AI is quickly revolutionizing every business category, and retail is no exception. AI initiatives have been used in retail for a few years and are expanding quickly. It’s being utilized to solve problems, improve inefficiencies, and minimize costs for retail businesses adapting to a climate of supply chain issues, commercial rent increases, and the overall rising cost of doing business.
Here are a few of the ways AI is used in retail.
1. Automated Tills
Automated tills allow customers to move through checkouts faster and more efficiently. Self-checkout kiosks and systems, however, are far from perfect. It’s far easier to steal, for example, using self-checkouts. AI can keep the process fast and interactive while minimizing theft, automatically recognizing foods and items, and using image recognition to increase security.
2. Automated Checkouts
Some retailers are experimenting with no checkout at all. Amazon Fresh uses cameras and sensors to automatically register shoppers’ purchases on an app on their phone, arranging payment that way and allowing them to walk out without going through a checkout. So far, it’s been a successful experiment and is expected to potentially roll out in more retailers over the next decade.
3. AI Retail Planning
AI software has the potential to do lots of things. They can change electronic labels on shelves. Some AI software can automatically reorder products, manage inventory, and recommend to retail business owners based on availability, popularity, sales, and interest.
Businesses using this sort of AI are already seeing optimized inventory levels, reduced out-of-stock situations, and increased efficiency related to overstocking. Since this retail sector is bound to boom, you may be interested in finding AI companies to invest in.
4. AI In Retail to Maximize Profits
There are lots of other software uses for AI that targets maximizing profits and minimizing losses.
Dynamic pricing
Using AI algorithms to make slight real-time price adjustments, responding to supply and demand and competitor pricing.
RFID tracking
RFID racking can monitor inventory, storage, and transportation. AI and RFID tracking can detect fraud and theft, protecting retailers against financial losses.
Reports are generated
AI can automate reports, providing up-to-date analytics on customer sentiment, foot traffic, in-store product placement, and sales. Retailers can then use this data to optimize store layout and improve the shopping experience.
Supply chain optimization
AI can examine patterns in consumer demand, identify when inventory should be increased, and estimate when items are in their highest demand.
5. AI Loss Prevention
There are several ways AI is being incorporated into security initiatives within retail environments including at self-checkout and in the security video, logging data and automating records on suspicious personnel and suspected shoplifters. AI can conduct visual searches across the video. It can even be used to sound alarms, alert security guards and employees, or notify the police.
6. AI Retail Warehouse Robotics
Every retailer needs the stock to get out onto the sales floor at a certain point. Until it’s positioned on the shelf, it’s in the warehouse, and warehouses aren’t always the most organized of places.
With warehouse AI robotics, the organization becomes easier, in addition to retrieving products and then getting those units onto retail shelves. The days of using people to retrieve products from a warehouse and stocking the shelf may be more or less over the further into AI warehouse technology the world gets.
7. AI Retail Customer Service
While there are no active AI-based retail customer service representatives, the rise in self-checkouts and general acceptance of chatbots online has meant more companies rushing to find ways to enhance the shopping experience.
Many predict retailers will soon see customer service chatbots assisting shoppers, enabling faster checkouts and providing assistance locating items in-store faster, more efficiently than the average worker can.
8. AI Help with Retail Hiring
AI can schedule employees and even identify when an increase or decrease in personnel is required. As a retailer goes through its seasons, AI can hopefully be used to ensure employees don’t get overworked and over-scheduled and be able to help filter in new high-value candidates over the year. This is all done based on analyzing sales and time intervals.
9. Eco-Friendly AI Minimizes Waste
Here is a massive area where AI can do a lot of good. Food spoilage in retail is high and common, but everything has a shelf life. Through AI-led inventory management, it’s possible to better determine what size order to put in and avoid losing money on items with a short shelf life. This can also include clothing and seasonal items, which may only have a select time frame in which they are most marketable.
10. AI Retail Job Specialization
This is happening across the board in many industries with AI. Rather than eliminating jobs, incorporating AI into day-to-day work in retail is and will continue to make the work more specialized and require more advanced knowledge to oversee these new systems as they come into play.
