opinion
suggests the future of retail will be
a seamless collaboration of AI and
human interaction. AI is being used
to monitor backend details on a large
scale, and humans taking care of the
more customer-centric roles. With both
offering irreplaceable benefits, neither
can outweigh the other.
Lancôme is now gathering data from
customer profiles to display personalised
make-up options in a range of shades
close to the shopper’s skin tone, instead
of displaying the whole range. The
brand offers 10 foundations in 185
shades; by narrowing down the options,
Lancôme removes choice paralysis
and encourages purchase. Similarly, if
shoppers pick a shade of lipstick, it will
give them automated recommendations
for an entire look. This new feature
hasn’t yet been rolled-out globally, but
out of the 20,000 profiles that have been
14 KIOSK solutions
created, users have converted at three
times the rate of those who haven’t
created a profile.
The Guardian recently published a
piece about the hidden cameras built
into Westfield’s digital advertising
billboards. Quividi, the French software
firm that makes the billboards, claims
that they can distinguish shoppers’
“Gender with 90% precision, five
categories of mood from very happy
to very unhappy, and customers’ age
within a five-year bracket.” They can’t,
however, identify who that person
is, but just the characteristics of that
person. This means they can then deliver
tailored advertisements within seconds.
Billboards in busy places are starved
of attention as it is, with distracted
shoppers rushing through crowded
spaces. This type of AI helps retailers
to attract and engage with this largely
inattentive audience.
Faster personalisation
Helping retailers put customer data to
good use, AI enables them to deliver
targeted ads, give customers a more
personalised online experience and
help bricks and mortar stores run more
efficiently. It helps to make a shopping
experience more personalised at a
quicker rate than humans ever could,
and with minimum effort required by the
customer.
AI doesn’t necessarily mean replacing
humans but can instead be used to
assist them. Although many believe it will
end jobs, it will also create jobs. Joe Lobo
of the artificial intelligence firm Inbenta
thinks it may increase job opportunities
by expanding the job market to make
way for AI. n