The rise of AI in retail and logistics

July 20, 2017

5 Min Read

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Advances in artificial intelligence are destined to make our lives even better, but will machines eventually out-do humans? Uwe Hennig, chief executive of tech at Detego investigates.

There have been a number of buzzwords and defining technology trends over the last decade from Big Data to the ubiquitous and omni-present Cloud. Now the internet of things (IoT) and AI have seemingly become the latest craze and talk of the town. Forrester expects investment in AI to triple this year.  And according to the latest Gartner research, by 2020, 85 percent of customer interactions will be managed by AI. The technology is clearly becoming big business across a range of industries with AI estimated to be worth $36.8bn globally by 2025.

Where and how is AI being applied?

With the proliferation and accumulation of so much data, the conundrum for many remains: there’s just too much information to be able to make any meaningful sense out of it. And that’s where AI comes in. AI relies on a continual process of technological learning from experience and getting better and better at answering complex questions. Algorithms powered by AI can rapidly come up with alternative options which are otherwise much more time-consuming and laborious using conventional computer-powered A/B testing. Like the human brain, AI adapts to the environment and gets better the more you use it. But unlike humans, the capacity for improvement is unlimited. What’s more, boring, repetitive tasks are never a problem.

AI is not necessarily a concept that’s all that new. And with the tech industry’s love of jargon, various different names refer to more or less the same thing. Machine learning is used to steer self-driving cars. AI is proving instrumental in healthcare for identifying and diagnosing complicated ailments. In Fintech, all stock markets are now dominated by computer decision-making systems. And even everyday search engines like Google use AI to refine and improve the information it comes up with the moment you tap in a few keywords.

Machine learning

AI learns from past behaviour, as well as trial and error, to come up with more intelligent solutions. Old fashioned rules-based analytics will soon become a thing of the past.

At Detego, this means making more informed product recommendations using predictive analytics. For example, whereas a retail sales assistant might, if you’re lucky, recommend something that’s evidently there on the shelves, an AI system would be better at identifying what would be the best items to offer based on many more criteria. These would include fundamental credentials like real-time product availability and profitability, as well as other important considerations, like a consumer’s browsing history, or even what they’ve tried on before in the fitting room (thanks to “smart” RFID tags embedded into garments).

Improving human efficiency

Effective AI systems are looking for re-occurring patterns to help avoid out-of-stocks and unnecessary markdowns: for instance, by promoting underselling lines held in reserve that otherwise would later have to be discounted. Not only will such advanced technology know when shelves are empty, but more importantly, it will predict what will happen next.

One of the biggest growth areas where AI can make a significant difference to the bottom line is in intelligent forecasting systems. Previously, logistics teams were only able to predict roughly the quantities of products to order to keep shelves fully stocked using (often out-of-date) inventory levels and historical sales data (usually going back a few years, at best). These days, AI can develop a much more accurate picture of exactly what types of products, sizes, and colours are likely to sell, by looking at multiple scenarios in real time (fashion trends, consumer behaviour, the weather etc.) and drawing on data from the internet. This means forecasting is no longer so much “stab in the dark” guess work.

Using AI, German online retailer, Otto, predicts with 90 percent accuracy what will be sold within the next thirty days and has reduced the amount of surplus stock it holds by a fifth. It has also reduced the number of returns by over two million products a year. It claims to be so reliable, in fact, that it now uses an automated AI system to purchase 200,000 items a month from third party suppliers with no human intervention. Humans simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with the volume of colour and style choices to be made.

Artificial Intelligence offers the potential for a considerable reduction in labour costs. For consumers, it means getting more reliable information and personalised offers, not to mention considerable time-savings for everyone.

Human machines

A new report by PwC says that around 44 percent of jobs in the retail sector are at risk of automation by 2030. Some of the mid-level employee positions will disappear – particularly warehouse staff and employees in the back-office. AI technology is extremely good at repetitive tasks and number crunching, so lots of manual processes will undoubtedly be done by machines in future. For instance, we’re already seeing some retailers wanting to close off stock rooms and using robots to make automatic decisions about what needs replacing on the shelves, or managing the flow of goods for deliveries and onto the shop floor.

Shaping the future

In the not too distant future, it will be common practice to pull out your phone and ask it a question as you enter a store, rather than seeking out a sales assistant or searching through the rails yourself. For instance, your smartphone can immediately respond that the desired article is available in your size and that sales staff can bring it. Voice recognition systems and speaking to a computer or smartphone (like Apple’s Siri) for answers is clearly the way forward. Talking interactive screens and self-checkouts in fitting rooms is something we’re already engaged with.

It’s still only the early stages of AI. But with the promise of AI making forecasting and product selections even more accurate, it’s sure to become a reality.

 Detego is a European retail software provider and is headquartered in London, UK, with offices in Graz, Austria and sales representatives throughout Europe. The company develops and distributes a suite of software products to provide real-time analysis and article transparency for fashion retailers.

 

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