Microsoft is working with US data analytics company Nielsen to accelerate retail innovation through artificial intelligence.
 
This strategic alliance has been brought to life through Nielsen Connect powered by Microsoft Azure. The companies are focused on helping fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and retail companies find growth and accelerate innovation within an open data environment. 
 
Already, Nielsen Connect says it is inspiring companies to glean more value from their data and sparking a movement for the industry to reimagine its approach to data strategy. Through analytics and artificial intelligence services built on Azure, Nielsen Connect is helping companies integrate data assets to spot emerging trends more easily, diagnose performance gaps and act faster on growth opportunities. Most notably, this platform lets clients use their data as an enterprise asset across all parts of their organisation.
 
"Nielsen's powerful data are as much of an enterprise asset as people and products," said John Tavolieri (pictured left), chief technology and officer at Nielsen. "It's our priority to make sure clients are maximising their data assets, so Nielsen and Microsoft are breaking down the silos of the status quo. We are helping the retail industry reimagine its approach to data by creating a truly open and global environment of collaboration, encouraging companies to evolve beyond mere data management. Adopting a holistic data strategy will be the only way to win in FMCG and retail." 
 
Grounded by data available in the FMCG space, Nielsen Connect says it brings clarity to what's happening in the market from every angle. Its deep media and consumer measurement – including retail point-of-sale data, consumer panel, ecommerce, fresh food cross-platform media data – is integrated with a robust variety of data sources, including data provided directly from clients as well as from Nielsen Connect partners. The reference data, which provide structure to retail and shopper information, power this system to make integration across data sources and countries simple. Within this open and agile platform running on Microsoft Azure, users can access data sets via APIs and connectors, allowing them to extract the data they need to fit their own technology strategy.
 
"The first critical step towards digital transformation, especially among retailers, is breaking down the barriers between customer and operational data to fuel insights for the business," said Judson Althoff (pictured right), executive vice president of Microsoft's worldwide commercial business. "Because retail happens wherever customers are and whenever they choose, Nielsen Connect provides high reliability at a global scale 24/7."
 
The joint initiative aims to serve as a one-stop-shop in creating scalable, high-performance data environments that enable greater real-time collaboration for faster results. Through this alliance, the two companies will continue to work towards a mutual vision of an open and connected data universe, empowering the FMCG retail marketplace.
 
Nielsen Holdings is a New York-based measurement and data analytics company that provides a view of consumers and markets worldwide. Its approach marries proprietary data with other data sources to help its clients around the world understand what's happening now, what's happening next, and how to best act on this knowledge. Nielsen has operations in more than 100 countries.