How AI has Affected the Retail Sector
The retail space in today’s world has become a highly complex space, primarily due to e-commerce. Today, as retail stores fight tooth and nail to keep going in this cut-throat market, they have found excellent assistance in the form of Artificial Intelligence. It is because retail customers and their demands have evolved considerably over the past few years. Further, it has rendered the task of delivering highly-rated customer experiences an even more significant challenge. However, with AI in their arsenal, retailers worldwide have made substantial progress when it comes to keeping their edge in the market. Research shows that artificial intelligence-driven retail revenues globally will be somewhere around $37 billion by 2025. In 2016, that figure stood at a measly $643.7 million.
But if you are still convinced about the might not of this technology, here is yet another compelling stat: Studies have shown that nearly 30 percent of retailers have already deployed or are in the process of deploying artificial intelligence across their operations. Compared to just a few years ago, that number translates into a seven-fold increase! Suffice it to say that there is immense scope for the application of artificial intelligence in retail. For example, it can help retail business owners ease product discovery for their customers by allowing customers to take a picture of what they want or like and then find a retailer that sells the product in question.
Now, let’s discuss some of AI’s other benefits for retailers in detail.
- Deliver enhanced in-store experiences: As mentioned above, customers’ expectations have evolved considerably, making it much more challenging for customers to deliver high-quality experiences. But that problem is quickly tended to with AI and that too via a variety of means. It assists customers across the store with enabling digital payments to prevent or reduce queues, keep a tab on the in-store stock, ensure timely replenishment of stock, and more.
- Adapt prices: No market is quite as price-sensitive as retail, making it crucial for retailers to adapt their pricing strategy according to market developments. AI can help retailers identify the most effective pricing model for their business, adjust their prices according to market movements, etc.
- Provide tailored customer experiences: One of the most significant and essential expectations on any customer’s list is a personalized experience. Though it may seem like a tough ask in general, it is rendered quite simple with AI that, together with tools such as face recognition, and more. It can help identify customers who revisit a store and automatically extract relevant data to deliver an experience suited to their individual needs and preferences.
Even with a handful of examples, it is clear that artificial intelligence, when used well, stands to revolutionize retails for business owners and customers. And to do that, you only need robust retail software solutions fortified with AI.
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