You wait 3 minutes in a retail store for a sales person to help you and immediately pull out your smart phone to check online for products you like. You find that the online price is much lower than the in-store price and say thanks to the retail store to order your product online. Are you familiar with this scene? You have the crux of the retail apocalypse. The retailers are in the midst of a customer (r)evolution and the challenges they face stem from this. We have tried to outline some of the challenges in retail and how AI can help.
Rapidly changing market dynamics: The retail apocalypse stemming from online commerce, cross channel trade such as ordering online, exchange in-store, technology changes, heavy competition and omni-channel necessities are some of the factors contributing to rapid changes in market dynamics.
AI can help you breakdown the silo approach and provide a unique shopping experience integrating both online and retail stores. AI can also help you recognize customers across various channels and bring about the personalization and customization that is talk of the market today. AI can help you understand business data and provide great customer experiences.
Frequently changing customer expectations: Changing market conditions, new technologies and disruptive breakthroughs give customers more choices than ever. It is also easier for customers to switch to brands that match their expectations. In fact it is found the 76% of the consumers expect brands to understand their expectations and match them.
AI can help you understand your customer expectations be it connected journeys, personalization, innovation, data security or attractive pricing. AI can get real-time insights on your customers by helping you understand seasonal trends, traffic, demand and cart abandonments and help you provide a seamless experience.
Competitive pricing: In digital world, the customers have the comfort of checking prices real time. In such a competitive commerce, discounts, coupons and promotions seem to be the online mantra these days for merchandisers. Statistica says that 93% of consumers will use these in digital commerce. Hence it becomes imperative for businesses to track price changes in the market and adapt a competitive pricing to attract customers.
AI can help retailers to strategically know the dramatic changes in market pricing and help adopt a profitable pricing strategy. AI can also help businesses personalize pricing based on customer behaviours and help maximize sales.
In today’s disruptive world, the winning strategy would involve real-time integration between enterprise systems and AI that can help you provide accurate insights and help deliver great customer experience throughout the customer journey.
