How is AI modifying the retail shopping experience?
Artificial Intelligence has been disrupting multiple industries in the last couple of years and it is not a surprise that it made its way into the retail segment. AI is broadening the possibilities in which a consumer can interact in the purchase process and is defying everything we knew until now.
The introduction of AI into the shopping experience of consumers has brought tons of data which combined with the consolidations of multiple CRMs enable a deeper understanding into the shopping patterns and preferences.
This is leading to a more personalized shopping experience, tailor-made loyalty programs and value-added services at the point of sale, among other new experiences.
In this article we will dive further into the innovative experiences that AI is bringing to the retail shopping experience.
Why Does it Matter?
The global pandemic that started 2 years ago has had an enormous impact on the world economy. We will all agree that our purchase experience for any sort of good or service has been modified in the past 24 months.
The current global situation presented itself as a massive challenge for organizations and specially those in marketing as it required high adaptability to sudden changes whilst still keeping their ultimate goal of profitability. Marketers needed/need to discover new methods of interacting with customers in order to be able to market their products.
In the midst of this global scenario, AI gained more traction and is having a significant impact in the shopping experience. AI is the hot topic among Innovation departments at the top organizations and some of them are already obtaining marvelous results with it.
Let’s look at some examples of how AI is modifying the retail shopping experience.
Making retail employee more efficient
One of the main challenges for any organization is the inability to be productive while on the job. A portion of the workforce is constantly engaged in repetitive or routine tasks taking away time from them - and the organization - to focus on tasks that contribute directly towards personal job satisfaction and employee productivity.
Through process automation powered by AI, internal teams within an organization can now delegate those routine tasks onto intelligent virtual assistants, freeing time to focus on the more critical tasks. For example, in the HR departments, intelligent chatbots are now taking care of the onboarding of new hires; virtual assistants are taking care of entry-level HR questions by triaging internal employees to the right answers without the need of human interaction.
This “unproductive” time that is now being absorbed by chatbots and assistants can now be dedicated to urgent matters that require human decision-making.
2. Enhancing in-store experiences
Those organizations that are taking advantage of AI benefits understand that their employees should focus on what matters most, and in the retail experience, that is the customer. That is why they are in the constant search of reducing time-waste and unproductivity from their employees on any task that is not related to the customer and its shopping experience.
That is why it is not uncommon to go into shops today and encounter automating check-out counters through cashless payment modes, which simultaneously facilitate stock replenishment through Real-Time monitoring. In exchange, retail stores are able to have a more dedicated workforce to provide a personalized shopping experience to their in-store customers
3. Personalization and Customer Engagement
The global pandemic radically changed our purchasing process. Whereas in 2019 the majority of the population was used to buying their goods in-store, we were forced to modify our shopping habits and online retail became the new norm.
This change meant a new customer behavior and with it, demanded organizations to quickly adapt, firstly by having an online presence (for those that were still behind) and secondly, by reinventing the online shopping experience due to the new abundance of customers that were new to the online purchasing process.
With the support of AI, Online retailers are able to display their customers with recommendations, personalized experiences, all filtered by multiple criterias - more informed customer - and even offer tailor-made loyalty programs. All this is possible with the help of Machine Learning (subset of AI) that enables predicting customer interests based on multiple datasets such as demographics, geographical location and even social media interactions.
For example, have you noticed how Netflix recommends certain movies or series based on previous likes? It even displays a matching % score based on your previous movie/series selection. The same is for Amazon Prime, where you can pick a movie and if it is not within your subscription, you can rent it in just two-clicks.
4. Customer Service Improvements
How many times have you called Customer Service to complain about that product or service that was not what you expected and were 20 minutes + on hold waiting to be heard by a Customer Service agent?.
The retail industry understands that the “after sale” step is also part of the entire shopping experience cycle and therefore is also making sure to improve all the communication channels for their customers.
Again, think about the concept of “enabling people to focus on what matters most”. The introduction of Virtual Assistants & Chatbots is becoming crucial within the Customer Service industry since it enables triaging their customers directly to the answer to their questions. All this with no human interaction. At the same time, this AI solution frees up time for those Customer Service agents to tackle customer requests or complaints that require human interaction.
For example, Booking.com implemented a chatbot to support their bookers with their requests. This is highly beneficial for both the customer and the organization. That guest that wanted to request an early check in for his reservation, will now be guided by the chatbot on how to place the request directly to the hotel, still through the Booking.com system, but with no human interaction - not being 20 minutes on hold -. At the same time, that guest that just arrived at 23:00 in Buenos Aires, to find out that his reservation is overbooked, will now be triaged to a Customer Service agent that will have the time to focus on solving that situation.
To sum up, the global pandemic has brought a huge challenge to the retail industry, forcing them to become even more creative. AI is playing a big role in how the industry is improving the retail shopping experience.
Artificial Intelligence can help online retailers increase their sales and better deal with their customers, thereby improving customer satisfaction. It can also offer a better shopping experience by providing users with personalized recommendations and suggestions.
The Marketing AI revolution has started.
Has your organization already adopted any AI solutions to improve the retail experience for your customers? Can you think of AI solutions that you have interacted with in the past months?
