Winning the retail race
Intelligent automation can help deliver service on time an data lower cost
In-built facial recognition and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities enable a fleet of virtual agents to greet shoppers personally, provide directions and anticipate orders. Machine Learning (ML) personalises promotions to match shoppers’ current mood and past spending preferences; in-store beacons send offers to their smartphones as they navigate through the store. Computer vision with deep learning identifi es items-added to the shopping cart. Adding data through sensors, Artificial Intelligence (AI) allows non-stop checkout and automatic payment with autonomous drones completing lastmile delivery at shoppers’ doorsteps.
As whimsical as these innovations may sound, none are hypothetical. These technologies are being tested for roll-outs in the coming few years. For those that believe Intelligent Automation is just a hype, consider that 85 per cent of transactions in retail will be managed by IA technologies by 2020.
Retailers are not only leveraging Intelligent Automation (IA) technologies to create retail stores of the future, they are beginning to apply Robotics Process Automation (RPA), ML, NLP and AIin major functions across the value chain ? supply chain, marketing, finance and customer experience. The use of IA in retail can generate compelling benefits. First, it helps retailers make smarter decisions, with accurate and real-time forecasting. Right forecasts can help optimise supply chain, design impactful marketing campaigns, and improve assortment and pricing for better customer experience. Second, IA can make operations more efficient, thanks to a combination of automation with process optimisation. IA can aid companies in increasing average spending-percustomer by reinventing shopping experiences.
‘Digital-first’ companies including e-commerce players have set the ball rolling by capitalising on huge data collected online and massive AI investments to predict trends, improve inventory forecasts, automate customer operations and offer targeted marketing. Some plan to go a step further and fully pre-empt customers’ orders and ship goods without waiting for a purchase confirmation. Traditional retailers, on the other hand, are taking advantage of best of both the worlds — brick-andmortar stores and their online experience — to develop intelligent retail-technology that catapults sales, transforms retail operations and customer experience. But before we delve on who will be the winner, let’s explore powerful use-cases where IA investments have the potential to create value in the retail ecosystem.
Warehousing and distribution are ideal candidates for IA applications. IA can help reduce logistics complexities by ensuring the right product-warehouse mapping. Robotics help transform operations at distribution centres and improve order pickup accuracy. Retailers are already using ML to optimise the delivery routes for home deliveries to customers. In store, ML-enhanced RPA can help optimise merchandise and minimise stock-outs by collating and cleansing historical sales information (from multiple ERP platforms) and subsequently, create new forecasts for better demand planning.