4 Ways the AI Blend Churns Sales in Retail Industry

By: Retail CIO Outlook | Friday, December 27, 2019

The retail industry has keenly adopted technologies into its working to encourage and drive up the sales. One among these cases is the blending of AI in various stages of the businesses

Fremont, CA: The last decade has displayed how the real alchemy between technology and good old-fashioned customer service works wonders. Blending AI technology, along with the conventional methods, has kept the businesses alive, especially in the retail sector. AI is considered a critical factor that assists retailers to up their game to keep up with the ever evolving market trends. In brick and mortar stores, the integration of AI has effected a necessary change, building a better business.

• Visual Search:

Customers can do visual searches before making purchases online. This method of search applies technologies that match the users with desired products utilizing images. Even though it is still in the nascent stage of development, it is predicted to improve the quality of smartphone cameras and sensors upgrade in the near future. Various companies are experimenting with the idea of visual search as it has the capacity to simulate how a piece of clothing or a chair could look when tried on or placed in a home setting.

• Recommendations:

A study by a visual commerce company suggests that 70 percent of the customer base (among whom the survey was conducted) were likely to buy products from the recommended list. Targeting the history of a customer's purchases can help in driving sales. It creates a notion that the companies understand what the consumers need, making them much loyal to the brand. Personalized recommendations are crucial as nowadays its increasingly easy to take one company's business elsewhere. The provision of quality experience is equally important as the provisions of quality products.

• Robotic Assistance:

The room for human error is high while fulfilling tasks like stocking, pricing, and facing products in a store. Retail giants have now started experimenting with robots to scan and sense aisles for products that are missing, reducing the number of human resources necessary to maintain the store. Customers also tend to return to those stores which guarantee the availability of the product needed to the customer.

• Security:

Security has been given equal attention collateral to technology in retail as the scope for crime is a rising issue. With cashier-less stores and self-checkouts, a robust security solution is essential to be In place.

Drones have been tested as a proper solution for higher security provisions, as it can secure the parameter of the store as well as the warehouses. Drones are like the eyes in the sky, which reinforce the security guards by assisting them in seeing those angles which are invisible in stationary cams view. Intelligent AI-based video surveillance can help retailers figure out if the case of suspicious activity.

The retail sector is transcending in good speed, especially with newer technological innovations designed every other day. As AI trends pick up the pace with predictive algorithms, the customers know what exactly they want before they can even think of it. By these retailers getting together to apply the various new developments in technology, the independent retailers can compete against the major players who have digitalized the entire organizations.