TALKING business
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Another area where AI will make strong inroads is with supply chain planning . It is estimated to transform into a more collaborative process that will involve material management and quality control , distribution and transportation . What it really means is that AI is grasping available data across these functions and enabling teams to make real time decisions .
For instance , when a spike in demand in a particular location is noticed , AI capabilities will enable a more effective and rapid distribution mechanism , as well as the transportation teams are able to plan and prepare themselves for the situation more efficiently .
Consumer realm
Moving into the consumer realm , AI will now play a very significant role in understanding consumer behaviour very relevantly at this point in time in the e-commerce sphere to engage and convert users . It will have a very strong impact on how brands will interact with consumers be it personalisation of the customer experience , retargeting customers , visual search capability , identifying customer leads , chatbots and virtual assistants and advanced customer relationship management .
It is not surprising how AI has been put into action presently in many countries to check on people walking into public spaces and highlight body temperatures to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic needs with AI enabled cameras . While it is also being used in stores to count customers , heat mapping to detect popular areas within stores , as well as to improve security and loss prevention .
In a nutshell AI brings along operational agility and efficiency while reducing risks through visibility , lowered costs and higher quality products for the retail industry . With changing times , what retailers now need to focus on is a system to undertake some radical restructuring and foresee the possible changes they need to implement while moving into the future . •
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