Retail chains Sotka and Asko are developing a multi-channel customer experience with Digia as their partner

One of Finland’s leading furniture chains, Indoor Group, has selected the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce solution, which is specially developed for the purposes of retail, to meet its ERP needs. With the new solution, Indoor Group is taking a multi-channel approach to developing an improved customer experience, as well as standardising its activities and the IT systems of the Sotka and Asko chains’ 92 retail outlets. The solution is being delivered by the certified Microsoft partner Digia.

“Our choice was driven by a vision of an even better multi-channel customer experience and the goal of harmonising our operations and standardising the process architecture and IT systems of both the company’s chains. We examined all the leading solutions in the retail industry. Microsoft’s continuous efforts when it comes to product development for the retail industry, important international references from the sector and the low-risk nature of a partner with such broad expertise also contributed to our choice,” explains Indoor Group’s CFO Jussi Tallgren.

“We believe that retailers need to develop their brick-and-mortar store, webstore and other channels as one system, because that’s how the customers are going to experience it. Products are ordered online and picked up at the store, or purchases are made online after visiting the store and seeing the products. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce is an excellent platform onto which a seamless multi-channel customer experience can be built, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to create such a system in cooperation with Indoor Group,” says Jukka Kotro, Senior Vice President, Business Platforms at Digia.

Finnish companies are at the forefront in Europe, and Indoor Group is leading the way

Enterprise architecture had its own unique significance in the choice.

“With this project, we are able to transition in one go from our old technologies to a continuously updated Microsoft SaaS cloud service that integrates architecturally with the Office 365 and Azure cloud services in a seamless way. This allows us to concentrate our future efforts into projects that further our business activities instead of spending them on maintaining and integrating old technologies,” says Indoor Group’s IT Manager Mikko Ahonen.

Microsoft invests heavily in the development of industry-specific solutions. End-to-end solutions for several industries have been developed within the Microsoft Dynamics 365 product family.

“Finnish companies are digitalising rapidly and are among Europe’s forerunners when it comes to the utilisation of cloud services. As regards digitalisation, what’s most important is a clear vision of the direction your future business activities and digitalisation will take, and Indoor Group has that. Finnish companies can increase their competitive advantage by implementing the best operating models from around the world, adopting the latest technological solutions and making use of specialist partners’ expertise in turning technology into an integral part of their business activities. Utilising digitalisation and cloud technologies in business belongs on every executive team’s agenda, and Indoor Group is showing the way right now,” comments Jani Savolainen, Dynamics Business Group Lead at Microsoft.