The Zhitong Finance App learned that since this year, artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked a buzz, but the application of artificial intelligence in the retail sector is still in its early stages. The benefits of artificial intelligence for retailers may be quite straightforward, as improvements in worker workflows and increased product conversion rates far offset the initial investment in the technology.
Morgan Stanley pointed out that technology adoption is generally not linear, and widespread adoption of new technology and reaching critical mass usually takes about 10 years, so productivity improvements are usually lagging behind. However, due to close ties to core customers (for some, it's just a click of a mouse), integrating artificial intelligence into the retail sector is likely to bring immediate benefits. Here's a list of retail companies seeking an advantage through AI integration:
Walmart (WMT.US):Walmart, the largest retailer in the US, uses artificial intelligence to analyze what customers buy and automatically adjust inventory and supply chains. The retail giant also wants non-store employees to master artificial intelligence technology. Walmart says its new “My Assistant” feature will help users complete a range of tasks, including training, communication, summarizing long documents, and helping create new content. The generative AI feature is part of the company's broader “Me @Campus” app for employees, which can be used on computers and smartphones.
Catering industry:With the integration of artificial intelligence, the fast food industry is likely to operate more smoothly. McDonald's (MCD.US) continues to use artificial intelligence to process drive-in restaurant orders. The Jack in the Box (JACK.US) Del Taco chain also uses voice-controlled artificial intelligence to process orders in its car restaurant, while Wingstop (WING.US) uses artificial intelligence to manage phone orders. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US) is also leading the way in using artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of ordering, cooking decisions, and management of supplies.
Zalando (ZLNDY.US): The fashion and tech company has teamed up with OpenAI to launch a ChatGPT-based assistant. Zalando integrates ChatGPT's personal fashion assistant to provide styling advice and relevant links to suitable products in the Zalando store. The Berlin-based company has laid the groundwork for future developments and functions, which could include fashion and beauty advice or clothing ideas.
Etsy (ETSY.US):Advances in the company's large-scale linguistic artificial intelligence model will bring solutions that improve search efficiency, customer frequency, and sales conversion rates. Morgan Stanley recently pointed out that advances in large language models (such as OpenAI's ChatGPT) have unlocked the ability of search engines to interpret natural speech, and provided users with a way to have a unique long-tail inventory that can only be found on the Etsy platform. Advances in artificial intelligence can also help Etsy create improved computer vision capabilities, making the ability to generate 3D listings from just a few photos more popular. More effective matching algorithms also help drive higher quality promoted lists/Etsy ads.
Booking Holdings (BKNG.US):This summer, the online travel company launched a beta version of a new artificial intelligence trip planning feature (AI Trip Planner) in its app to select travelers in the US. AI Trip Planner is built on Booking's existing machine learning model, which suggests destinations and accommodation options to millions of travelers on the platform every day. AI Trip Planner is also partly powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT API large language model technology, creating a new conversational experience for people. The AI Trip Planner will also be able to create itineraries for specific cities, countries, or regions based on user commands.
Newegg Commerce (NEGGG.US):The company is integrating customer reviews through artificial intelligence and using ChatGPT to provide a concise summary of customer reviews on product pages, enabling shoppers to make more informed decisions quickly and easily. Newegg Commerce has also launched a new online shopping feature that uses generative artificial intelligence to summarize customer reviews of products into phrases to improve the customer experience.
Fiverr International (FVRR.US):Fiverr executives said the company is merging internal and external artificial intelligence technology in a “super ambitious way.” The Israel-based company said artificial intelligence in GPT or LLM technology is so powerful that it is worth the great effort to put it into production as soon as possible.
Lands'End (LE.US):The retailer has developed an internal app for its merchants and designers that uses ChatGPT to analyze customer data to identify gaps in its classification to improve purchasing decisions in real time. The company wants to see the benefits of a transition based on new artificial intelligence tools.
Best Buy (BBY.US):CEO Corie Barry said that Windows Copilot on Windows 11 introduces ChatGPT and artificial intelligence innovations into cloud applications. The Windows Office suite, which includes PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel, is likely to be a sales driver. Best Buy believes that after the pandemic, the demand for a new generation of technology to run artificial intelligence models will penetrate to the consumer level and Best Buy stores.
Expedia (EXPE.US):The online travel company said its first-quarter performance improved thanks to faster testing and accelerated deployment of artificial intelligence and machine learning, including the company's recent integration of ChatGPT into the iOS experience. Analysts believe that the second-quarter earnings call may include positive news such as the benefits of artificial intelligence.
Companies that are sometimes classified as retailers, such as Amazon (AMZN.US), eBay (EBAY.US), and Uber (UBER.US), have also clearly benefited from artificial intelligence.