When AI Meets Retail: Seizing the Opportunity of Transforming the Customer Experiences with AI Implications

Disrupting the retail industry with AI

The retail business has seen radical upheaval in recent years as a result of the incorporation of AI. Retailers are increasingly using AI to close the gap between online and offline shopping and provide customers with a more individualized and engaging shopping experience, which will eventually increase customer happiness and boost sales.

According to McKinsey Global Institute, the retail industry could reap global benefits from AI worth $400 billion to $800 billion – more than any other industry.

According to a recent report by Statista, over the next eight-year period, the market for AI in retail is estimated to grow exponentially, reaching 23.32 billion U.S. dollars by 2027.

Customers nowadays now anticipate proactive personalization when they purchase. Retailers and service providers must anticipate and mold a customer’s purchasing journey to match their purchase behavior, from customized communication to personalized guidance and suggestions. Customers will become irritated with businesses that fail to accomplish this, by forgetting or disregarding prior encounters and preferences, and they will switch to a competing brand.

The Zero Friction Future report from Facebook IQ and BCG proves that 66% of consumers switched to a competitor because of a poor purchase experience where the brand failed to take note of a previous interaction.

By giving businesses insights into customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the eCommerce sector. The whole consumer experience may be enhanced by using this data to provide customized product suggestions. Pricing, inventory, and supply chain management may all be improved using AI.

The inaugural KPMG study published in early 2020 also shows that 90% of retail business leaders indicated that their employees are prepared and have the skills for AI adoption.

How brand leaders are changing the game?

When it comes to the use cases of AI in retail, it is nothing limited to business intelligence and rapid sales. Driving profitable enterprises is the focus of AI applications in the retail sector. To guarantee a positive client experience as a retail platform, assurance is essential. Therefore, AI solutions that are developed with a thoughtful approach to niche evaluation, committed development, and purely focused on quality assurance services have the most potential to differentiate merchants.

To create a distinctive in-store experience, Uniqlo now can read minds with AI. A few establishments have UMood kiosks driven by AI that display a range of items to customers and monitor their neurotransmitter responses to the color and style. The kiosk then makes product recommendations based on each person’s responses. Customers don’t even need to press a button; the system can tell how they feel about each item only from their brain impulses.

With its voice ordering, and AI enabled, the coffee giant Starbucks makes getting your morning pick-me-up even simpler. Customers may use the My Starbucks Barista app’s chat feature to place voice or text orders. The consumer may avoid the line and pick up their order when they arrive at their neighborhood Starbucks.

Personalized content is another significant way AI is changing customer experience solutions. Nowadays, it’s really simple to locate recommendations based on your prior behavior, such as suggested YouTube videos, Netflix movies, and Spotify music playlists. For instance, both Azure and AWS provide extensive experience in the development of AI-centered applications. As a result, businesses can swiftly expand their AI capabilities by utilizing the expertise and skills of the top public cloud providers.

See more about how SmartOSC can help with AI implications by being a certified AWS partner and Azure.

But… challenge also looms

According to Forbes, data privacy has received a lot of attention recently, and AI can also make privacy worries worse. The most fluid and impactful experiences are made possible by customer data, yet customers are beginning to demand more openness from businesses on how they gather, store, secure, and use their data.

Conclusion

AI in retail appears to have a bright future and may even change how businesses and consumers interact. For retailers, the technology provides a number of advantages, including boosting their profit margins, increasing operational effectiveness, and enhancing both the consumer and staff experience.