Is the Retail World Ready?
From reducing waste to enhancing CX, Google believes that AI will have a massive impact on retail – but is the retail world ready? An IBM survey published last week suggests that executives in this space are already “dramatically shifting their focus toward AI.”
The report revealed that 81% of surveyed executives and 96% of their team are already using AI “to a moderate or significant extent.” Interestingly, the executives also indicated that they want to expand AI usage “to more sophisticated use cases.” These include integrated business planning, where usage will increase by 82% this year.
As Google suggests, customer service is one of the areas in which AI seems likely to make the biggest impact. Compared to last year’s IBM’s survey, this year’s results suggest that AI use in customer service, “particularly for personalized responses and follow-ups,” could grow by 236% in the next 12 months.
Dee Waddell, Global Industry Leader, Consumer, Travel & Transportation Industries at IBM said that the AI is “no longer just a tool; it’s a strategic imperative.” She also echoed Tharp’s statement that the retail world is at a tipping point. For those companies who get onboard now “embedding AI across their operations can help define not just productivity gains, but the future of brand relevance, engagement and trust.”
Implementation won’t be without challenges – historic data management among them – but Google suggests that those retailers who don’t engage meaningfully with AI now could be left behind and even face an uncertain future.