{"id":230,"date":"2017-01-10T18:35:14","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T13:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/?p=230"},"modified":"2017-04-06T14:25:04","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T08:55:04","slug":"one-ring-that-rules-them-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/?p=230","title":{"rendered":"One Ring That Rules Them All"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this piece I\u2019ll just focus on one aspect of technology \u2013 artificial intelligence or AI \u2013 that is likely to shape many aspects of the retail business and the consumer\u2019s experience over the coming years.<\/p>\n

To be able to see the scope of its potential all-pervasive impact we need to go beyond our expectations of humanoid robots. We also need to understand that artificial intelligence works on a cycle of several mutually supportive elements that enable learning and adaptation. The terms \u201cbig data\u201d and \u201canalytics\u201d have been bandied about a lot, but have had limited impact so far in the retail business because it usually only touches the first two, at most three, of the necessary elements.<\/p>\n

\"Elements<\/p>\n

\u201cBig data\u201d models still depend on individuals in the business taking decisions and acting based on what is recommended or suggested by the analytics outputs, and these tend to be weak links which break the learning-adaptation chain. Of course, each of these elements can also have AI built in, for refinement over time.<\/p>\n

Certainly retailers with a digital (web or mobile) presence are in a better position to use and benefit from AI, but that is no excuse for others to \u201croll over and die\u201d. I\u2019ll list just a few aspects of the business already being impacted and others that are likely to be in the future.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Know the customer:<\/strong> The most obvious building block is the collection of customer data and teasing out patterns from it. This has been around so long that it is surprising what a small fraction of retailers have an effective customer database. While we live in a world that is increasingly drowning in information, most retailers continue to collect and look at very few data points, and are essentially institutionally \u201cblind\u201d about the customers they are serving.
    \nHowever, with digital transactions increasing, and compute and analytical capability steadily become less expensive and more flexible via the cloud, information streams from not only the retailers\u2019 own transactions but multiple sources can be tied together to achieve an ever-better view of the customer\u2019s behaviour.<\/li>\n
  2. Prediction and Response:<\/strong> Not only do we expect \u201cintelligence\u201d to identify, categorise and analyse information streaming in from the world better, but to be able to anticipate what might happen and also to respond appropriately.
    \nPredictive analytics have been around in the retail world for more than a decade, but are still used by remarkably few retailers. At the most basic level, this can take the form of unidirectional reminders and prompts which help to drive sales. Remember the anecdote of Target (USA) sending maternity promotions based on analytics to a young lady whose family was unaware of her pregnancy?
    \nHowever, even automated service bots are becoming more common online, that can interact with customers who have queries or problems to address, and will get steadily more sophisticated with time. We are already having conversations with Siri, Google, Alexa and Cortana \u2013 why not with the retail store?<\/li>\n
  3. Visual and descriptive recognition:<\/strong> We can describe to another human being a shirt or dress that we want or call for something to match an existing garment. Now imagine doing the same with a virtual sales assistant which, powered by image recognition and deep learning, brings forward the appropriate suggestions. Wouldn\u2019t that reduce shopping time and the frustration that goes with the fruitless trawling through hundreds of items?<\/li>\n
  4. Augmented and virtual reality:<\/strong> Retailers and brands are already taking tiny steps in this area which I described in another piece a year ago (\u201cRetail Integrated<\/a>\u201d) so I won\u2019t repeat myself. Augmented reality, supported by AI, can help retail retain its power as an immersive and experiential activity, rather than becoming purely transaction-driven.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    On the consumer-side, AI can deliver a far higher degree of personalisation of the experience than has been feasible in the last few decades. While I\u2019ve described different aspects, now see them as layers one built on the other, and imagine the shopping experience you might have as a consumer. If the scenario seems as if it might be from a sci-fi movie, just give it a few years. After all, moving staircases and remote viewing were also fantasy once.<\/p>\n

    On the business end it potentially offers both flexibility and efficiency, rather than one at the cost of the other. But we\u2019ll have to tackle that area in a separate piece.<\/p>\n

    (Also published in the Business Standard.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In this piece I\u2019ll just focus on one aspect of technology \u2013 artificial intelligence or AI \u2013 that is likely to shape many aspects of the retail business and the consumer\u2019s experience over the coming years. To be able to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,130,129,1],"tags":[162,164,194,160,191,183,161,172,171,170,173,174,175,181,182,165,166,169,184,190,187,188,16,185,186,146,167,33,180,168,163,176,177,178,179,137,189,140,192,193],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231,"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230\/revisions\/231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pvcpartners.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}