How Do Retailers Need To Prepare For AI?

The market is flooded with tools, resources, and technology. The question is, which one will work for a retailer? That’s a tricky question to answer. The best approach to understanding how retailers should prepare for AI is to have insights into what will likely happen. First, we know that many companies, from Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft to Nvidia, are fully engaged in the development of AI. But what type of AI are we referring to? Let me put it this way: if you believe a chatbot on your website will protect a brand, we would all be wrong. The companies just listed want to develop personal artificial intelligence agents, most commonly known as Personal AI Assistants. The idea is that consumers are shifting their behaviours toward personalization and greater convenience. This is the golden goose when it comes to AI and consumers. This is both an opportunity for retailers and a significant risk. Retailers must prepare for AI by asking the next question: What must I do?

I found it alarming that according to a Statistics Canada report, only 4.2% of retailers are developing their AI capabilities in Canada. Here’s the challenge: waiting and denying that AI is necessary to your business will be about one thousand times worse than denying e-commerce was important. Remember Block Buster versus Netflix, which initially mailed out videos to members, then came streaming. Block Buster twice turned down the idea of buying Netflix. We all know what happened to BlockBuster.

How do retailers need to prepare for AI? We return to Personal AI Assistants; consumer adoption will be fast once we have the best model. What will that model look like? Imagine an intelligent artificial assistant concierge who knows everything about you and has your permission to remind you of events, plan your day, and place orders with your preferred retailers. This will build an AI wall, which I have referred to a few times in my latest research. Of course, there will be personal AI assistant platforms where retailers can subscribe to their business models and have their own AI agent, and have the ability to converse with a consumer’s agent to determine if your brand is the right fit for their client. While this is groundbreaking technology, it has certain aspects of the Matrix filtering through our minds. But at the end of the day, it is all about the consumer. They have adopted the internet, e-commerce, smartphones, and social media and will adopt Personal AI Assistants, most likely with faster speed.

How do retailers need to prepare for AI? Retailers need to investigate all options. A provider with chatbots for websites may be developing Personal AI assistant platforms. But make no mistake, platforms will be abundant, and all will work together but with different services and capabilities. All will be making money because this isn’t free to develop, and those with the highest consumer subscriptions for their service will demand the highest subscription fees from retailers. However, the retailer’s objective is to gain something other than just an AI assistant. You will want the ability to collect data, enter new markets, develop new products, and attract new customers. It won’t be for you if a platform doesn’t have that available.

It is important to understand what’s changing, who is leading, what they have to offer, and invest wisely in the right capabilities. Change happens very quickly, and many of us who follow technology know that the cycles of change happen a lot faster today. Competition will become far more sophisticated than it already is. Powerhouses like Walmart, Costco, Canadian Tire, and Loblaw will have the upper hand if they continue to invest wisely in AI.

George Minakakis is a former CEO who advises senior executives and their organizations. He has written four books, most recently “Predictive Leadership – How Humans and AI Will Transform Organizations, Innovation, and Competition. ” Available on Amazon