How the Retail Experience is Being Redefined by Artificial Intelligence

2 min read

by Molly Crockett

While many people thought that the rise of the internet would bring an end to brick-and-mortar stores and retail outlets, this has been far from the case.

Sure, some businesses have been unable to keep up with modern changes and market forces, statistics show that around 83% of goods purchased around the world will be purchased in-store.

However, technology still progresses, and the landscape of the modern retail experience is changing. Rapidly. With artificial intelligence being one of the biggest changes to the world, how is this technology redefining one of the most traditional concepts of the modern age?

Let’s find out.

Customised Shopping Experiences

Just as online e-commerce experiences can create highly interactive experiences that captivate and excite shoppers, the same needs to be applied to brick and mortar stores, and AI is the critical way to make this happen.

Using graphics and displays, as well as interactive tags and layouts, AI can personalise shopping experiences by creating displays, promotions, and even scenery based on the proximity of, say, a smartphone or smartwatch.

“Of course, there’s a huge technological aspect to consider from a hardware point of view, but as AI becomes more developed, progressing this information and creating viable hardware solution will also become easier”

- Tina Marie, marketing writer at Boomessays and Revieweal.

Improved Retail Insight Gain

Just like eCommerce stores use basket information and purchase history to create buyer profiles based on an individual basis in order to upsell products and create targeted recommendations to generate more sales, AI technology will enable this to happen in retail stores.

By monitoring inventory and stock levels, as well as individual purchases if accompanying apps are implemented. With advanced shopper insights, individual stores will be able to optimise their sales figures and can grow to be more successful than ever.

Create Visual Search Experiences

When people are shopping in-store, many purchases will be made based on visual preferences. If they like what they see, they’ll buy it, but this can be difficult if people are searching for something specific.

Currently, people will use keywords to try and find what they’re looking for.

While this works to some degree, it doesn’t work all the time. Instead, being able to hold up items and visually search for a product makes the entire search process so much easier.

Asking a computer to find products that look similar to this (and then proceed to hold up an item of clothing) then creates highly targeted results that will effectively generate more sales.

Creates a Pricing Strategy

Setting the right pricing is such an essential part of retail, and it’s a hard process to master.

However, with AI managing this task, by analysing data from customer shopping habits and preferences, as well as analysing in-store behaviour, and even online behaviour while examining how long someone spends looking at the sales page of a website, the AI can set effective prices that are profitable and suitable for the target market.

“The more pricing and sales history the AI are fed over time; the more accurate these pricing processes can be. This will be especially important when it comes to supplying stores in general, and accurately preparing for seasonal events and sales.”

-Jason Harper, a business writer at Academized and Bestbritishessays

Social Media Monitoring Integration

Of course, social media is such a huge part of modern business, and retail outlets need to make sure they’re monitoring their profiles in terms of engagement and what’s driving traffic to your pages, as well as the ROI into converting followers and activity into profitable sales.

This can be difficult when a human is trying to understand the patterns, but AI will make pattern recognition so much easier and far more accurate.

This will help marketers define what content works and what content doesn’t, only contributing to the success of efforts and resources spent on social media in the long-term.

Conclusion

AI is redefining every industry in the world, and it’s clear that the modern retail experience is no exception. While it may sound complicated, the business and customer experience is only going to be enhanced by the technology, and we’re sure to soon be welcoming the new age of shopping.

About the author

Molly Crockett is a successful technology writer for Writemyaustralia.com and Australianreviewer.com, where she shares insights into how technology is constantly evolving and changing the modern world. She also writes for Topcanadianwriters.com.