Artificial intelligence (AI) is steadily becoming critical in retail. Retail businesses that have prioritised the management of their customer data at each point of interaction across their organisation, are now perfectly prepared to integrate AI into their operations, from trend predictions to workflow management.
As businesses continue to discover new ways to apply AI, the technology promises to improve the retail world through revolutionary solutions in the future. Using AI in your business could give you the competitive edge you desire.
Let’s explore the impact of AI in retail and AI trends that will likely shape the industry’s future.
How AI is Revolutionizing the Retail industry
Let’s examine a few areas where retail businesses could apply AI to make a big difference in their operations.
Facilitating a Customised Experience
As competition intensifies in the retail industry, businesses are turning to customisation to acquire a competitive edge. Many retailers are employing AI to generate unique shoppers’ guides.
Retailers know that customers will likely become loyal to outlets that add personalised features to their brands. Machine learning and AI tools can track and evaluate customers’ shopping habits, their previous purchases, and loyalty card transactions to produce customised offerings.
Streamlining Multichannel Retail Store Operations
Multichannel retailing is a popular approach where retailers use AI to improve sales and customer loyalty by enhancing customer experience and convenience. This strategy involves employing multiple techniques to retail their products via various platforms, including:
- Brick and mortar stores
- Mobile stores
- Online stores
- Mobile app
- Catalogs
Multichannel retailing can improve sales, but it can also complicate store operations. It requires the associates or employees to execute multiple roles at a time. Apart from the usual receiving, sticking, and packing inventory, they also must provide product information, handle merchandising and track promotional offers.
Integrating AI in store management helps retailers to streamline a store manager’s duties via automation. AI uses robotics to automate back office tasks, saving time that can be employed for productive work.
Facilitating Smart Searches
Smart searchers make it easy for clients to locate products in an online store faster. AI allows customers to use product keys or photos to search for retail stores that stock the items. AI improves the shopping experience by including related products, allowing the client to make an informed purchase.
Streamlining Logistics
The importance of a smart and efficient supply chain in retail can never be overemphasised. Effective supply chain management is crucial in retail because it helps organizations to:
- Minimise costs and improve delivery speeds
- Increase their market share by continuously meeting customer needs
- Increase warehouse productivity
- Increase growth and earnings
Logistics and supply chain management has many automation opportunities that facilitate AI integration.
AI-powered logistics management and supply chains can help organizations to implement proactive strategies by predicting:
- Production changes
- Supplier capabilities
- Customer needs
Indeed, AI has revolutionised supply chain management by:
- Enhancing demand forecasting accuracy.
- Improving production planning and factory scheduling accuracy by optimizing their supply chains.
- Minimizing freight costs and supplier risk.
Real World Retailers Who Employ AI
Retailers who embrace AI enjoy a significant competitive advantage and attract more customers to their outlets. A few large retailers who employ AI include:
- Dominos
- Amazon
- Lowe’s
- Walmart
Dominos
Dominos has an AI-driven robotics unit that uses DRU sensors to guide its navigation services. AI helps the company’s workers to determine the fastest and best path to follow when delivering pizza. Dominos also uses an AI camera to ensure all its pizzas satisfy its standards.
Only products that meet quality scores are matched with customer orders to ensure customer satisfaction.
Amazon
Amazon’s AI and machine learning virtual assistant, christened Alexa, is a futuristic technology that allows users to locate and buy a product as guided by voice prompts. The company also uses AI to facilitate customer searches by predicting what the client is asking. This technique helps the retailer to understand its customers better.
Moreover, Amazon employs its AI-powered Flywheel technology to power its chatbots, make product recommendations, and perform product forecasting.
The technology giant recently announced its intention to launch the Amazon Prime Air services. This drone-based service will use AI to ensure faster deliveries to customers.
Lowe’s
Lowe’s launched its AI-powered helping robot christened LoweBot in 2016. LoweBot uses multiple sensors and cameras to capture and process store data, making it easier for clients to locate products.
The highly versatile robot understands multiple languages, allowing the company to serve a multicultural customer base.
LoweBot monitors inventory in real-time and sends restacking signals to ensure customers never lack their desired products.
The robot executes these tasks and frees the store employees to concentrate on improving customer service.
Walmart
Walmart’s Zeekit program employs AI to allow clients to wear any clothing item in its online store. In essence, Zeekit is an interactive changing room.
In addition, Walmart uses AI to run and improve its supply chain effectiveness. It also helps in stocking and restocking decisions since AI can predict what clients desire to purchase.
AI Trends in AI
AI and machine learning offer endless opportunities for the retail industry. Some of the AI technologies that will likely dictate the industry’s future include augmented reality and brand monitoring.
Augmented Reality
Retailers who employ augmented reality will likely experience a competitive advantage. This AI-powered technology allows clients to sample a store’s products in three dimension pictures.
Augmented reality can enhance the shopping experience of online shoppers while helping brick-and-mortar firms become fully online.
Brand Monitoring
AI-driven brand monitoring will help retail stores become more competitive. It will allow companies to monitor their brand’s reputation and worth, track the organization’s success, and gauge customer satisfaction.
Marketing teams today perform similar actions, but they require a lot of resources and time to do a timely and accurate job. A one-time investment in AI will allow a retailer to accomplish these tasks within a short time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AI technology in business?
AI technology involves the use of smart machines that can simulate human intelligence. Businesses can use AI for:
- For natural language processing
- To generate expert systems
- To create machine vision
How will AI impact the future of retailing?
AI promises a vast range of future retail applications, including enhancing supply chain efficiency and increasing online and in-store sales.
What are the adverse effects of AI on the retail industry?
The main adverse effect of AI in the retail industry is the loss of employment resulting from staff getting replaced by smart machines.