Statements by the community

Axel Kress Microsoft

Sustainable business and strategic focus on sustainability is almost a commodity. Companies need a sustainability strategy because young customers expect fair trade; from clean supply chains to carbon footprints.

Sustainable is the new Profitable

Sustainability is almost a commodity, that is why Companies need a sustainability strategy. For many companies, switching from servers to the cloud is already a way to achieve this, because many cloud providers have committed themselves to making their data centers carbon neutral by time X. That’s where we at Microsoft see a lot of demand from our customers. Companies need to think cleverly about how they can put their value chain to the test in terms of sustainability and CO2. And there are internal opportunities as well as external possibilities that you can implement on. Why is sustainability no longer a differentiating factor, but a commodity? Young customers expect fair trade, from a clean supply chain to a clean CO2 footprint. Today, the Schwarz Group invests in the recycling industry for the recovery of packaging waste and even earns money with it.

Maximum convenience while reducing the carbon footprint has merged

A 360-degree customer view is what every retailer dreams of. In reality, you still have a very fragmented picture in terms of all the data silos, so customer perception starts from scratch every time.

The use of data analytics should be used as natural as electricity

It depends a lot on the people and the mindset. The speed in digitization is so brutally high and many retailers are left behind behind. That means they need a lot of money to become more digital. And the companies also need to have the right people to bring that expertise too. Another aspect: does the board have a digital strategy? And what USP, i.e. what tech competence do you have as a retailer? An Amazon has set the bar high, especially in terms of supply chain and logistics, completeness of the product range, the targeting accuracy in the customer approach, and a seamless customer experience across all areas. The opportunity is there, but the challenges are great. We are not the better retailers if we have technology at our disposal. Technology itself is not the differentiating factor in the market. That means retailers themselves have to create something new with the technology that’s available which makes them unique. It’s the job of the retailer.