360° Customer Visibility with CRM & ERP on One Cloud

Rootstock’s ERP CRM software helps manufacturers and supply chain organizations to eliminate siloed customer information. Empower your sales and service teams to be more responsive, drive growth, and enhance the customer experience.

• Access all information before talking with a customer, including outstanding support cases, invoices, credits, shipments, and open orders.
• View real-time accounts receivable and the current credit standing of every customer.
• Improve the end-to-end customer experience by consolidating sales, ordering, production, inventory, logistics, service, and support all on one platform.

Click here to learn more.

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The Client

Lightsource bp is a global leader in the development and management of solar energy projects. They provide sustainable and affordable energy to businesses and communities and have been in operation since 2010. The company’s primary focus is to meet the rising demand for energy through smart, responsible and sustainable measures, reimagining energy and enacting real change on the global energy landscape.

To find out more about Lightsource bp, visit their website here.

The Challenge

Lightsource bp’s previous solution was implemented when the company was much smaller, and only facilitated basic incidents and requests. As a result, gaining valuable management information through accurate analysis, or categorisation of tickets logged and processed, was proving to be difficult.

On top of this, system navigation (both frontend and backend) was challenging, leading to a less-than ideal user experience both for the customer and the agent. Overall, there was tangible room for improvement within the organisation, and this needed to be addressed.

The Solution

Having already acknowledged the need for a change, Lightsource bp decided that ServiceNow was the platform of choice to help them improve their end-users’ experience. Their joint venture with bp (an existing ServiceNow customer) meant they could lean on this partnership to get the most value possible out of the new investment.

Inetum UK&I were positioned by Gartner as the ideal ServiceNow partner for this project, given our reputation for accelerated implementations (catering to faster time to value from the initial client investment). Inetum UK&I build partnerships with clients that are focused on the long-term vision of the platform rather than just the original implementation; this allows for ServiceNow to become an integral part of the business.

For phase 1, Inetum UK&I implemented ServiceNow ITSM for the customer including Incident, Problem and Change Management, Service Catalogue and Request Management. Additionally, capabilities including Service Level Reporting, an intuitive and streamlined end user portal and an Azure AD integration were implemented.

The Benefits

Lightsource bp’s team are now working with a far superior user experience. The new portal with its extended functionality is proving invaluable to the customer, working at a much more user-friendly level.

The team are now able to share the current status of services that may be disrupted due to an upgrade or other planned outage; this helps to reduce the volume of calls and incidents, and has allowed for quicker and more accurate decisions to be made.

In addition, service desk related company-wide communication has drastically improved. The new single workflow has enabled much better fulfilment of requests and scalability, meaning they can now make use of the data driven flows in order to achieve a more streamlined fulfilment process. The foundations of CSDM have been introduced with basic services and components, giving them a structure with which to build their services and better understand what is driving their business.

“Everyone in the team has only good things to say about our new ServiceNow implementation. We have teams across the business wanting to onboard too, so the ultimate goal is to have the entire organisation getting value from the platform.”

Christine Burridge

Head of Programme Management – IT and Digital Transformation at Lightsource bp

The Future

Lightsource bp have fantastic expansion plans and are growing at a rapid pace. While their ServiceNow investment is still in its initial stages, it has allowed them to support that growth much more efficiently, making it an essential supporting catalyst for business expansion.

The organisation has already identified that ServiceNow is a continual service improvement platform, and have highlighted a number of new features and enhancements they would like to see as part of the future ITSM roadmap. This includes looking at extra services that Inetum UK&I offer outside of our traditional professional delivery services.

The end goal for Lightsource bp is to extend the use of ServiceNow across the entire organisation, so that all processes are unified and maximum transformation potential is unlocked.

For more information on how Inetum UK&I could help your business, please get in touch with one of the team.

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1. It acts as the company’s cash register that processes meter readings, generates and prints bills, delivers them to customers, and allows the company to provide seamless customer service while managing payments.
2. The CIS connects to a company’s financial engine to report it on the financial ledger.

During a roundtable discussion, ERP Today got exclusive insights into the implementation of a customer information system at Eversource and the focus on agile as a means of delivering a truly adaptive and flexible customer-facing system. The discussion featured experts from EY and Eversource Energy including Dean Hanson, Partner, EY; Boris Sam Logoff, Managing Director, EY; Ron Beck, CIO, Eversource Energy; and Penny McLean Connor, EVP, Customer Experience and Energy Strategy, Eversource Energy.

