Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. We have all witnessed the great rise of AI in the last decade – it has entered almost every industry and business process. Especially in the retail world, it has made a significant impact, and its usage is growing.
According to Statista, the global market for AI in retail is expected to reach 23.32 billion U.S. dollars by 2027, from three billion U.S. dollars in 2019.
Many retailers have already started leveraging AI to improve customer retention, maximize customer loyalty, and boost marketing ROI. And those who haven’t – are in a rush to jump on the AI bandwagon.
However, before we enter the New Year (2022), it is critical that retailers must figure out the best ways to leverage this technology. So, they can get the most out of it and make a significant impact on their businesses.
Wondering, which area of AI do you need to focus on to stay at the top of your AI game and boost your retail performance? Well.
Here is a list of 5 AI trends for 2022 that every retailer must keep an eye on
1. The Rise of Emotion AI-powered Chatbots
If you are an online retailer, you must be aware that quickly responding to customer queries is the key to converting them, and chatbots can help you do that.
This is the prime reason that almost every online retailer is using AI-powered chatbots – to deliver rapid customer service with a highly personalized customer experience.
But in 2022, these AI-powered chatbots will move even further and become more advanced and human than before. How? With emotion AI. With emotion AI technologies: facial coding and eye-tracking, you can deep dive into the subconscious preference of your users and use these emotional insights to make every user conversation via chatbot more contextual and add a human touch to them.
Though this technology has been around for a while, still very few online retailers are leveraging it. Or even familiar with it but, in 2022, that won’t be the case. After all, AI-powered chatbots are not enough to deliver a truly human CX.
So, unless you want to stay behind, make sure to upgrade your chatbots by powering them with emotion AI technology.
2. Emotion AI-powered Shopper Insights
Today’s consumers expect personalization at every stage of their shopping journey. According to research by Epsilon, 80% of people are more inclined to purchase from a company that provides tailored experiences. To drive personalization, you need deep customer insights. Collecting and unearthing these deep customer insights is tough. But with the advancement of AI, it’s becoming easier. By leveraging the power of emotion AI, you can easily collect and analyze these insights and use them to deliver tailored experiences.
Emotion AI is changing the way we understand consumer emotions. In fact, it’s revolutionizing the consumer insights industry, making it one of the crucial trends to watch for in 2022.
To learn more about how Emotion AI can help your business, read Top 3 Things Emotion AI Can Do for Your Business.
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3. AI-powered Price Optimization
The retail industry is notoriously competitive and price-sensitive – the easiest way to increase demand and boost your profitability is by optimizing your pricing. With AI, retailers can do that – they can adjust the price according to the product demand, competition, seasonal trends, etc.
Also, AI-powered solutions can help retailers pick up the right price for their products by analyzing the efficacies of multiple pricing models.
Optimizing the price has become super easy for retailers with AI, and this is precisely why this technology will soon gain a lot of hype among retailers. And why not – after all, this technology has the potential to increase retailers’ bottom line. And this makes it a lucrative AI trend every retailer must keep their eye on.
4. AI-powered Product Search
Another trend that we think will gain popularity in 2022 is AI-powered search. Retail eCommerce is growing, and it will continue to grow in the coming years. According to Statista, in 2020, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 4.28 trillion US dollars; it is expected to grow to 5.4 trillion US dollars in 2022 – making it critical for retailers to pay attention to their on-site search functionality.
Online retail is all about convenience, and difficulty in finding a product can hurt the online shoppers’ experience – so AI-powered search will become crucial.
5. Enhancing In-Store Experience with Emotion AI
It is no secret that delivering an outstanding customer experience is a must these days – if you want to acquire and retain more customers. Most retailers have already started leveraging AI to understand their customer needs and delight them. But understanding your customers’ needs is not enough to stand out – retailers need to understand their customers’ emotions and sentiments too – to stand out and transform their in-store experience.
Increasingly, retailers have started using emotion AI technology to analyze shopper feelings and emotions by reading their facial expressions and eye movements – to understand how consumers feel about their products’ pricing, packaging, branding, etc., in real-time. So, they can quickly identify gaps and areas of improvement, making it a lucrative AI trend worth keeping on the radar for retailers.
Wrapping Up
AI is not a new technology anymore. Many industries are already leveraging this technology, and the retail sector is no exception. In fact, the adoption of AI has been particularly widespread in the retail sector. Mordor Intelligence, a market research consulting firm, notes that 40% of retail and consumer products companies currently have adopted AI. And this number is going to go up to more than 80% in three years. Also, the investment in AI technology by the retail industry is growing.
Now you know that AI can prove a game-changer for your retail business by replacing intuition with intelligence. So, it is crucial that you leverage this technology to grow your retail business. And, to move forward on this path, you need to keep an eye on these emerging AI trends.
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