AI and VR will enhance retail store experiences
dubai — Artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) have been identified as two of the technologies that will be critical in enhancing retail store experiences in the coming years, experts have said.
Chief executive officers in the retail industry across the UAE are well aware of this, with over half of them stating that they intend to start using AI within the next two years, new research has shown. According to the 2018 Global Consumer Executive Top of Mind survey by KPMG International, sentiments among CEOs in the UAE about the role of technology such as AI and VR in the retail industry are more optimistic compared to global trends, with only 24 per cent of global CEOs expressing their intent to start using AI over the next few years.
Global CEOs were also less confident about the prospects of technology in retail, with 48 per cent saying that brands would use technology to enhance the retail store experience. This is in stark contrast with UAE CEOs, who were confident of harnessing technology to transform the customer experience in-store. Even when it comes to the overarching theme of business transformation, 80 per cent of UAE CEOs said they planned to prioritise it over the next two years versus 57.5 per cent of CEOs globally.
As changing customer behaviours and shifting demographics contribute to sustained margin pressures, shorter strategy cycles and increased expectations from customers, companies are ramping up to embrace digital and AI technologies underpinned by data and
46% Of customer-centric companies ranked connecting with consumers round-theclock as a top priority
analytics. This shift is helping boost margins, customer centricity, agility and efficiency by replacing or augmenting some human activities with technology, and by shifting technology to the cloud. Anurag Bajpai, head of Retail at KPMG Lower Gulf, said: “We are envisaging a major push towards embracing technology to enhance the retail experience. The next few years in the UAE may see more brands adopt AI, VR and connected technology to transform the in-store experience and integrate online and offline experiences. The 2018 Top of Mind Survey finds an industry aggressively navigating a sea of change, where retailers and manufacturers appear to be radically rethinking their strategy, culture and processes and becoming more agile as they focus on growth.”
The survey also found that there is a direct correlation between how customer centric a company is and how fast it grows profits and revenues. In fact, 46 per cent of customer-centric companies ranked connecting with consumers roundthe-clock as a top priority.
“Today’s consumer and retail market is beyond disruption – we are disrupted – and CEOs need to listen to the market, look outward and focus on changing their business,” said Willy Kruh, KPMG global chair, Consumer & Retail. “It’s an increasingly difficult tightrope to walk between dealing with both internal and external continuous disruption, but both are key to creating customer centric organizations. Those companies that cannot authentically connect to customers will get left behind.”