What we expect to see more of in UK retail
There are a vast range of technologies in the AI space. No retailer can expect to deploy everything all at once, nor should a business expect to figure it out alone.
The retailers profiled among our AI Adopters are using a mixture of in-house technology development and buying in services from AI specialists. Similarly, some have made new technology-focused hires, while others have embraced training programmes for existing staff.
What is markedly clear is the stand-out AI innovations being tried and tested by the UK’s top retailers, giving us the key messages to take away from our AI Adopters.
1. AI-powered robotics are increasingly key to logistics
Boots and Ocado are using robot colleagues (‘co-bots’) and robotic arms alongside humans in their warehouses and packing facilities. While this represents a prominent level of investment, it is by no means the stuff of the future, but real, tested technology already in use every day.
2. Autonomous vehicles and other automation are on the rise
In a similar vein, autonomous vehicles and other AI-driven upgrades to the delivery process are on the increase, with Ocado leading the way in the UK.
3. Personalisation is improving, and thanks to adaptive AI, can only get better
As Charles Tyrwhitt, THG and The Very Group have discovered, adaptive AI can give a real edge when it comes to consumer personalisation, whether that’s recommendations or the broader shopping experience. It is key for the customer experience and for brands’ efficient use of marketing budgets.
4. We will keep seeing new uses for AI that no one has yet thought of
By this point, some AI technologies – even the ones that stunned industry experts when they first appeared not very long ago – are beginning to feel ordinary. Still, the business uses for them continue to surprise. Whether it is Specsavers’ targeted appointments or THG’s use of AI to evaluate influencers, there are new, innovative uses for AI emerging all the time.
5. Some AI use cases add value just because they’re visible and fun…
John Lewis’s AI-powered virtual try-on service drew customers that might not otherwise have come to the brand.
…while others are ‘under the hood’
Machine learning and other adaptive AI techniques now underpin many of the services customers interact with daily and will only continue to proliferate.
6. Crucially, the smartest retailers will bring their people along with them
M&S has been one of the leaders in pledging to train its employees in areas such as data analytics. But staff from everywhere in a retail business, from the warehouse floor up, must be enfranchised if AI adoption is to work smoothly.
