All signs point to artificial intelligence and machine learning playing an increasingly significant role in commerce now and into the future. 

Consider the following statistics:

• The growth of virtual assistants is expected to reach $15.79 billion by 2021
• 63 percent of people prefer messaging an online bot to communicate with a business or brand
• When AI is present, 49 percent of consumers are willing to shop more frequently while 34 percent will spend more money

Then there’s that other buzzword defining how people shop in the 21st century: Personalization. These days a majority of consumers will only engage with offers if they’ve been personalized. And these same shoppers will then recommend a brand that offers this personalized experience.

AI exists throughout most business sectors, but it’s really redefining the customer experience in retail. We’re seeing it in real-time, in a number of applications, from mobile apps to chatbots to “smart” solutions all geared towards not only easing the customer journey, but personalizing it every step of the way.

If brands that combine these two trends, they’ll come out on top compared to competitors.

Below we share a few exciting ways brands are using AI and personalization together to drive customer engagement and loyalty, and how your brand can start this journey.

AI, chatbots, and messaging apps

Mobile applications already play an integral role in the modern buyer’s life. The next trend is turbo-charging them with artificial intelligence to ease customers’ pain points and personalize the shopping experience. And there are few better ways to achieve this than through the use of chatbots.

Chatbots are handy AI-based customer-service assistants that simulate a human conversation, which allows them to provide personalized customer assistance in real-time. The reason chatbots are so popular is for the simple reason that people now do so much interacting through messaging apps, which is the ideal delivery device for chatbots. In fact, messaging apps are now even more popular than social-media platforms. 

Now we’re seeing more and more retail brands leverage AI and chatbots in their mobile apps. Powerhouse retailers H&M and Sephora, for example, have launched their own chatbots on the Kik app. In H&M’s case, the chatbots on this app become a sort-of personal stylist, presenting the user with different outfit options based on store inventory. 

Then there’s Taco Bell, which via the Slack app and their “Taco bot” allow customers to place an order with a single message. Even Starbucks is getting in on Amazon’s popular Alexa Platform with their My Starbucks Barista, a virtual assistant which allows you to place orders by speaking directly to your phone.

Integrating chatbots into your customer-service strategy is a relatively simple process. First, you need to determine your strategy—whether you want a text/chat platform, video chat, co-browsing (allowing sales reps to interact with a customer’s screen), etc. Then it’s only a matter of getting your platform up and running with the help of chatbot builders.

Mobile app development, on the other hand, is a more time-intensive process that requires a team of technical specialists like UX/UI designers as well as input from various departments within your company. However, if you’re a smaller operation you can look to this survey detailing how small-businesses go about creating quality mobile apps.

Checkout-free technologies

One way the online revolution affected retail was that digital technologies allowed for more e-commerce. As shoppers we were thrilled that we could sit at home and eliminate the time and headache of actually going to a brick-and-mortar locale and waiting in line to purchase a product. With the click of a mouse button, those products simply came to us. 

Now tech companies are wielding advanced AI to help get people out there and do real-world shopping again. One way they’re incentivizing the brick-and-mortar experience is through checkout-free technologies. A Brooklyn-based tech company called Caper, for example, created a “smart” shopping cart that automatically tallies and rings up items places in the cart. It not only eliminates the need for a cashier, it even eliminates the need for those new-self-service checkout kiosks we’re getting accustomed too. 

The way the smart cart achieves this is via computer-vision tech as well as three cameras in the shopping cart. The only work required of the shopper is to scan his or her item once before dropping it in, and then the cart keeps track of those items. When the customer is done, he or she can pay for his items through the card reader also installed on the cart. 

If that were the extent of Caper’s goals, it would still be pretty impressive. But they too acknowledge just how crucial personalization is for the modern shopper. That’s why they’re also developing AI solutions that can display curated recipes ideas for each individual shopper on a tablet device built into the cart. So far Caper is testing these smart carts in New York, but they plan on rolling out this exciting tech nationwide soon.

Now, if you’re a retailer interested in upgrading your brick-and-mortar location for the digital age, you don’t need to search far for your solution. Some 150 companies are currently working on automated, cashierless technologies for retail. These solutions incorporate everything from high-tech smart shopping carts mentioned above to simple mobile applications. So even if you’re a small business you should be able to find a solution that fits your budget.

Smart shelves

Speaking of smart carts, there are other AI-based initiatives geared towards getting today’s home shopper back out into physical locations. One such bit of technology is AWM’s Smart Shelf. They’ve partnered with some major brands including Walmart and Albertsons to place LED displays and optical sensors on store shelves. These displays, powered by AI, deliver targeted product info whenever a customer passes by the aisle.

But it doesn’t display any random old advertisement. Using the facial recognition technology that the company also designs, the smart shelves personalize these messages to the shopper based on demographic info like age, gender, and ethnicity. And like the above-example, AWM’s Smart Shelf uses sensors and computer vision to detect when a product has been removed from the shelf, thus allowing for cashier-less shopping.

One of the other interesting features of this technology—one that can help business processes even in the B2B space—is AWM’s Automated Inventory Intelligence. It allows real-time tracking of all on-the-shelf inventory, helping retail companies to more efficiently manage their stock supply. Impressively, their system boasts an accuracy rate of higher than 95%.

There are a number of exciting high-tech ways businesses of any size can better manage their inventory. Tagging warehouse stock with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips allows for better tracking of inventory. And combining this tech with the Internet of Things (IoT) is even more efficient. An example would be integrating all electronic devices and technologies so the warehouse manager can monitor all stock from a single location.

Conclusion

These are exciting times to be in business, but they are also fast-moving times. The sad truth is that those who can’t keep up with demands for personalization will struggle to keep and retain customers. 

If yours does, it will be because you offer your customers the seamless shopping experience they’ve come to expect. 

This article is contributed by Ryan Gould – Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services at Elevation Marketing