Important
Legal and regulatory considerations- Organizations need to evaluate potential specific legal and regulatory obligations when using any AI services and solutions, which may not be appropriate for use in every industry or scenario. Additionally, AI services or solutions are not designed for and may not be used in ways prohibited in applicable terms of service and relevant codes of conduct.
Some or all of this functionality is available as part of a preview release. The content and the functionality are subject to change.
Important
This feature uses services such as Bing and Azure Maps that transmit data—such as store location, latitude/longitude, and country/region code—outside your compliance boundary to obtain events, holidays, and weather information used to generate recommendations.
Your use of Bing is governed by the Microsoft Services Agreement and the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Noncommercial use limitations don't apply to products available for a fee through Microsoft volume license.
The Data Protection Addendum doesn't apply to your use of Bing within Microsoft Generative AI Services Previews.
To use the Store Operations Agent for staffing recommendations and other capabilities, first populate Dataverse with your store data. Then publish the agent so that store associates can use it.
Before you begin
- Install Store Operations Agent in the Dataverse environment you plan to use.
- Make sure you have permissions to import data into Dataverse tables (for example, System Administrator or System Customizer).
- Decide whether you want to start with demo data or import your organization's data.
Use demo data to populate Dataverse
The easiest way to get started is to use the built-in demo data upload feature. The agent includes tools that upload sample data to Dataverse for testing and demonstration purposes.
Note
Demo data is intended for testing and demonstration purposes only. For production use, import your organization's data.
Upload demo data
Open the installed Store Operations Agent in Copilot Studio.
In the chat window, type one of the following prompts:
Upload demo dataLoad sample data for testing
The agent uploads sample store data, product inventory, and staffing information to your Dataverse environment. Demo data records include a
_demosuffix for easy identification.To check upload status, type one of the following prompts:
Is demo data uploaded?Is demo data ready to use?
Clean up demo data
When you're ready to remove the demo data and use your own production data:
In the agent chat, type one of the following prompts:
Cleanup demo dataReset demo environment
The agent removes records that include the
_demosuffix.To check cleanup status, type one of the following prompts:
Is demo data cleaned up?Is the demo data deleted?
Manual data import via Power Apps
For production scenarios, import your organization's data into Dataverse by using Power Apps dataflows.
Capability prerequisites
This table lists the required Dataverse tables and integrations for each capability. Use it to plan your setup.
| Capability | Required data tables | Required integration |
|---|---|---|
| Store information | Store | None (Dataverse only) |
| Staffing recommendations | Store, Base Roster, Working Roster, Hourly Demand | None (Dataverse only) |
| Event impact and recommendations | Store, Store Products | None (Dataverse only) |
| Product Inventory | None | Finance & Operations |
| Order Tracking | None | Finance & Operations |
| Incident Management | None | ServiceNow |
Note
Capabilities that use "None (Dataverse only)" work after you populate the required Dataverse tables. Capabilities that require external integrations (Finance & Operations and ServiceNow) require extra configuration.
Required Dataverse tables
The Store Operations Agent requires data in the following Dataverse tables:
| Table display name | Logical name | Description | Required for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store | msdyn_indstore | Store information including location, time zone, and country/region | All scenarios |
| Store Products | msdyn_indstoreproducts | Product inventory with categories and descriptions | Event monitoring and suggestions |
| Base Roster | msdyn_indbaseroster | Standard staffing schedule by day and hour | Staffing recommendations |
| Working Roster | msdyn_indworkingroster | Actual employee schedules by date | Staffing recommendations |
| Hourly Demand | msdyn_indhourlydemand | Historical sales and traffic data by hour | Staffing recommendations |
| Demand Forecast | msdyn_inddemandforecast | Projected sales and visitor targets | Staffing recommendations |
Data schema reference
Store table (msdyn_indstore)
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| msdyn_indstoreidentifier | Text | Unique store identifier |
| msdyn_indname | Text | Store name |
| msdyn_inddescription | Text | Store description |
| msdyn_indlatitude | Decimal | Store latitude coordinate |
| msdyn_indlongitude | Decimal | Store longitude coordinate |
| msdyn_indlocation | Text | Store location (city, state, country/region) |
| msdyn_indlocaltimezone | Text | Local time zone (for example, "Australian Eastern Standard Time") |
| msdyn_indcountrycode | Text | ISO country/region code (for example, "AU", "US") |
Store Products table (msdyn_indstoreproducts)
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| msdyn_indproductid | Text | Unique product identifier |
| msdyn_indstoreid | Text | Associated store identifier |
| msdyn_indname | Text | Product name |
| msdyn_inddescription | Text | Product description |
| msdyn_indproductcategory | Text | Product category (for example, "Womens_Collection", "Footwear") |
| msdyn_indproductsubcategory | Text | Product subcategory (for example, "Blouses", "Boots") |
| msdyn_indproductsummary | Text | Category summary text |
Base Roster table (msdyn_indbaseroster)
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| msdyn_indstoreidentifier | Text | Associated store identifier |
| msdyn_inddayofweek | Text | Day of the week (for example, "Sunday", "Monday") |
| msdyn_indstartofthehour | Time | Hour start time (for example, "09:00:00") |
| msdyn_indnumofemployees | Integer | Number of employees scheduled |
| msdyn_indvalidfrom | Date | Roster validity start date |
| msdyn_indvalidto | Date | Roster validity end date |
Working Roster table (msdyn_indworkingroster)
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| msdyn_indstoreidentifier | Text | Associated store identifier |
| msdyn_inddate | Date | Specific date |
| msdyn_indstartofthehour | Time | Hour start time |
| msdyn_indnumofemployees | Integer | Number of employees working |
Hourly Demand table (msdyn_indhourlydemand)
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| msdyn_indstoreidentifier | Text | Associated store identifier |
| msdyn_inddate | Date | Specific date |
| msdyn_indstartofthehour | Time | Hour start time |
| msdyn_indamount | Decimal | Sales amount for the hour |
| msdyn_indtransactioncount | Integer | Number of transactions |
| msdyn_indnumofpassersby | Integer | Number of passersby |
| msdyn_indnumofvisitors | Integer | Number of store visitors |
Demand Forecast table (msdyn_inddemandforecast)
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| msdyn_indstoreidentifier | Text | Associated store identifier |
| msdyn_inddate | Date | Forecast date |
| msdyn_indsalestarget | Decimal | Projected sales target |
| msdyn_indtargetvisitors | Integer | Projected visitor count |
Steps to import data manually
Go to the Power Apps maker portal.
Select the environment where you installed Store Operations Agent.
In the left navigation panel, select Tables.
Select All to view all tables.
Filter tables by entering
msdyn_indin the search box.Select the Store table first (store data must be imported before other tables).
Select Import, and then select Import data with dataflows.
Upload your CSV file and follow the Power Query wizard to map columns.
Select Load to existing table and choose the appropriate destination table.
Verify the column mappings, and then publish the dataflow.
Repeat for each required table.
Important
Always import the Store table first, as other tables reference store records. Ensure your store identifiers are consistent across all tables.
Publish Store Operations Agent
To publish your agent from Copilot Studio, see Key concepts: Publish and deploy your agent.
You can publish your agent to multiple targets supported by Copilot Studio, such as Microsoft Teams or mobile apps. To connect your agent to Microsoft Teams, see Connect and configure an agent for Microsoft Teams.