Currently, during system deployments in Dynamics 365 Commerce, the balance inquiry and redemption service for gift cards is temporarily interrupted. This downtime poses a significant operational risk for retail companies, especially those with a global presence across multiple time zones and 24/7 operations.

We propose that Microsoft implement an improvement to ensure continuous availability of this service during deployments, thereby maintaining business continuity and a seamless customer experience.

Problem it Solves:

For a fashion company with international operations, the unavailability of the gift card service during deployments affects both physical stores and the online channel, compromising sales and customer trust. This situation is particularly critical in markets where gift cards are a common payment method.

Benefits for Other Organizations:

This improvement would benefit all organizations using the gift card service in D365 Commerce, not just those in the fashion sector. Retail, grocery, electronics, and other industries with global operations would benefit from greater system resilience and improved customer experience.

Concrete Use Case:

During a scheduled deployment, a company with stores in the Americas, Europe, and Asia experiences failures in gift card redemption on its e-commerce platform, resulting in lost sales and customer complaints. With this improvement, the service would remain active and functional, eliminating this risk.