Christmas is only a few weeks away.No matter who you are, this handy guide will help to get you ready to make the most of it.

66%OF

BLACKFRIDAY

SHOPPERSPURCHASED

ELECTRONICS 1

PER MIN OF

DOWNTIME

ONLINE SITESTHAT CRASH CAN

COST RETAILERS£5,800

3

20FOOTFALL FOR

RETAILERSHAD

INCREASE INSMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

SMALL

%

IN 20142

• If you’re buying electronics, make sure they’ll work at workThe most popular category on Black Friday was electronics (e.g., tablets and phones). Since most end up at work, make sure they fit with company IT policies.

• Make sure you stay productive, even while shoppingNo matter where you shop, stay connected. Make sure you have the right mobile productivity devices.

• Keep an eye out for your favourite brandsKeep an eye out especially for device manufacturers, Christmas is prime time for new product launches like Surface Pro 4 and often big discounts.

Top Tips forSHOPPERS66%

OFBLACKFRIDAY

SHOPPERSPURCHASED

ELECTRONICS

Windows 10 empowers you to do great things. Start your free trial now.

1

Devices powered by Windows 10 are built to work in your IT environment, and help you stay productive wherever you’re working this holiday season

Minutes spent shopping in the workplace4

199 minutes

Where will people be spending their Christmas budgetWhere will people be spending their Christmas budget?1

Online

Convience Store

Other

Out of town retail parks

Shopping Centres

Large supermarkers

High Street

34%

3%4%

8%

10%

19%

24%

200

180

160

140

120

100

189 minutes

Over 3 hours spent shopping at work

• Timing is keyRetailers need to pinpoint when to reach their customers with the right offer

• Customer experience isn’t just in your storeRetailers need visibility and coordination between stores, distribution and marketing.

Top Tips forSMALL RETAILERS

Microsoft Dynamics for Retail helps retailers delight customers with excellent customer service even during peak seasons. It also gives you visibility into your supply chain so you can plan and scale for peak times in demand.

• Small Businesses, big buzzSocial media conversations and footfall traffic were in the millions, and 2/3rd of UK consumers knowing about the day; is your business scaled to capture the buzz?

20FOOTFALL FOR

RETAILERSHAD

INCREASE INSMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

SMALL

%

IN 2014

16.5M #SmallBizSatUKSHOPPERS

3.5M FACEBOOKVIEWS

64% UK CONSUMERSAWARE OF THE DAY

Start your free trial now

Top 3 issues with sub-standard shopping experience1

31%COST OF DELIVERY

22.3%TOO MANY

20.5%IN STOCK

TOO HIGH

MARKETING EMAILS

ITEMS WEREN’T

When do you plan to do the bulk of your Christmas shopping?1

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%Two months before

One month before

Black Friday

Two weeks before

One week before

Christmas Eve

> Two months before

2

• Cyber Monday isn’t just one dayBe ready for peak demand throughout the season.

• A crashed website means more than lost revenuewebsite crashes can damage customer trust and limit future purchases.

Top Tips forONLINE SITES

How did you shop on Black Friday?1

Microsoft Azure helps retailers scale up quickly for Christmas

• Online experience is more than shoppingIt’s multichannel; reputation building through social media like Twitter has a big impact.

PER MIN OF

DOWNTIME

ONLINE SITESTHAT CRASH CAN

COST RETAILERS£5,800

Mob

ile d

evic

e to

cl

ick-

and-

colle

ct

PC o

r Lap

top

to

clic

k-an

d-co

llect

In st

ore

for

hom

e de

liver

y Mob

ile d

evic

e fo

r ho

me

deliv

ery

In st

ore

to

take

hom

e

PC o

r Lap

top

for

hom

e de

liver

y

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%online offline

3

95%OF

BLACK FRIDAYSHOPPERSMADE AN ONLINE

PURCHASE 2

£138

,000

Downtime costs

(£/hour) for small

83% OF POPULATION PLANTO SPEND A PORTION OF THEIRCHRISTMAS BUDGETONLINE1

181M VISITS ONBLACK FRIDAY

160M VISITS ONCYBER MONDAY

Find how Microsoft Azure (our cloud platform) can help retailers can unlock the power of your data during peak demand. Start your free trial now.

5

5

retailers3

Sources1. Planning for peak: 2015 and beyond; Retail Week2. https://www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com3. The Impact of Network Downtime on Businesses Today; Network First4. British workers to spend 96m hours buying Christmas presents online; The Telegraph5. How Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2014 shaped up; Internet Retailing