Why AI has become linchpin in the retail industry?

Retailers today are leveraging Artificial Intelligence-powered solutions to revolutionize the retail industry. However, it is proven that AI technology has made significant and interesting transformations across multiple industries over the past few years. But due to its high costs, inaccessibility, and proprietary systems, not every retailer has been utilizing it.

As customers or shoppers are taking a multichannel approach while purchasing, offline retailers are also turning to AI to level the key players in the field. From assisting customers to explore the items using visual search to personalizing their entertainment experience through virtual assistants or chatbots, artificial intelligence is transforming the retail industry in a number of ways.

Considering market reports, the complete in-store shopping experience is on the verge of change as the global sales in retail is expected to value $28 trillion by 2020. It will largely be driven by the rapid pace of experiments in applications for Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, and Deep Learning technologies.

Experts of AI also believe that the technology can offer a large number of applications to the retail sector, and it will see a greater infusion of AI-driven solutions in years to come.

The Impact of AI in Retail

As artificial intelligence is capable of gleaning and processing customer data, it can be a boon for retail companies. The sector has always been seen several giants announcing the closures that lead others to alter their supply chains to become more web-centric. According to the reports, the global retail investment on AI will exceed US$8 billion by 2024.

As AI technology learns things very fast, it poses a wide range of benefits to industries. If the same will happen with retail, the technology can learn about customers, their preferences, and their behavior to get to know what customers want and when they need it. Once AI is capable of generating such information on the fly, several benefits can be found immediately for the business cash flow and the general experience.

Why There is a Need for Retail AI? 

AI currently is becoming the go-to service for retailers because of its efficiency for the operations by replacing humans. Since humans are prone to errors, the technology assists in eradicating the inefficiencies that humans bring into operations. It means the increased efficiency in the operations brings more profits for the company.

The technology also can benefit retailers by reducing production and shipping costs, providing a more personalized customer experience. Even workers can also be benefited with the help of AI as it frees them to focus more on to perform high-priority tasks that require human attention.

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to revolutionize the retail industry by enabling retailers to deliver effective customer solutions to garner better customer experience, utilize MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) monitoring technique to advertise the product for sale at the lowest price, derive more personalized shopping experience from accumulating more customer data, and target more marketing campaigns.