What this means for ERP insiders

Adaptability to Evolving Market Needs

The success of Eversource’s CIS transformation demonstrates the critical importance of having a system that can evolve in lockstep with changing market dynamics and customer expectations. Rather than pursuing a complete rip-and-replace of legacy systems, Eversource leveraged scaled agile methodology (based on SAFe)— enabling development teams to co-create the system with business stakeholders and setting up groundwork for continuous enhancements without major disruption. It gave Eversource the ability to rapidly adapt, iterate, and respond to shifting priorities and customer needs—ensuring the CIS remained relevant and value-generating over time.

Leadership-Driven Agile Culture

Eversource recognized that adopting agile wasn’t just about delivery mechanics—it required a cultural shift. Leadership took an active role in embedding agility across the organization, championing cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring that the principles of agility were embraced at every level. This intentional push from the top helped foster an environment where teams could move fast, make decisions quickly, and remain tightly aligned with the overall transformation goals.

Empowered Teams & Continuous Improvement

A core tenet of Eversource’s transformation was its commitment to continuous inspection and adaptation—of both the system and the delivery process. Through regular demos and retrospectives, teams were empowered to refine how they worked, ensuring delivery methods matched the realities of their context. This feedback loop helped identify and remove friction points early, enabled rapid learning, and allowed teams to own and evolve the processes that worked best for them—ultimately driving a more resilient and responsive implementation.

The post ERP Today Live! EY and Eversource Collaborate for CIS Implementation appeared first on ERP Today.

Their discussion sheds light on the operational challenges facing call centers, reinforces their strategic importance, and highlights how emerging technologies like generative AI (Gen AI) can drive meaningful transformation. 

Operational complexity is straining agents and systems 

Call center agents are under more pressure than ever. The complexity of financial products and the nuanced nature of customer inquiries demand a high level of expertise—and the tools to match. Unfortunately, many financial institutions continue to rely on outdated or fragmented technology stacks, forcing agents to toggle between multiple systems. In some cases, agents spend up to two-thirds of their time navigating tools rather than assisting customers. 

This inefficiency contributes to agent burnout and undermines the customer experience. Meanwhile, digital-savvy customers expect seamless service and quick resolution—expectations that legacy systems often fail to meet. 

Human interaction remains critical in a digital-first strategy 

While self-service channels have grown in popularity, contact centers continue to play a vital role in customer engagement—especially when dealing with complex or emotionally sensitive financial matters. Automation is highly effective for routine transactions such as balance inquiries or password resets. However, when issues become more involved, customers still prefer speaking with a knowledgeable human representative. 

The conversation highlights a key insight: a single poor interaction with a chatbot can erode customer trust and drive them back to live agents. The future of financial service delivery will require a digital-first, human-centric model where technology enhances, rather than replaces, human interaction. Contact centers must evolve from being reactive support channels to becoming proactive, strategic touchpoints within the broader customer experience. 

Generative AI can enhance—rather than replace—agent capabilities 

Generative AI presents an exciting opportunity to reimagine call center operations. While not a cure-all, Gen AI can help scale operations, reduce agent workload, and improve overall efficiency when implemented thoughtfully. Capabilities include: 

• Customer intent recognition and call deflection through fast, intelligent access to knowledge bases. 

• Real-time support for agents, including transcription and contextual information delivery. 

• Post-call automation such as summarization and sentiment analysis, which can feed into platforms like ServiceNow for a more complete view of the customer journey. 

However, the success of Gen AI initiatives depends on the quality of underlying data, the structure of workflows, and seamless integration with existing systems. As Copley and Seynhaeve emphasize, organizations should take a measured, strategic approach to AI adoption—prioritizing foundational readiness over speed. As they put it, “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” 

A strategic path forward for financial institutions 

The evolution of financial call centers is not about choosing between digital or human service—it’s about combining both to deliver a cohesive and responsive customer experience. Addressing operational complexity, modernizing technology infrastructure, and adopting AI with care can empower agents and increase customer satisfaction. 

By embracing a digital-first, human-centric approach and leveraging tools like Gen AI within platforms such as ServiceNow, financial institutions can transform their call centers from operational cost centers into strategic assets that drive loyalty and long-term value. 

