
BENGALURU: Retailers are now planning to increase use of automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) across their operations so as to adapt to changing consumer behaviour and also to enhance employee skills and improve efficiency for shoppers.
Honeywell in its AI in Retail Survey findings found that retailers are increasingly investing in AI to address the biggest pain points they face in today’s fast-paced, omni-channel climate, including improved return management, automating customer service and monitoring product availability.
“We are truly in the midst of a new era for the retail sector where evolving AI capabilities will make a positive impact on the shopper’s journey, the employee experience and the retailer’s supply chain operation,” said David Barker, president of Honeywell Productivity Solutions and Services. “On their journey toward autonomous operations, retailers are looking for AI and automation solutions that provide actionable data and help to upskill their employees,” he added.
The survey also found that retailers are using AI to enhance employees’ skills and improve their on-the-job experience. More than half of the surveyed retail leaders by the company said that AI improves employee retention, and 52% believe AI can help employees progress more quickly in their careers, expand their soft skills and continuously provide value to their jobs.
About six in 10 of retail executives said that AI tools make the job easier for employees, while 55% said they increase job satisfaction. AI is also playing an increasingly important role in improving the customer experience for shoppers, both when shopping online and in person. It can provide shoppers better access to information, speedier transactions as well as an easier way to compare prices.
In its survey of shoppers, it found that 66% of surveyed consumers reported that they have used AI while shopping, whether to ask a question via a chat bot, compare prices for an item across retailers or summarise customer reviews.
Also, the latest NVIDIA Survey found that Gen AI has a strong foothold in retail and consumer packaged goods with over 80% of companies either using or piloting projects. More than 50% of retailers say that Gen AI is a strategic technology that will be a differentiator in the market. The survey points out that content generation for marketing; predictive analysis; personalised marketing and advertising; customer analysis and segmentation; and digital shopping assistants or copilots are the top use cases for Gen AI in retail. It also states that AI use cases have proliferated across nearly every line of business in retail, with over 50% of retailers using AI in more than six different use cases throughout their operations.
In physical stores, the top three use cases are inventory management, analytics and insights, and adaptive advertising, according to the survey. For digital retail, they are marketing and advertising content creation, and hyperpersonalised recommendations.