Retail giant Rautakesko is a Finnish-based enterprise specializing in building, renovation and home improvement supplies and services. Its products are sold across eight countries through six retail chains in a total of 420 stores. To increase customer experience and build customer loyalty, Rautakesko turned to Avanade and Accenture. We have jointly built the Digital Store Guide, an application that makes it easy for customers to find what they are looking for in stores, and combine its online presence and traditional store functions.

1. Case Study
Shopping
experience
goes digital

2. ©2015 Avanade Inc. All rights reserved.
Home improvement retailer launches
touch screen technology to streamline
service and foster customer loyalty
Business situation
Retail giant Rautakesko is a Finnish-
based enterprise specializing in building,
renovation and home improvement
supplies and services. Its products are sold
across eight countries through six retail
chains in a total of 420 stores.
Like most retailers, its costs of maintaining
physical locations and inventory are high.
To offset costs and protect market share,
Rautakesko required a way to deliver an
enhanced customer experience and build
buyer loyalty.
Results delivered
Rautakesko relied on Avanade and
Accenture to develop a modern, digital
solution that would engage customers
and combine its online presence and
traditional store functions.
The Digital Store Guide, a Windows 8
application, provides product information
to customers as they enter the store.
From a 32-inch touch screen device,
individuals can search for products
and plan shopping routes accordingly.
During a typical week, there were 300
unique users on average (in a single store
with one device) performing more than
2,000 actions, such as product search,
view product details, request product
location and view store map.
In just five weeks, initial launch of the
Digital Store Guide was completed in two
of Rautakesko’s stores.
The application uses Rautakesko’s
existing Microsoft SharePoint-based
website and eCommerce solution
(previously developed by Avanade) as a
data source and gathers detailed usage
data.When compared with sales data,
this vital information provides insight
into potential needs for new product
locations or price modifications.
Rautakesko expects the Digital Store
Guide will help it gather better insight
into customer needs – from the products
they’re seeking to the type of information
they find most helpful.This translates into
improved sales and service efficiency, and
a positive long-term financial impact for
the enterprise.
Through this use of digital technology,
Rautakesko is transforming the customer
experience in an otherwise traditional
industry.
The Work Redesigned difference
• In-store sales representatives focus
more on deeper consulting with
customers, now that the Digital Store
Guide handles routine inquiries.
• Rather than lining up to make inquiries,
customers enjoy a more streamlined
shopping experience by being
able to view product information,
photos, pricing, product location and
availability right at the store entrance.
• Since the website, eCommerce solution
and Digital Store Guide share common
data, only one system needs to be
maintained by IT personnel.
Empowering Digital Customer
Experiences
A digital approach to in-store customer
service delivers a streamlined customer
experience and frees up sales staff to
consult on home improvement projects.
As other hardware retailers continue to
increase their online presence, Rautakesko
looked to Avanade for assistance in
leveraging technology to protect its
market share.
Typically, customers would visit the store,
yet simultaneously browse competitors’
websites to check prices and product
availability. In peak hours, customers had
to wait in long queues to obtain product
information or advice from sales staff.
As a result, some customers would leave
the store without buying – or leave to buy
from a competitor.
Having worked with Rautakesko in
the past to develop its website and
eCommerce solution on the SharePoint
platform, Avanade contributed deep
knowledge of the firm’s data and provided
valuable insight into how to merge the
in-store and back-office systems and
leverage existing content.The main data
source for the application is Rautakesko’s
website, which contains the entire product
catalogue, pictures, product information
and pricing. Product information is
displayed in a user-friendly way in the
Digital Store Guide with the help of
Windows 8 tiles.

3. About Avanade
Avanade helps customers realize results in a digital
world through business technology solutions,
cloud and managed services that combine insight,
innovation and expertise focused on Microsoft
technologies. Our people have helped thousands
of organizations in all industries improve business
agility, employee productivity and customer loyalty.
Avanade combines the collective business, technical
and industry expertise of its worldwide network of
experts with the rigor of an industrialized delivery
model to provide high quality solutions using proven
and emerging technologies with flexible deployment
models–on premises, cloud-based or outsourced.
Avanade, which is majority owned by Accenture,
was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft
Corporation and has 23,000 professionals in more
than 20 countries. Additional information can be
found at www.avanade.com
©2015 Avanade Inc. All rights reserved.The Avanade
name and logo are registered trademarks in the US
and other countries. Other brand and product names
are trademarks of their of their respective owners.
North America
Seattle
Phone +1 206 239 5600
America@avanade.com
South America
Sao Paulo
Phone +55 (11) 5188 3000
LatinAmerica@avanade.com
Africa
Pretoria
Phone +27 12 622 4400
SouthAfrica@avanade.com
Asia-Pacific
Sydney
Phone +61 2 9005 6772
AsiaPac@avanade.com
Europe
London
Phone +44 (0) 20 7025 1000
Europe@avanade.com
In addition to helping Rautakesko redefine
the customer experience through
digitization, the Digital Store Guide
delivers these advantages:
• Captivates customers with familiar,
user-friendly Windows Phone 8 touch
screen technology
• Makes in-store sales and service faster,
easier and central to the customer’s
buying journey
• Capitalises on customer and business
information with Business Insights
• Improves productivity of in-store
personnel
The road ahead
The Digital Store Guide will be deployed to
all Rautakesko’s 140 stores in Finland.
With its Windows 8 application and back-
end Microsoft technologies, Rautakesko is
well positioned to be a digital marketing
leader in the European hardware industry.
“The Windows 8 app is a critical piece in our
digital marketing strategy. Integrated with our
website and eCommerce system, it provides
valuable customer insights that will help us
build a better customer experience.”
– Harri Markkanen, Project Manager, Rautakesko