Toronto-based Rubikloud announced that it has selected Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud computing platform to power its machine learning intelligence platform for retailers.
Rubikloud said that it chose Azure because of its ability to support and manage hundreds of terabytes of data. The company also noted that using Azure will bring terabytes of retail data to Azure from Rubikloud’s enterprise customers, specifically providing data on how to make aspects like merchandising, loyalty programs, and stock-out reduction more efficient.
“We’re at the tipping point for machine learning applications for retailers, and the catalyst to this adoption is elastic cloud computing,” said Kerry Liu, CEO of Rubikloud. “We chose Microsoft Azure as the preferred platform because we are processing more data than everyone in the retail industry except Walmart and Amazon. With Azure, we can connect a retailer’s legacy systems to Rubikloud’s products in weeks, ultimately integrating Azure into the retail ecosystem globally.”
Rubikloud’s machine learning services include Rubicore, which migrates massive volumes of legacy data from large retailers into a cloud infrastructure, giving retailers a single clean source of data; Rubikloud Customer Lifecycle Manager, which helps retailers optimize their loyalty programs by analyzing specific customer behaviours; and Rubikloud Promotion Manager, which allows companies to predict how mass promotions and seasonal product offerings will affect a company’s revenue.
“Rubikloud’s machine learning solutions are a powerful way for retailers to quickly gain ROI with machine-generated campaigns that reduce cannibalization, missed cross and up-selling opportunities, pricing errors, and more,” said Brendan O’Meara, senior director of Worldwide Retail at Microsoft. “We see huge potential for retailers to leverage machine learning to create more personalized experiences for partners.”
The announcement comes on the heels of Rubikloud’s recent partnership with A.S. Watson Group (ASW), Asia and Europe’s largest international health and beauty retailer. Rubikloud is working with ASW to deploy its Rubicore solution across ASW’s network of 13,300 retail stores across 25 Asian and European markets.