Dynamics 365 Connected Store

As announced on 9/23, the Dynamics 365 Connected Store is now available for private preview.

Connected Store is a new application that combines and connects disparate data from video cameras and IoT sensors to provide real-time and predictive insights that help store managers and employees make better decisions and optimize customer experiences. By using observational data, the data created by customers moving throughout the store as well as the status of store equipment and product, the application creates employee alerts and actionable insights that can improve store efficiency.

Functionalities include using video data collected at the checkout line to triage extra employees as needed via instant notifications. IoT sensors can monitor temperature and humidity, and quickly highlight any anomalies to protect inventory. Through automatic daily emails, and a web app to review and report data, information can be easily consumed and communicated throughout an organization.

Connected Store will be aligned as an AI application under the Insights portfolio of applications. Read the Connected Store Product Page for more information.

Dynamics 365 Commerce

Dynamics 365 Commerce is a comprehensive omni-channel solution for retail and e-commerce companies that unifies back office, in-store, call-center, and digital experiences.

Dynamics 365 Commerce empowers people in the organization to transform the customer experience – from the digital experiences that make shopping fun and rewarding to productivity and collaboration solutions that help retail employees provide outstanding customer service. In addition, intelligent systems provide deep insights to empower advanced decision making and personalization, delivering the fully connected commerce solution retailers need to build brand loyalty, optimize operations and supply chain efficiencies, and deliver better business outcomes. Read the Announcing new Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI-driven insights applications and our vision for the future of retail blog by Alysa Taylor for additional information.

Product Insights

Dynamics 365 Product Insights is a new application to the portfolio that can bring insights from connected physical products and give visibility into product performance and customer interactions so organizations can build richer relationships and improve engagement.

Organizations on the quest to digitally transform their entire customer journey realize the important role product telemetry can play in terms of monitoring and learning from interactions a customer may have with connected products or services. These lessons help organizations to better understand customer expectations and then deliver more personalized experiences. Read the Announcing new Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI-driven insights applications and our vision for the future of retail blog by Alysa Taylor for additional information.

Licensing Changes: CE, UO, and Power Platform

As announced on August 30, 2019, key licensing changes will be taking effect on October 1, 2019.

Dynamics 365 will be moving from multi-application, one-size-fits-all Customer Engagement (CE), Unified Operations (UO), and Dynamics 365 Plans to focus on the licensing of individual applications. Customers need software that aligns to their functional roles and scenarios, and they require the ability to add or remove applications as their company grows and changes over time. Our commitment to individual application licensing, further aligns us with our customer’s needs. Power Apps and Flow will be introducing new plans to license individual applications and business processes. This change is in response to repeated customer demands for solutions that enable their transformative journey, department by department, and process by process. In addition, the inclusion of Power Apps and Flow within select Dynamics 365 and Office 365 plans, as well as included capacity limits, will be clarified.