NCR Japan announces "NCR Commerce Platform", an integrated platform that supports next-generation stores

On the 24th, NCR Japan, Ltd. announced the "NCR Commerce Platform," a next-generation platform for retailers, banks, and restaurants. [See another image for this article] Takuya Ohara, President and CEO of NCR Japan, said, "We will digitally reform physical stores and further strengthen our strength of having physical stores. Real stores and virtual stores. What kind of business will be strengthened while connecting? " The NCR commerce platform, which has stores, banks, and restaurants all over the world as customers, can efficiently develop its own platform in a short period of time by linking with microservices, analyzing data, etc. in order to link and integrate with digital. Was offered. ■ NCR's mission "RUN the X" This announcement is the NCR's mission "RUN" to "become the No. 1 technology provider that fully supports the smooth operation and continuation of the smooth business of restaurants, retailers and banks around the world." It is said that it is based on "the X". Many companies advocate the fusion of digital and real stores, but at NCR, which has retail, banking, and restaurant businesses that operate stores, such as the four major banks in the United States, as a result of the development of the digital society, physical stores Notice that the value of is redefined. As a place to increase engagement with customers, or as a base for delivery and distribution such as receiving products ordered on the EC site, the value of the store is being reviewed, and the existence value of the actual store is increasing again. Point out that there is. In addition, looking after the corona, it is necessary to concentrate store employees on the store's original business such as customer service, and many digital devices such as tablets and digital signage are installed in the store, and the system is becoming complicated. So, the issue is how to improve the customer experience value. "In order to solve the problem, we need a reliable integration function that includes the necessary third parties and a total service that covers all technologies by connecting them to operations. By connecting these things, our customers We will support your growth. The NCR Commerce Platform will make that happen, "says Mr. Ohara. In order to develop RUN the X as an actual business, we will consolidate the knowledge of Europe and the United States, which has been advanced for several years from Japan, into "aaS products" and provide it by consulting as a best practice. Mr. Ohara said, "Actually, February 24th, when the presentation was held, is the anniversary of the establishment of the Japanese corporation 102 years ago. Many people say NCR is" the company that brought the register to Japan. " It is believed that NCR actually brought to Japan a business model called a supermarket that made the retail business a self-service type, not a product called a register. 70 years ago, it brought in a business model called a supermarket, and other than that. Also brought a number of things that were the first in Japan, "he said, highlighting the characteristics of NCR that it played a role in bringing a new business model to Japan. ■ New product "NCR commerce platform" that redefines stores NCR Japan will start offering the NCR commerce platform as a new product that redefines stores. Announced at a retail exhibition held in January in the United States, "It was well received in the United States that it was possible to develop the platform necessary for the retail industry in a short period of time and efficiently." Mr. Yoshiyuki). Although there are differences for retailers, banks, and restaurants, it is necessary to realize an ecosystem utilizing third-party microservices and efficient in-house development through platforms and APIs on the cloud. In common, it is a platform for quickly responding to changes in the market and customers. "The three points are that integration is extremely easy, cloud-native and large amounts of data can be handled instantly, and development that can quickly respond to changes due to DIY that makes use of the platform instead of scratching is possible." (Mr. Mamiya). There are four specific product configurations: The first is the API service "NCR Business Service Layer (BSL)" that realizes efficiency and speed of development by utilizing products provided by NCR and microservices developed by third parties, including in-house development. .. All data collected from sales channels such as POS, SCO, and e-commerce and back offices will flow to the cloud and will be used and shared on a common platform. This will be a central source of information for a variety of platform applications and services that leverage and add value to all business data, including NCR analytics, computer vision, and retail transformation consulting services. It is also possible to realize seamless cooperation between these information sources and the store system. Sales will start on March 1st, and the service will start on July 1st. The planned sales price is from 1200 yen per month for the basic charge per device. NCR Japan plans to provide a site for microservice developers to disclose API information and detailed information for development, and to disclose detailed technical information. The second is the store information analysis tool "NCR Analytics". By grasping the performance of stores and employees in real time and making decisions based on data, it is possible to manage and optimize store operations. As retail data analytics evolve from descriptive analytics to AI-based predictive insights, that insight becomes even stronger and delivers better business outcomes, he said. With this introduction, all data will be centrally managed and statistically analyzed to improve work man-hours and employee productivity.According to the company, report preparation time will be reduced by 30%. There will be merits. Sales will begin on March 1st, and the service is scheduled to begin on July 1st. The basic charge is from 9000 yen per sheet per month. The third is "digitally connected services." Not only equipment provided by NCR Japan, but also IT equipment delivered by other companies can be managed collectively. As a result, store staff will be freed from IT support work and will be able to concentrate on their original work. In the United States, a company that operates 4700 stores of three types of supercenters, discounts, and food supermarkets manages the operation status collectively from the head office and utilizes drill-down to operate specific equipment in specific stores from the map. The situation can be confirmed. The service start time and price are undecided. The fourth is the Software Defined Store "NCR Edge (SDS)" that virtualizes the store itself. By completely unbundling hardware and software, it becomes possible to use things with different life cycles in each life cycle. NCR Japan has improved the customer experience value by responding to the diversification of the three customer journeys before and after visiting the store, in-store activities, and after visiting the store in the retail, restaurant, and banks due to the progress of digitalization of these solutions. Deployed as a platform that can respond to the diversification of the customer journey that we are aiming for. The company intends to support the realization of DX in the retail, restaurant, and banking industries.

Cloud Watch, Yuko Miura