Artificial intelligence (AI) in retail has the potential to boost profits by streamlining procedures, automating labour and accelerating innovation, helping companies to “survive and thrive” in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
According to data science company Blue Yonder, organisations must keep up with technology trends if they are to reap the benefits.
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“Along with stock machine learning benefiting retailers, businesses can also use AI to automate tasks that may seem laborious to staff, improving their standing in the company and job satisfaction, as well as giving them more time for their main tasks,” says Professor Dr Michael Feindt, particle physicist, ex-CERN scientist and founder of Blue Yonder.
“AI can also streamline innovation in retail and allow the process of advancement to become quicker. By accelerating the progress of the latest products, AI will grow innovation, remove surplus costs and produce new revenue streams, therefore increasing profitability for the user organisation.
“Retailers will thrive and increase profits if they adapt their organisations, whether in the supply chain or on the shop floor, to match the new speed of developments and keep pace with the world.”
According to Blue Yonder, retail is dealing with many industry changes: the age of millennials has shifted the rules of shopping, requiring options of 24/7 shopping on any platform, delivered when they want it. Combine this with digital transparency of pricing, and the ease of comparing products online, and the retail sphere is a very different place with margins getting ever tighter.
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By GlobalData“This makes it vitally important that retailers are able to utilise artificial intelligence solutions and deliver even better customer experiences, with the most effective replenishment and pricing strategies, while also making it mission-critical to reduce waste,” Feindt says.
“Artificial intelligence will only become even more effective over time, being able to detect and respond to changing customer demand patterns through learning and technological developments, allowing retailers to benefit from this and increase their revenues year on year. Only those retailers who understand the importance of advanced machine learning algorithms and Big Data will survive and thrive.”
