The big takeaway: Implementing AI and automation can be complicated, especially across large organizations with many moving parts. At the same time, these technologies help retailers deal with issues ranging from rising fulfillment and labor costs to inventory buildups caused by rapid changes in consumer demand.
While large-scale transformations like Levi’s BOOST engine may be an impossibility for many retailers, moves like Dick’s Sporting Goods’ personalization initiative or Panera’s AI-powered drive-thrus can have just as big an impact on bottom lines. As eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Patty Soltis noted, these moves allow companies to learn “what inspires behavior, which is more valuable than a survey or other forms of feedback.”
Go further: Check out our forecast on robotic and autonomous systems.
This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Retail & Ecommerce Briefing—a daily recap of top stories reshaping the retail industry. Subscribe to have more hard-hitting takeaways delivered to your inbox daily.