What this means for ERP insiders 

Contact centers remain critical for complex financial interactions. Despite the growth of digital self-service, research by McKinsey & Company shows that over 60% of customers still prefer speaking to a live agent for complex or high-stakes issues—especially in sectors like financial services where trust and personalization are key. Contact centers are evolving from cost centers to strategic assets that drive loyalty and brand differentiation. 

Technology fragmentation hinders agent productivity and customer satisfaction.
A study by Harvard Business Review found that employees spend nearly 20% of their time searching for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks. In the context of financial call centers, this inefficiency can severely impact customer experience and agent morale. Streamlining workflows through unified platforms like ServiceNow—enhanced with voice solutions such as 3CLogic—can significantly reduce this friction and improve operational efficiency. 

Generative AI can accelerate efficiency—but only with strong data foundations. According to a 2023 Deloitte report on AI adoption in service operations, only 26% of organizations feel confident in their data readiness for AI initiatives. Without clean, well-governed data and structured workflows, even the most advanced AI tools can underdeliver. When properly integrated, Gen AI can automate tasks like real-time transcription, post-call summarization, and sentiment analysis—enhancing both agent productivity and the overall customer experience. 

The post The Evolving Landscape of Financial Call Centers: NewRocket and 3CLogic Offer Insights appeared first on ERP Today.

Customer Service workspace is Microsoft’s flagship application for modern CS experiences. The company is continuously updating the application with more AI and innovation. New features like multi-session, channels, autonomous agents, and Copilot, are unavailable to customers in the Unified Service Desk application.

This upcoming change will affect USD customers currently using the application with the cloud-based CRM feature.

Key dates:

Deprecation: April 1, 2026. After this date, Microsoft is no longer going to invest in the USD with CRM Online application. All versions before the latest update will no longer have access Dataverse as they will lack critical security features.

End of Service: April 30, 2027. After this date, the USD with CRM Online application will no longer receive quality or security updates.

End of Support: June 30, 2028. After this date, Microsoft will no longer support the USD with CRM Online application. It will be taken out of service.

Next steps:

There will be no change to Unified Service Desk with CRM Online availability until the end of support on June 30, 2028.  Microsoft is urging customers to begin migrating to the new application. Due to security upgrades, customers who are unable to migrate to Customer Service workspace by April 2026 must update to the latest version of USD. Microsoft is encouraging customers who update to the latest USD version to move to Customer Service workspace by its end of service date in April 2027, and June 2028 at the latest when the application will reach end of life.

What this means for ERP Insiders

The scoop on CSW. Microsoft’s Customer Service Workspace (CSW) is a multi-session app designed to enhance agent productivity, streamline workflows, and improve customer interactions. CSW enables agents to handle multiple cases simultaneously within a tabbed interface, and supports AI-driven case routing and prioritization, optimizing agent workloads. Each session operates independently, ensuring context retention across different customer interactions. Microsoft Copilot assists agents with AI-driven insights, auto-summarization, and response suggestions. AI-powered real-time translation and sentiment analysis enhance customer interactions. And automated workflows reduce manual efforts, speeding up case resolution. CSW integrates CRM, case histories, and customer profiles in a single view and helps agents track past interactions across multiple channels, while providing 360-degree customer insights, improving engagement and personalization. The application provides seamless support for email, chat, voice, and social media from within the workspace, and has built-in integration with Microsoft Teams, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform. CSW is built on Microsoft Azure, ensuring enterprise-grade security, compliance, and scalability, and offers role-based access controls for data security along with low-code extensibility with Power Apps and Power Automate.

Should you stay, or should you go? There are plenty of good reasons to move from USD to CSW. CSW is cloud-based, eliminating the need for on-premises installations and updates. It provides better scalability and security compared to the legacy USD solution. It offers an intuitive, modern UI with a tab-based layout for better navigation, and it reduces agent fatigue by offering a cleaner and more user-friendly interface. Also, as stated above, in CSW the AI-powered Copilot provides real-time suggestions, automates repetitive tasks, and improves agent productivity. CSW is also optimized for faster load times and better stability than USD, which relied heavily on on-prem hardware and legacy CRM frameworks. CSW customers benefit from seamless integration with Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Teams, Power Platform, Azure, and other Microsoft tools, and the application works well with Microsoft Omnichannel for Customer Service. All of that said, USD customers following Microsoft’s guidance to move to CSW sooner rather than later should be aware of a few potential challenges. Some advanced customization options in USD (like deeply embedded workflows and automations) may not yet be available in CSW. Multi-session management in CSW is still evolving, and some legacy USD features may not have direct equivalents. Also, customization and scripting built into USD may not transfer directly to CSW, requiring refactoring. Organizations with complex agent desktop setups may face downtime or disruptions during the migration process. Agents accustomed to USD may require training and onboarding for CSW’s new UI and workflows. Customization requires different skill sets (Power Platform & Dataverse instead of USD’s traditional hosted control framework). Also, some organizations may need to wait for additional feature parity before moving, especially those relying on legacy CTI integrations or custom UI components in USD. While CSW is bundled with Dynamics 365 Customer Service, some organizations may need additional licensing for Omnichannel, Copilot AI, or Power Platform-based customizations.

