AI can tell what you’re buying next
sharjah — What if the next time you drop by the café at your go-to petrol station, your favourite coffee — labelled with your name — is already waiting for you?
Certainly, one can always place an order in advance via an app or by making a phone call. But this one is different, as artificial intelligence (AI) or, particularly, predictive technology is being employed by retailers to forecast consumer behaviour and needs.
Speaking to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the fourth Sharjah FDI Forum, Zaid Al Qufaidi, managing director of retail at Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), said retailers are moving away from basic statistics and are now using AI to analyse data derived from customers and detect the underlying patterns in their shopping behaviour — from the usual products they buy, the frequency, up to the way they buy them.
He said: “Our retail strategy has shifted digital. For example, we are introducing smart petrol stations where we gather consumer information through our smart digital cameras. We can recognise the vehicle plates, Salik point of contact, and even the smartphone that was used to pay for the purchases. We also have a vehicle identification pass (VIP), and all the information that we gather, we put them in one basket — what we call as big data. Then, we analyse how customers buy fuel or what they get from our convenience store.”
“We have now become more proactive. We will know what consumers want to purchase and we can predict when they will buy it. We can also offer more services and advice to our customers; for example, when they should change their tyres or car battery,” Al Qufaidi said.
“We should understand that the customers of today and their needs are different tomorrow, so we need to understand consumer behaviour.”
With all the data mining the firm does, Al Qufaidi said they are also cautious when it comes to consumer privacy and security. “We are strictly working with government regulators so as not to compromise privacy and security,” he said.
“What we are doing is that we are just enhancing our services.”
AI can also help retailers in their inventory management systems and in streamlining their logistics.
Al Qufaidi said AI will soon be widely used in the retail industry, and the labour market should be able to adapt to the disruptive trend.
This means we may not see robots replacing human gas attendants,
but more self-service petrol pumps will be introduced, resulting in job cuts.
“However, humans will be behind the desks analysing the trend and consumer behaviour,” Al Qufaidi said. The important thing is that skills in the labour force are aligned with the new technology, he added.
We will know what consumers want to purchase and when they will buy it. We are strictly working with government regulators so as not to compromise privacy.”
Zaid Al Qufaidi, managing director of retail, Enoc