"We are targeting 150 stores for our IT retail products"

Could you please
elaborate on the major milestones of href="http://www.dqweek.com/Microsoft-strengthens-its-retail-presence">Microsoft
retail business?

Our retail business is
primarily end-customer centric. Overall, our retail business has 4
key broad pillars which includes-entertainment and gaming (Xbox
360, Xbox live, Kinect, gaming, and accessories); hardware (keyboard,
mice, webcams and headsets); Windows 7 FPP, and Office 2010 FPP.
Looking at the worldwide milestones in entertainment and gaming
segment, we have sold more than 55 mn Xbox 360 consoles till date and
10 mn units of Kinect sensors. In hardware business, nearly every
second, 1 consumer is buying Microsoft hardware. We have sold 500 mn
units of our hardware products till date. Presently, we have more
than 40 different models across the product category. The uptake of
Microsoft office 7 has been phenomenal. We have sold more than 400 mn
licenses; in fact, it has become the fastest selling operating
system. Lastly, Microsoft office has touched the mark of 1 bn
installed base of PC. The revenue contributed by our retail business
was $10bn worldwide in FY11.

Over the years, how has
Microsoft ramped up its distribution business?

In India, we have our
direct presence in 15 cities and in 120-130 towns through
distribution. We have around 4,000 IT partners including stores and
system integrators. In addition to this, our products are available
through 200 large format retail stores(LFR), and around 4,000 IT
retail and telecom stores. Till last year, Xbox and accessories were
only available in LFRs, bur this year 150 stores are being targeted.
Our plan is to have deeper inroads in untapped areas.

How much your partners
have contributed to this success?

We are running our global
and India-centric programs for our channel partners and their sales
representatives. The idea is to extend all the support, so that they
can demystify technology and innovation and offer simple solutions
with confidence and ease. Currently, we have 2 of our flagship
programs like Win With Windows(WWW) and Office Heroes running. WWW is
a program that encourages retailers to sell more PCs with genuine
Windows. There are more than 300 individual retail sales people and
close to 1,500 retailers are part of this program. Our Office Heroes
program caters to the Indian retailers, who sell 1 MS office suite
everyday. There are 100 partners across, who are participating in it.

What are your plans to
enhance brand visibility?

Retail branding is one of
our key objectives. We are putting efforts to create brand visibility
via innovative merchandising. We are investing in demo kiosks for
Kinect and automated demos for Windows and office. We are also having
Kinect jockey program. It is one of a kind in the gaming industry,
supported by attractive value packs for consumers. Another marketing
activity 'Try and Buy' allows the consumer to experience the
product in the comfort of his home, as a part of the pre-purchase
decision making process.

What are the other
partner programs in the pipeline?

As PC and Internet
penetration is catching up in the smaller cities of India, the need
was felt, to reach out to retail sales professionals, who are
mushrooming in smaller C and D-class cities. Hence, to empower these
sales professionals, we have rolled out an online training
program-Microsoft ExpertZone. The program will allow new partners
to gain any information related to the entire suite of products on
the click of a button. On completion of the course, the partner will
be certified with Microsoft certified retail sales professional
certificate.