For decades, the old ways of doing analytics have worked fine for the retail sector. However, artificial intelligence in retail has boosted the sector in many ways.
With its introduction, data processing has enhanced, which provides proper business insights to the organization.
Also, it is said that digital disruption in the retail sector will soon be happening at a much rapid pace when artificial intelligence will get combined with machine learning and predictive analytics.
This change will revolutionize the retail sector and especially for the organizations that gather and process customer’s data.
With the implementation of artificial intelligence in the retail sector, organizations can reduce their operating costs by reducing the workforce in the retail outlet.
Amazon is one of the early adopters of this technology by introducing checkout-free stores.
Amazon Go is the store which records your behavior at the store and automatically deducts the amount from your Amazon account.
Chatbots, with the help of artificial intelligence in retail, can be a boon for an organization as they can provide them with ultimate customer service like sending notifications about newly launched products, sales schemes, discount offers, etc.
Also, some smarter chatbots can suggest you with the type of clothes you want like, for example, you took a shirt, and now the chatbot will recommend you to buy matching jeans.
Companies like Tommy Hilfiger have started such service, which makes customers navigate through their stuff.
Artificial intelligence in the retail sector can help the organization to implement automated support in stores to keep customers engaged in shopping.
This will also help the store to eliminate the use of paper ads and other informative displays which use papers as the means of advertisement. Instead, smart displays will take their place and will guide the customers accordingly.
Artificial intelligence can help the organizations in predicting the price of the products whose supply is less and demand is more. This will help the organization to boost its sales.
This will also let the customer know that the price for the product X is now less and will soon rise to a certain amount, so buy it before it gets too late. This will make the customer buy the product irrespective of the fact that the price may or may not rise.
AI in retail can help the organization in solving the problem of logistics and supply chain management within the store or from the factory to the store. AI can help in ensuring that the stores are getting proper supply from the manufacturer.
Also, the demand for the products can be analyzed, and further, the trends can be seen. Thereafter, discounts can be offered on the products which are low on sales.
Lowe’s used LoweBot, a robot which helps the customers in searching for their desired products and assist them in doing shopping.
The bot is designed in such a way that it asks questions from the customers about their purchase and what they are going to buy now and assists them accordingly.
It can also guide the customers about where the product is placed and also keeps an eye on the stock of the products at the store and raises the alarm for the department to restock the product.
Walgreens, the second-largest American pharmacy company, used artificial intelligence in its business to analyze the anti-viral prescriptions which are filled in its stores to track the flu according to the area.
This technology helps Walgreens to maintain the stock of anti-viral medicines and also convey messages to the customers about the seriousness of the flu spreading in their area.
Done with shopping at North Face? Now, with IBM Watson’s cognitive computing technology, you’ll be asked questions as to what occasion you’re buying the clothes for and what all activities you’ll be doing, to assist you with the perfect match for the occasion.
An American luxury departmental store, Neiman Marcus uses artificial intelligence to sort things for their customers.
The customers can use the application to search the items by clicking the product’s picture that they find anywhere on the road or in the market and then explore the similar products in the store.
The application then analyzes the photo and displays the similar products available at the store. This is very convenient for customers.
Taco Bell is a California-based chain of fast-food restaurants. Recently, they introduced TacoBot, which will help its customers in ordering food through artificial intelligence.
The customers can use text as well as voice search options to order their food. TacoBot can also customize your order if you’re ordering in bulk.
Also, the bot is so smart that it can detect whether the customer is getting frustrated by ordering through AI. In this case, the bot will alert the human workforce, which is working at the store.
Recently Walmart started using robots, which will help the management to scan the empty spaces on the shelves so that restocking can be done on time.
Also, this will help Walmart in analyzing which products are in demand and which ones are selling less.
This is one of the best examples of the presence of artificial intelligence in the retail sector. Amazon introduced Amazon Go some time back, which is a totally cashless store.
Here, the customer can purchase anything that is kept on the shelves.
Once the customer is done with the shopping, the sensors present across the store will track it, and the amount will get deducted from the customer’s Amazon account.
So, there’s no need to stand in long queues for billing.
H&M, well-named clothing, and accessories stores use artificial intelligence to restock its store.
AI helps the management to analyze the shopping patterns of the customer and use the bills to evaluate the number of items purchased and the number of items to be restocked.
Moreover, the data can be used to analyze the demand for the product and to move out the products which are low in sales.
Feeling lazy to go on shopping? Well, ZARA has introduced a robot in its store, which will help you in picking up the products which you just purchased while sitting at your home.
Yes, you heard that right. You can now shop on the ZARA application and then just pick up your products from the store by just entering the pickup code.
As soon as you enter the code, the robot will deliver the product to you via dropbox.
Starbucks introduced its coffee ordering application, which is known as “My Starbucks Barista,” to place an order of its yummy coffee via text or voice search.
The AI-enabled application helps Starbucks to reduce the queue by taking orders and delivering the coffee as soon as the person arrives at the store.
Conclusion:
Artificial intelligence in retail is a lucrative investment that can boost the sales in your retail store, giving you valuable insights and bringing maximum revenue for your business in the future.
So, stop lagging behind your competitors and adopt the leading technology!
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