Emulate other customers’ successes with CSW. Organizations across various industries have leveraged Microsoft’s Customer Service Workspace and related technologies to enhance their service delivery and operational efficiency. For instance, G&J Pepsi embarked on a transformation journey to maximize customer service, revenue, and cost savings by implementing solutions including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, and other Microsoft technologies. This integration led to significant improvements in service efficiency and customer satisfaction. Ernst & Young Limited (EY), one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, transformed its sales processes with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. This implementation streamlined their operations, leading to enhanced client interactions and improved service delivery. And Sweco Group empowered its architects and engineers with a timesaving AI assistant built in Azure AI Studio. This custom Copilot automates document tasks, boosts productivity, and frees up time for creativity and customer support.

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SharkNinja is a global provider of indoor and outdoor household products, transforming how people cook, clean, and live in homes around the world. As the innovator behind two multi-billion-dollar brands‌ — ‌Shark and Ninja‌ — ‌SharkNinja is renowned for its diversified portfolio of products, including Shark vacuum cleaners and beauty tools, as well as Ninja kitchen appliances, such as blenders, air fryers, and ice cream makers.

To support its rapid, global growth, SharkNinja is embracing solutions that will scale support and service more efficiently across more than 30 markets while delivering a seamless consumer shopping experience.

Agentforce, a new layer on the Salesforce Platform, will enable SharkNinja to easily build and deploy AI agents that can autonomously take action across any business function. With Agentforce, SharkNinja will have an always-on, digital workforce available 24/7 to guide customers through the buying process, answer product questions, troubleshoot issues, and manage returns — streamlining human agent workloads so they can focus on meaningful, high-impact interactions.

“Innovation is the driver behind every product SharkNinja creates across our vast portfolio, so it was really important to find a tool that could give us the capabilities needed to be just as innovative across every consumer interaction,” said Velia Carboni, CIO, SharkNinja. “We believe Agentforce is this key to helping us build a community that keeps consumers coming back as we continue to grow and develop new problem-solving innovations that positively impact people’s lives in homes around the world.”

Agentforce will also help SharkNinja enhance brand loyalty through tailored support interactions that deliver targeted solutions and recommendations based on insights from customer data from previous purchases and service history.

“SharkNinja prioritizes quality, innovation, and an exceptional customer experience,” said Adam Evans, EVP & GM of Salesforce AI Platform. “By integrating customer data with service and support functions, Agentforce enables SharkNinja to deliver an exceptional experience at every touchpoint — building customer loyalty and keeping them coming back time and time again.”

SharkNinja will also leverage Commerce Cloud, enabling the company to consolidate customer data from multiple sources into a single, unified view. This integration will enable the delivery of more personalized shopping experiences for each customer. At the same time, having unified touchpoints will allow SharkNinja to more effectively track engagement across its global customer base.

What this means for ERP Insiders

Agentic AI just might be the killer app of AI. As of late 2024, approximately 26% of companies have initiated agentic AI pilots or proofs of concept. This figure is projected to rise to 50% by 2027. And by 2028, it’s anticipated that 33% of enterprise software applications will incorporate agentic AI, facilitating 15% of daily operational decisions to be made autonomously. But generative AI is not going away. GenAI is best suited for augmentation, content creation, and decision support—helping professionals generate high-quality content and insights faster. Agentic AI is ideal for automation and autonomous decision-making—handling complex, multi-step tasks and executing them without human intervention. Organizations will benefit most by combining both—using Gen AI to generate insights and Agentic AI to take action on those insights. The convergence of Gen AI and Agentic AI will lead to autonomous, creative, and intelligent systems capable of end-to-end automation, content production, and strategic decision-making.

