Retail-as-a-service battleground heats up as Microsoft and Google challenge Amazon

A lot of retailers are looking for alternatives to Amazon Web Services for their retail-as-a-service (RaaS) needs, maybe in large part because they would prefer not to buddy up with perhaps their most daunting retail competitor. Kroger, for one, has found a partner in Microsoft and its Azure service, while hedging its bets by contracting to make use of the Google Cloud Platform as well.