One of the world’s leading digital retail solution providers Hanshow, announced a new strategic partnership today with Microsoft (China) to help further empower its global expansion and digital transformation of the retail industry.

Under this new strategic collaboration MOU, Hanshow will adopt Microsoft Azure operated by 21Vianet for its own operations while also prioritizing Microsoft technology for its solutions to retail clients. By adopting these applications, Hanshow will unify its global information systems improving efficiency and security, and in turn improving Hanshow’s competitiveness.

On the other end, Microsoft will provide technical support to Hanshow in co-creating cloud-based solutions that incorporate Microsoft’s retail industry best practices, machine learning, IoT, and other data technology.

In less than a decade, Hanshow has grown from making basic electronic shelf labels (ESL) to now being one of the world’s leading ESL providers with products in use at over 20,000 stores across 50 countries. Many of its clients are the world’s top retailers, operating hundreds of stores across multiple geographies.

Hanshow also provides a sophisticated network of digital solutions that utilize IoT and machine learning technology to provide digital marketing, digital payments, and digital shelf solutions to retailers. Connecting this technology, especially at scale across store networks for major retail brands requires significant computing capacity, top-line security, and ease of use in order to deliver maximum benefits for retailers as well as to protect customer privacy.

“This partnership with Microsoft not only helps streamline our company’s operations,” notes Hou Shiguo, Chief Executive Officer of Hanshow, “it also provides us with the lightweight and highly adaptable technology our retail clients need to dramatically increase their efficiency and drive profits for their business.”

Microsoft Azure cloud-based technologys for digital retail solutions provide a readymade, faster, and more affordable platform to connect and manage a vast number of IoT devices. At its most basic level, managing just ESL across a retailer’s multiple stores requires significant investment in IT infrastructure and technology. However, as Hanshow is already seeing with retailers in Europe and Australia, adopting a SaaS solution using Microsoft Azure can manage over 10 million ESL and other IoT devices across geographies through a remote network accessible anywhere, and it can be done without new infrastructure and other investments.

As Joe Bao, Vice President, Microsoft Greater China Region and GM, One Commercial Partner & Strategic Pursuit notes, “Hanshow’ solutions empowered by Microsoft Azure are at the heart of digital transformation in the retail industry, and by partnering with Hanshow we can enable retail customers around the world together.”

For more information:

Media contact: Steve Blake steve.blake@hanshow.com

About Hanshow

Hanshow is a global leader in developing and manufacturing electronic shelf labels and digital store solutions. As an innovation leader in the industry, Hanshow is dedicated to offering its global customers a series of world-class customized IoT touchpoints and digital store solutions. Hanshow’s intelligence-enabled platforms and systems deliver customer-centric insights, helping retailers streamline operations and providing various solutions to support optimal pricing strategies to offer consumers a more personalized experience. Hanshow currently serves over 20,000 stores in more than 50 countries. For more information, please visit www.hanshow.com.