At the same time, many customer service chatbots are maddeningly frustrating, as\u00a0
Ultimately we ended up that the key was to lean in on both GenAI and the human touch.\u00a0 GenAI provides unique opportunities to get to most answers faster and more conveniently, one of the key pieces of feedback from Walmart\u2019s supplier negotiation program, and also highlighted from this telling feature from Klarna, where GenAI completed 2\/3rds of call center conversations, the work of 700 employees\u00a0and did so with higher customer satisfaction and 2 minute resolution times instead of 11 minutes!\u00a0 This allows you to lean in to the 10% that require a human connection and provide a superlative experience that drives loyalty.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dual approach leads to convenience and better service, all at a much lower cost that is estimated to improve profits by $40m per year!\u00a0 Win-win-win.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
AI Is Enhancing The In-Store Customer Experience And Leveling Up The Sales Associate<\/span><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharon Lawler<\/b>\u00a0kicked us off talking about in-store customer experience singing the praises of new digital tools at Irish sports retailers called\u00a0SafeSize\u00a0that would scan feet and make size and shoe longevity recommendations for her teenager.\u00a0 She noted it was even more powerful when used in coordination\u00a0with a sales associate.\u00a0 And then the discussion lit up.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We discussed\u00a0sales associate tools like\u00a0RillaVoice\u00a0(sales management monitoring) and\u00a0Theatro\u00a0(sales associate voice first tools) and numerous AI based associate training tools.\u00a0 AI can also reduce the medial, repetitive tasks so that associates can better serve customers.\u00a0 And that discussion dovetailed into computer vision.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Computer Vision Increasingly Being Adopted To Understand Physical Retail<\/span><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Computer vision is increasingly being used for loss prevention.\u00a0\u00a0
\u00a0Ian Scott<\/b>\u00a0referenced being able to sense changes in body language that precedes theft, and in England, the secret has been not to confront the potential shoplifter, but to \u201clove bomb\u201d them, in other words to shower them with friendly and helpful staff attention.\u00a0 But be careful of regulations, as\u00a0Rite Aid found out by illegally using facial recognition without notifying customers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
License Plate Readers (LPRs) such as\u00a0Flock Safety\u00a0are widely being deployed to catch criminals at major retail chains and malls by providing data to police departments.\u00a0
Gwen Morrison<\/b>\u00a0chimed in that\u00a0Iterate.ai\u00a0is using LPRs in drive throughs to automate payments in QSRs.\u00a0 She also brought up that there is a lot of opportunity with more accurate data streams coming from RFID adoption and visibility to which\u00a0Marshall Kay<\/b>\u00a0jumped on the RFID soapbox and talked about the rapid decrease in RFID sticker prices driving adoption.\u00a0 \u00a0New data sources are powering a better understanding of store.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Learning from Wendy\u2019s PR Flub On Dynamic Pricing\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking of QSRs, the Internet was a-frenzy with\u00a0Wendy\u2019s announcement that it was investing in dynamic pricing.\u00a0
Karl Heller<\/b>\u00a0criticized their positioning of it, \u201cwe\u2019ve had dynamic pricing at bars all the time, we call it Happy Hour and no one gets mad at the concept of Happy Hour.\u201d\u00a0Richard Hammond<\/b>\u00a0mentioned a bar in the US that groups beers together and gamifies prices of the groups up and down to encourage people to try new beers and have fun.\u00a0 Customers love it! The discussion pointed at the real need to position new technologies appropriately to customers, focused on the benefits or the experience, or shopper will come to their own suspicious and often worst case conclusions.\u00a0 Retail needs to learn these messaging lessons as we are seeing increasing deployments of Electronic Shelf Labels and inventory intelligence and robots, as\u00a0Michael Klein<\/b>\u00a0pointed out.\u00a0 Ultimately, humans want to feel in control of their experience, and with AI they can benefit from more options and or savings if they see technology as an enabler, not a manipulator.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n\n
\n
So Why Isn\u2019t There More Retail News About AI?<\/span><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
We know AI is being actively deployed behind the scenes in supply chain, predictive analytics, ad optimization and customer data processing.\u00a0 But our group isn\u2019t hearing (or maybe disclosing) much on the frontlines of AI and human engagement and the shopper experience. How could that be?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shannon Flanagan<\/b>\u00a0added that retail executives over the last decade have been burned repeatedly by the promises of technology and are reluctant to publicize much before success and get burned.\u00a0 Once bitten and twice shy, or maybe the commonly repeated adage that retailers don\u2019t ever want to be first or third.\u00a0Gwen Morrison<\/b>\u00a0added that Big Tech is not prioritizing investment in retail, because budgets aren\u2019t shifting as rapidly yet.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The reality is that retailers are working feverishly to build out the data infrastructure to take better advantage of AI. They are enhancing product data with descriptive modifiers, correlating online and offline customer data,\u00a0 These aren\u2019t big sexy launches, but they are the foundations for a future of conversational commerce, augmented reality, and 1:1 shopping personalization that signal the foundational retail shifts that we highly anticipate.\u00a0 Ehen these technologies are deployed in a way that recognizes our humanity, they reduce friction rather than increase conflict and enhance our human experience rather than detract from it via automation.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rethink.industries\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/TRI-HUB-BOUT-THE-AUTHOR-1200-\u00d7-400-px-2-300x100.png\")
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
![\"Retail](\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90.png\")
<\/a><\/p>