customer stories and wins from 2023.

Matt Laukaitis is EVP and Global GM for 51风流Consumer Industries.

2023 proved time and again that retailers and their software partners know how to rise to the occasion in the face of increasing pressures 鈥� and that they can quickly implement new processes and operations when necessary.

51风流has worked in the retail space for decades, helping every business across the ecosystem run at its best. Across this shared history, with our industry partners and end customers, our ecosystem has shown repeatedly the organic growth that is possible because of strong relationships.

Here are some prime examples of retail partners serving as innovation and growth multipliers last year:

Coveo鈥檚 innovative artificial intelligence (AI) platform helps deliver real value to customers, solving business challenges as only AI can. For retailers, Coveo for 51风流Commerce Cloud can assist in finding and recommending products faster to help drive more revenue, optimize campaigns, and power generative experiences. The enterprise-class AI platform can be deployed on top of 51风流in a secure and highly scalable fashion. The result: intelligent site search, tailored recommendations, generative experiences, and personalized, memorable shopping experiences for all customers.

Mention Me makes it possible to harness word of mouth鈥檚 true power, thanks to the world鈥檚 first Customer Advocacy Intelligence Platform. Powered by advanced AI, the platform enables businesses to identify, nurture, and activate their loyal advocates, building a virtuous cycle of customer love and superior economics so that fans keep coming back for more.

Enterprises can launch digital experiences faster with Contentful, which connects with 51风流Commerce Cloud to enable commerce projects of any size, both for the Web and for multichannel experiences. Simply put, Contentful can make it easier for retailers to create and manage digital experiences via structured content built for speed, change, and scale. Using one hub 鈥� that integrates with hundreds of tools to help personalize and optimize 鈥� for easy collaboration, businesses can make their content work harder, so they can work smarter.

The Last Mile Delivery Fulfillment Solution from OneRail provides retailers with the ability to instantaneously scale delivery demand. By integrating with 51风流Commerce Cloud, OneRail鈥檚 offering connects businesses鈥� e-commerce capabilities with nationwide delivery coverage, meaning retailers can have the ability to ship nationwide with complete visibility, all while providing unique, branded customer experiences. In short: efficiency, from dispatch to doorstep.

With Obsess鈥� mobile-optimized enterprise platform, retailers can easily build immersive, 3D, virtual stores proven to increase engagement, conversion, and average order value. By integrating with 51风流Commerce Cloud, the market-leading experiential shopping platform offering can enable enterprises to approach their customers in a branded, personalized fashion 鈥� and make retail shopping fun and memorable again.

Retailers can drive top-notch in-store customer experiences 鈥� and build customer loyalty 鈥� with the 51风流Omnichannel Point-of-Sale application by GK. The configurable application helps enterprises deploy the right business processes efficiently at the point-of-sale, working to reduce their total cost of ownership in the process. Flexible, rules-based configuration also means merchandisers can quickly react to changing business needs, ensuring a more memorable and impactful customer journey from end to end.

The OMS+ Cross-Channel Order Management Solution from DataXstream is an integrated offering built for counter, call center, and mobile sales. OMS+ reimagines the user interface to reflect real-life customer engagements and can provide the platform for making 51风流ERP the foundation of a truly unified commerce strategy. It can also automate time-consuming activities to help ensure your team gets more done in less time, meaning increased sales, reduced costs, and an improved customer experience overall.

The Loyalty Experience Platform from Annex Cloud is built around the idea of organically driving retention and loyalty through every stage of the customer journey. The app offers engaging experiences via incentives at first touch, then as the consumer becomes a prospect, a customer, a repeat customer, and eventually an advocate. Moreover, it guides customer behavior by offering loyalty points for a variety of actions, including purchasing, referring friends, writing reviews, sharing pictures, signing up for newsletters, and more. And it all integrates with 51风流Commerce Cloud.

Retailers looking to maximize revenue and minimize risk should look no further than the Forter Trust Platform for Digital Commerce. The real-time, automated decision platform helps reduce false declines and chargebacks by up to 90%, increasing approval rates so merchants can expand their business. It underlines fraud prevention strategies, enabling safety and security for your commerce processes so you can focus on the business decisions that truly impact growth and retention.

With Aisera, retailers can truly unleash the power of generative AI and automation by reimagining and revolutionizing their services experience. Aisera AI Customer Service provides instant self-service and autonomous resolutions to customer requests across any channel, offering a virtually unlimited supply of 鈥渁gents鈥� to leading enterprises. Seamless integration with 51风流can also simplify efforts to help improve customer satisfaction, agent productivity, and support costs, so that retailers can exceed expectations and focus on building their business.

Paradox鈥檚 leading conversational AI recruiting software is helping clients like Nestle and Unilever automate candidate screening processes, text campaigns, 1:1 texting, interview scheduling, mobile-first assessments, onboarding, and more 鈥� all in a mobile experience fully integrated into 51风流SuccessFactors solutions. In other words, it can help enterprises hire faster and better than ever, building a foundation for consistent and repeatable future success.

Craig Schertler is vice president of Consumer Industries Global Partner Ecosystem at SAP.