Agentforce plays well with others. Agentforce is designed to integrate seamlessly with a wide array of major enterprise systems, enhancing its capabilities across various business functions. For instance, through MuleSoft’s pre-built connectors, Agentforce can access and interact with SAP’s ERP modules, facilitating real-time data synchronization and process automation. And Agentforce integrates with Oracle ERP systems, enabling efficient data exchange and workflow automation to streamline business operations. Integration with Microsoft Dynamics ERP allows Agentforce to unify data and automate processes, enhancing decision-making and operational efficiency. Agentforce also connects with supply chain management systems to provide predictive insights, optimize supply chain operations, and improve resource management. And Agentforce is natively integrated with the entire Salesforce Customer 360 suite, including Sales, Service, Commerce, and Marketing Cloud, allowing agents to utilize complete customer context and take action directly within these applications. Agentforce leverages MuleSoft’s integration capabilities to connect with various other external systems and data sources, ensuring agents have access to comprehensive and up-to-date information necessary for informed decision-making.

Learn from companies already down the path with Agentforce. Wiley, in the publishing and education industry, implemented AI-powered agents to assist customers in resolving common issues independently. As a result, the company achieved a 213% return on investment by reducing the workload on service representatives, allowing them to focus on more complex cases, and enhanced customer satisfaction through quicker issue resolution. The Adecco Group, in the talent solutions and recruitment industry, deployed autonomous agents to handle administrative tasks such as sifting through resumes, creating shortlists, and managing end-to-end screening processes. The company improved efficiency in the recruitment process, enabling recruiters to focus on building meaningful connections with candidates. The Adecco Group is now exploring further applications of Agentforce to enhance job descriptions and boost candidate engagement. OpenTable, in the hospitality and reservations space, enhanced customer service by integrating Agentforce with Service Cloud. The company boosted productivity for service representatives through AI agents, leading to more efficient handling of customer inquiries, and it improved overall customer experience by providing timely and accurate responses.

The post SharkNinja Powers Up Global Customer Service with Salesforce Agentforce appeared first on ERP Today.

As part of the expanded partnership, Nuance’s Enterprise Professional Services business—including the team and existing customer contracts— will be transferred to HCLTech and become a part of its contact center offering. As part of this, HCLTech will become the exclusive professional services partner for existing customer contracts of the Nuance Enterprise Professional Services organization. HCLTech will also become the preferred partner to support the migration of existing Nuance Enterprise Professional Services customers to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center. In support of this, HCLTech will operate a Nuance Migration Factory to migrate Nuance solutions efficiently and at scale, while expanding the Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) business for both HCLTech and Microsoft. HCLTech will also serve as a partner for new Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center implementations.

HCLTech will enhance its offerings by making Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center its preferred contact center solution, integrating professional services, customer self-service applications and Microsoft Copilot capabilities into its existing suite of experience-center technology services.

Microsoft’s current team of more than 550 Nuance Enterprise Professional Services personnel, with conversational AI expertise, will join HCLTech to continue to service Microsoft customers globally. Microsoft customers will gain access to HCLTech’s AI-led digital transformation services, including consulting, implementation, upgrades and support services, such as:

• System integration and application development
• Migration to Microsoft D365 Contact Center
• New customer implementations
• Expansion of joint offerings including AI transformation services

“HCLTech is making a bold move to lead AI-driven innovation in the rapidly growing CCaaS market,” said Anil Ganjoo, Chief Growth Officer, Americas, TMT at HCLTech. “By combining our expertise in digital transformation with Microsoft’s GenAI, automation and Copilot capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to help customers unlock the full potential of AI and cloud-native services. We are excited to welcome best-in-class AI talent from Microsoft to our organization, which will further enhance our capabilities and, together with our preferred partnership in the CCaaS space, position HCLTech as a leader in the services market, driving AI-powered business outcomes.”

“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with HCLTech, who shares our vision of leveraging AI to transform the CCaaS market,” Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President, Business and Industry Copilot at Microsoft. “HCLTech is a leader in contact center transformations and is well positioned to help customers harness the power of AI to drive operational efficiency, scale and growth.”

