Artificial intelligence (A.I.) and automation are now at the core of brick & mortar retail’s digital transformation. These technological advancements are proving to be game changers in retail stores, helping brands drive efficiency and maintain a competitive edge.
Automation has been playing a role in retail for years, with baseline benefits such as the ability to streamline routine jobs that result in both cost and labor savings. Now as the possibilities expand and grow, A.I. and automation are driving a fundamental and lasting shift in the industry, providing retail leaders with visibility, operational efficiencies, and resource efficiencies that free up time for both store associates and management to spend on strategic activities with a strong ROI.
Retailers that embrace A.I. are already seeing more than 2x the sales growth—with expectations of nearly 3x the profit growth this year compared to competitors. Plus, over the past year, 69 percent of retailers credited A.I. use with increasing their annual revenue, while 72 percent saw a decrease in operating costs. These results are only the beginning of what’s possible for retailers with innovative technologies at their disposal.
Learn more about how brick & mortar retailers are streamlining and strengthening operations through A.I. and automation.
There are numerous benefits to modernizing brick & mortar retail operations with A.I. and automation. Some of the most significant benefits include:
A.I. and automation are increasingly benefiting retailers through operational efficiencies that have the potential to greatly impact store performance. These innovative tools help streamline routine tasks like inventory and pricing, leading to cost and labor savings. Retailers save time and reduce costs because they minimize the need for human effort on certain repetitive tasks.
What’s more, retailers are also leveraging automation for SKU optimization, integrating robust data and analytics for better visual merchandising, improved decision-making, and an enhanced customer journey.
Across the retail industry, the role of frontline staff remains more important than ever in fostering a meaningful customer experience. Some still equate automation with job losses, but the reality is the opposite: Automation carries the potential to positively impact the employee experience while allowing brand leaders to gain labor-related savings.
Automation is shifting retail business models and driving competitiveness while creating more empowered employees who can focus their time on more meaningful work. By leveraging visibility into insights and analytics, employees can help drive performance at the store level through stronger customer engagement.
Automation is not only increasing operational efficiencies for brands looking to gain visibility, streamline processes, and save costs but also freeing up frontline workers to focus on engaging consumers and creating brand loyalty in new ways.
Take Sephora for example: Sephora uses A.I. to enhance customer experiences by analyzing massive amounts of data to better understand individual preferences. This approach enables Sephora to personalize product recommendations, ultimately increasing customer satisfaction.
Given its benefits, it's not surprising that the use of A.I. and automation is strengthening the competitiveness of retailers who are looking to transform the customer experience and improve their bottom line. Retailers who embrace these technologies gain a competitive advantage through faster processes and actionable insights, helping them keep up with rapid market changes and ever-evolving consumer preferences.
With benefits like these, one thing is clear: The future of retail is automated, and if you aren’t already implementing A.I. and automation, you are falling behind.
With retail management platform features like those offered by Optimum Retailing (OR), retailers are optimizing their stores like never before.
SKU Optimization
With a focus on SKU optimization, OR integrates retail data and retail analytics around inventory, sales data, and heat mapping. Plus, the integration of A.I. with Fixturegram also enhances planograms over time based on in-store inventory, tackling variables fixture-by-fixture and store-by-store. The result is more insights into your fixtures, a more informed visual merchandising strategy, and an improved customer journey.
Smart RFID Integration
OR’s smart RFID integration empowers retailers to effectively align their in-store displays with planograms in real time, ensuring better compliance across locations. This way, retailers can say goodbye to empty shelves and misplaced products that significantly hinder sales and create lacking in-store experiences.
Automated Photo Compliance
OR is also making life easier for HQ with features such as Automated Photo Compliance (APC), which allows staff to execute their planograms by simply holding their smartphone camera up to a display. OR’s proprietary A.I. engine then confirms the actual fixture against the planogram in its software, flagging it in the system and opening a ticket in the event that there’s an issue. Gone are the days of manually reviewing images sent by stores.
Printing and Fulfillment
There are resource efficiency benefits as well. From automating print and fulfillment tracking to one-click planogramming, retailers can now plan with precision, execute to perfection, and collaborate with clarity. Printing and distribution are always accurate and the right quantities are sent to each store, saving HQ time and money.
Ready to strengthen your brick & mortar retail operations with A.I. and automation?