Retail Supply Chains Just Got Smarter: AI and the Supply Chain
The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on retail continues to grow, finding its way into enabling better processes and outcomes throughout the industry. With the power of AI, retailers can make major improvements to the customer experience, in-store features, and more. Lots of pieces have been written about AI’s effect on these aspects. Now, it’s […]
Smarter Systems: AI and Machine Learning in Retail
AI and machine learning in retail bring two of the most exciting growth areas in modern technologically innovative spaces to one of civilizations oldest activities: shopping. They seize the imagination and inspire visions of rapidly improving productivity and intuitive design that adapts to human needs, rather than the other way around. This is particularly exciting […]
Innovations in Pharmacy: How Tech is Revolutionizing the Drugstore
For decades now, the drugstore has served as the most immediate and accessible outlet for healthcare, bridging the gap between the worlds of retail and medicine. Pharmacies deliver vital medications that improve the quality of life for countless patients, while over the counter remedies offer quick and easy relief for less severe conditions. In the […]
AI and the Customer Experience: Today and Beyond
In the retail industry, the customer experience is more important than ever. With so much competition from e-commerce, many shoppers need a compelling reason to visit brick-and-mortar locations. This pressure has been the catalyst for re-imagining how AI and the customer experience. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2020, 85% of customer interactions will be […]
Robotic Shopping Carts Are Here (To Stay?)
Walmart has upped the ante for its big box and grocery store counterparts by obtaining a patent for long-anticipated robotic shopping carts. The robotic carts (created by Alert Innovation) are poised to transform operations for store teams and enhance the shopping experience for customers. The technology utilizes Roomba-like motorized transport units attached to the bottom […]
Retail IoT: Tailored In-Store Experiences and Precise Messaging
No one would ever say retailers don’t hustle. Consider all the change that’s happened over the last decade. Shopping became easier and more convenient while options have expanded. Well-known retail brands have crumbled and filed for bankruptcy. Retail isn’t endangered. Rather, it’s evolving. The smart brands have, anyway. It’s true, brick-and-mortar stores have seen declines. […]
Will Self Service Checkouts Boost Your Business?
Self service checkouts are nothing new. Interactive screens that allow customers to ring up their purchases and pay without the assistance of a sales associate have been around since the 1990s. And according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, more retailers are poised to adopt self service checkouts […]
Retail Store Automation: Embracing Machines and Humans Alike
Operations and retail teams are proving that you don’t have to sacrifice human interaction in order adopt retail store automation. Machine learning tools (like that of CB4) use computer algorithms to advance performance. In reality, automation is empowering human retail operations teams to connect more deeply than ever before with the people purchasing their goods. […]
The Limitations of Traditional Retail Business Analytics
Retailers use reporting and business analytics are for a variety of purposes. These reports can help senior executives understand the overall performance of a store, region, or category. They can help pinpoint SKUs that are underperforming in stores. However, retailers often struggle to identify real problems at a SKU and store level and provide stores […]
Peak Convenience: Mobile Ordering in Convenience Stores
Fast food restaurants, fast casual places, and even Disney World restaurants aren’t the only food vendors that use mobile ordering. The next frontier: mobile ordering for convenience stores. Mobile ordering. Some convenience store chains currently offer the service, however, it’s not widespread. Convenience store owners should prepare now and capture the mobile market. Why? You […]
