6 Ways In Which Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Changing The Retail Industry

by Chris E. Business Brand Executive

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has completely redesigned the way in which retail industry operates and proving out to be helpful for marketers and retailers. The AI technology in retail is being applied in new ways across the entire product and service lifecycle from manufacturing to customer support. Retailers are taking the help of professional ai development companies in order to stay ahead of their competitors in the same domain. But before going further, let's take a look at the major six ways in which this technology is reshaping the retail industry.

1. Personalized Customer Recommendations: AI technology can be used to develop a customer recommendation feature that suggests relevant products to your customers based on the data gathered from their shopping habits, browsing history and past purchases. According to a study, approximately 35% of Amazon’s sales are generated by the recommended products feature. Instead of browsing through hundreds of physical items your customers can use ai-powered digital catalogs that ask them questions regarding their preferences and what kind of item they’re looking for. Based on their preferences, the catalog displays the relevant items to them.

2. Advanced Gesture Recognition: Retailers can easily figure out how popular an item is by monitoring the face and hand gestures of the shoppers. There are sales robots developed with the help of AI technology who are capable to observe the gestures of the customers and recommend products accordingly. AI-powered recommendation engines suggest perfect items to users by learning deeply how these items affect them on an individual level. This feature allows you to provide your customers with a more personalized experience.

3. AI-Powered Virtual Mirrors: Many companies are developing AI platforms that enable users to try different items on them within a short period of time. Through these virtual mirrors, customers can see what an item looks like on them. This feature allows customers to identify which item is looking best on them and what other pieces of apparel or accessory goes well with that item. With the help of these AI-powered virtual mirrors, users can try thousands of items within a short span of time and can make a better buying decision based on which item is suiting them the most.

4. Smart Visual Search: With the help of AI technology you can build an app with a smart visual search feature that allows your customers to take pictures of products that they like the app display them similar items from a store’s inventory. This feature is most popular in fashion retail stores and can be a unique marketing tool for upcoming fashion brands. Customers can view items that they need with minimum effort required. This feature allows customers to shop on the go and pick their favorite products instantly with the help of an image.

5. Using Video Analytics For Enhanced Customer Engagement: Most of the retailers have cameras in their stores in order to ensure safety within the stores, as well as customer service and compliance. With the help of video analytics powered by AI, you can use these cameras to observe customers’ product exposure level, engagement and navigational route throughout your store. This can help you in deciding where to put your products so that the customers can easily notice them.

6. Interactive Chatbots: Nowadays customers prefer interacting with bots rather than speaking to a live customer service representative. AI-powered Chatbots facilitate speedy purchases and efficient one-on-one conversation with the shoppers. These bots can handle multiple queries coming from social media and messaging apps at one time and can offer their relevant solutions. You can streamline your customer's buying journey through these bots.

7. Fast Problem Solving: AI engines are designed in such a way so that they can tackle the problems of retail industry in a unique manner. For example AI platforms can be developed for retail stores which have the potential to effectively store, sort and classify any type of images, documents, or inventory quickly. This feature allows you to solve your problems easily and instantly.

These features powered by AI technology allows you to attract and please more customers by instantly finding the right products for them based on their personal interests and needs. Get in touch with an eminent custom software development company for hiring the best AI consultants in order to harness the benefits of AI technology to enhance the bottom line of your retail business.