Inside Retail US - September 2023 | Page 28

TECHNOLOGY
enabled the brand to more efficiently analyze what it is doing well , and not so well .
“ The insights we receive allow us to move more quickly when it comes to identifying and acting on customer wants and needs ,” Saxey said .
He added that this has been particularly useful for Foot Locker ’ s call-center team , since the AI can automatically break down customer feedback by topics , themes and intentions , while also delving into the nuances behind each interaction .
This is a major step up from the previous way of operating , where the customer service team could manually categorize that an item was returned , for instance , but not the reasons behind the return .
“ The call center also tends to catch all friction points in the business , like returns , tracking , in-store experience , and the like – and we can correlate with our other feedback data like surveys , social and chat , all in one place ,” Saxey explained .
“ It ’ s a treasure trove of previously inaccessible data that gives us daily opportunities to improve the business .”
Foot Locker can also use Spotlight to score staff performance , laying the groundwork for coaching and improved customer interactions .
Streamlining processes Retailers are increasingly exploring how AI technology can be used to improve their business operation , from stock and inventory management , to product design and personalised customer experiences .
Coca-Cola chair and CEO James Quincey recently shared that the company feeds all of its internal documents into an AI model .
“ Now we have a little button that [ you can ask ], ‘ What ’ s the HR policy on this ?’ or ‘ How should I approach the technical maintenance of [ something ]?’, and it ’ ll spit out the answer ,” Quincey said at the Consumer Goods Forum ’ s global summit in Japan earlier this year .
Meanwhile , Google has launched a new virtual try-on tool that uses generative AI to show what clothes look like on a wide range of people and poses .
While Foot Locker is in the early stages of using AI technology , Saxey noted that it has already played a major role in breaking down the data silos across the organization .
“ We ’ ve already seen the benefit of streamlining our processes and data management for deeper visibility and knowledge about each customer ,” he said .
AI systems can already identify regional differences in what customers are seeking , and now Foot Locker is looking to expand its use of AI to predict trends in footwear culture .
For instance , future upgrades might have spotted that the recent influx of Californians moving to Arizona led to a spike in complaints about the fact that Nike Cortez shoes – which have deep roots in southern California in particular – weren ’ t available in Foot Locker ’ s Phoenix stores .
“ We have an incredible array of human talent [ who ] have their ear to the ground in respective markets to keep abreast of what ’ s hot and what ’ s not ,” he said .
“ We ’ re still dipping our toes in utilising AI for trend-spotting .”
Removing pain points Regarding the potential of generative AI in the retail sector , Saxey says it ’ s a “ really exciting time ” – especially when it comes to navigating and handling customer feedback .
“ We ’ re looking forward to taking advantage of more AI tools in the future as they are tested and become more available in the customer experience space ,” he said .
While the brand is known for its brickand-mortar stores , it aims to generate 25 percent of sales online by 2026 , and Saxey thinks AI will play an important role in the brand ’ s transition to becoming an “ omniworld ” business .
“ Taking that brick-and-mortar experience to the digital and omni level introduces a lot of potential pain points , but we want to retain the same level of white-glove service ,” he said .
Foot Locker plans to invest over $ 240 million in tech over the next four years .
28 www . insideretail . us September 2023