What this means for ERP Insiders

Link Contact Center solution with rest of Microsoft Dynamics 365 portfolio. Integrating Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center with the broader Dynamics 365 solution portfolio ensures seamless workflows, improved customer experiences, and enhanced operational efficiency. Utilize Microsoft Dataverse to unify data across Dynamics 365 applications (e.g., Sales, Marketing, Customer Service) and ensure a single source of truth. Integrate Dynamics 365 Contact Center with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights to provide agents with a 360-degree view of customer profiles. Use Power Platform tools, like Power Automate, to create automated workflows between applications. Connect the Contact Center with Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing to track customer interactions from lead generation to post-sales support. Ensure all customer communications—voice, chat, email—are recorded and accessible in Dynamics 365 Customer Service for consistent follow-up. Leverage Dynamics 365 AI capabilities to provide insights into customer interactions, predict customer behavior, and recommend next-best actions. Use Power BI dashboards to analyze Contact Center performance metrics alongside data from other Dynamics 365 apps.

HCLTech has track record of creating customer value in contact center operations with AI. HCLTech is a global technology company, with more than 220,000 employees across 60 countries, delivering  capabilities centered around digital, engineering, cloud and AI. With consolidated annual revenues of US$13.8 billion, HCLTech works with clients across multiple verticals, including Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG and Public Services. For a leading financial services provider, HCLTech implemented an AI-powered ticket resolution system utilizing Microsoft Azure OpenAI Services. This solution automated responses by analyzing historical interaction data to identify resolutions, resulting in: 80% reduction in summarization efforts, expediting ticket creation; 100% automation of ticket classification, eliminating manual processes; 70% decrease in manual labor for ticket resolution; and projected annual savings of approximately US$3.2 million. HCLTech also transformed the contact center operations of a major organization by implementing AI-driven solutions, achieving: 45% improvement in productivity for over 3,000 frontline staff; provision of a 360-degree view of customer product holdings in under five seconds; 95% increase in customer interactions and a 40% boost in cross-sales.

Contact center automation market is ripe for HCLTech and Microsoft offerings. The contact center software and automation solutions market is experiencing significant growth. In 2023, the global contact center software market was valued at approximately US$33.38 billion, and it is expected to grow at CAGR of 23.9% from 2023 to 2030, reaching an estimated value of US$109.7 billion by 2028. There is a significant shift towards cloud-based contact center solutions, offering scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. The cloud contact center market is projected to reach US$87.10 billion by 2029, up from US$27.22 billion in 2024. AI and ML are being integrated to enhance customer interactions, automate routine tasks, and provide predictive analytics, improving overall efficiency. Businesses are adopting omnichannel strategies to provide seamless customer experiences across various platforms, including voice, email, chat, and social media. The implementation of automation tools, such as chatbots and interactive voice response (IVR) systems, enables customers to resolve issues independently, reducing the need for human intervention.

The post HCLTech and Microsoft Expand Strategic Partnership to Transform Contact Centers with Gen AI and Cloud appeared first on ERP Today.

This news follows SAP’s recent announcement which saw the giant unveil the general availability of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business solution, with promising supply chain capabilities for retailers.

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

Key features of the new solution include: 

• Loyalty profiles that connect shoppers with a cloud-based 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, which enable 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. 

In addition to this announcement, SAP has also announced the general availability of an AI shopping assistance in the first half of 2025. This AI assistance, delivered in conjunction with the SAP CX AI Toolkit, expands the existing AI capabilities of SAP Commerce Cloud, elevating the online shopping experience through natural language conversations that help customers find what they need. 

This news follows other retail announcements in the industry where Google Cloud announced a series of advancements that aim to utilize AI to help retailers transform businesses and enhance the customer experience. Following on from Google Cloud, Salesforce recently announced two AI-powered innovations for retailers: Agentforce for Retail and Retail Cloud with Modern POS, designed to drive sales and boost productivity, all while delivering a more personalized shopping experience. 

What does this mean for ERP insiders? 

This SAP announcement offers several key benefits to users, especially in the retail and consumer packaged goods sectors:

