COMPUTER A LA MODE
Byline: Alexandra Bellak
LAS VEGAS — Software behemoth Microsoft is hosting a series of luncheon seminars at WWDMagic to show small retailers how to implement technologies that are suited to their size.
“We want to help educate and let smaller retailers know that there is software that can facilitate their needs and advance their sales,” said Judy Dulcich, Microsoft’s retail industry marketing manager. These seminars, in Pavilion E, will instruct retailers about using software for such functions as updating customer data bases, planning labor schedules, building a Web site or doing mailings.
Adjacent to these classes will be Compaq computer stations, where guests can review what they learned and see the software in action.
“We want people to know that technology can be made fun, easy and effective and does not have to be perceived in a sterile way,” said Dulcich.
Microsoft is also a sponsor of daily fashion shows, which will be simultaneously projected on large television screens and broadcast on the Internet. This will demonstrate a new video-imaging system, which allows the viewer to watch a virtual fashion show.
Manufacturers can also benefit from new software, said Dulcich. For example, Nautica has used Microsoft for its secured intranet communications system to stay in touch with licensees worldwide.
“Designers don’t realize the options available,” she said. “They could computerize their revenues, share concepts with employees, show their lines, or even [organize] a press data base.”