1. Enhanced Customer Loyalty: By providing tools for personalized, real-time offers and experiences, users can foster deeper customer loyalty and engagement. The integration with SAP solutions ensures that these offerings are aligned across multiple touchpoints and channels, strengthening the overall customer experience.
2. Streamlined Loyalty Management: The multi-brand and omnichannel loyalty management capabilities allow businesses to manage loyalty programs more effectively across regions and partners. This centralization simplifies the process and enhances operational efficiency, helping users maintain a unified strategy for customer retention.
3. Real-Time Data & Insights: The inclusion of real-time basket analysis, loyalty profile tracking, and promotion performance metrics allows users to quickly assess the effectiveness of their loyalty strategies. This data-driven approach helps optimize offers, promotions, and campaigns, directly impacting ROI and improving decision-making.
4. Omnichannel Flexibility: The solution allows users to deliver promotions, digital payments, and gifting seamlessly across various customer touchpoints, both online and offline. This flexibility ensures a smooth and consistent experience for customers, regardless of how they interact with the brand.
5. Comprehensive Integration: With integration across SAP’s ecosystem (Commerce Cloud, Service Cloud, Emarsys, S/4HANA Cloud), users benefit from a holistic approach to customer engagement, enabling streamlined workflows and more accurate, personalized interactions with consumers.
6. AI Shopping Assistant: The upcoming AI shopping assistant will empower users to enhance the online shopping experience, offering customers a more intuitive and efficient way to find products through natural language queries. This feature helps increase customer satisfaction and drive higher conversion rates.

Overall, these innovations equip users with advanced tools to build more meaningful customer relationships, optimize loyalty programs, and enhance operational efficiency, ultimately leading to stronger business outcomes.

The post SAP launches loyalty management solution to strengthen retailer-customer relationships appeared first on ERP Today.

Agentforce for Retail features a new library of pre-built agent skills which enables retailers to build AI agents that can automate time-consuming tasks, such as order management, appointment scheduling, and deploying shopper personalization at scale. 

The new library unlocks additional capacity allowing retailers to better serve their customers, reduce costs and increase shopper conversion. Some of these new skills include commerce skills for order management, commerce skills for guided shopping, field service skills for appointment scheduling, and marketing skills for loyalty promotion creation. 

Retail Cloud with Modern POS is a cloud-based system that brings online and offline shopping data together on a single platform, giving associates a single entry point to serve customers more efficiently with mobile POS, clientele tools, endless aisle, mixed cart and omnichannel fulfillment, inventory management and more. 

Salesforce’s cloud-based system brings online and offline shopping and inventory data together on a single, unified platform, giving retailers a tool to serve their customers more efficiently. New features include no-code CMS, inventory management, built-in AI powered by customer and inventory data, mixed cart and omni-channel fulfillment and more. 

Speaking on the two new AI innovations, Velia Carboni, CIO at SharkNinja and customer of Salesforce, said: “At SharkNinja, our team is driven by a passion for delivering high-performing technology to every consumer. Agentforce will help us scale this mission by handling routine shopper inquiries like “Where is my order” and enabling seamless self-service. This will allow our team members to focus on innovation and creating meaningful, high-impact interactions.”

Nitin Mangtani, SVP and GM, retail at Salesforce, said: “Together, AI-fueled digital labor and a modern POS can unlock a new scale of operational capacity for retailers. With these latest Agentforce skills for retail and a cloud-based, intuitive POS system, Salesforce is helping retailers deliver seamless, unified shopping experiences across both the physical and digital realms of retail that drive productivity advancements and business growth across their entire enterprise.”

What does this mean for ERP insiders? 

Salesforce’s new AI innovations offer users an enhanced shopping experience. Automated processes such as order management and appointment scheduling allow for quicker responses from retailers, while unified data enables seamless interactions between store associates. AI-driven personalization provides users with tailored product recommendations and loyalty promotions which boosts relevance and makes for a more seamless and convenient shopping experience. 

Key Highlights:

• Agentforce for Retail
  • Features a library of pre-built agent skills that automate time-consuming tasks like order management and appointment scheduling.
  • Enhances shopper personalization at scale through AI-driven solutions.
  • Includes new skills for guided shopping, loyalty promotion creation, and field service scheduling.
  • Increases operational capacity, reduces costs, and improves customer conversion rates.
• Retail Cloud with Modern POS
  • Combines online and offline shopping data on a unified, cloud-based platform.
  • Empowers associates with mobile POS, clientele tools, endless aisle, and omnichannel fulfillment capabilities.
  • Incorporates no-code CMS, built-in AI leveraging customer and inventory data, and robust inventory management.
  • Simplifies operations, enabling seamless and efficient customer interactions.

These innovations represent a shift toward AI-driven retail experiences, enabling ERP end-users to deliver unified and scalable shopping solutions across all touchpoints. The tools emphasize efficiency, customer personalization, and business growth, positioning Salesforce as a leader in modern retail technology.

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