Top 5 examples of AI & ML to enhance your enterprise’s customer experience strategy
Experts often discuss the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models that intelligently react to customer intent in real time, but what do these capabilities look like in action? In our “Intelligence in Action” series, we’re exploring the most robust real-world applications of AI and ML technology currently enhancing the customer experience strategy across industries. After opening our discussion with an exploration of intelligent banking solutions, and then of intelligent solutions in quick service restaurants, we’re now on to the retail industry.
Retailers—whether e-commerce-focused, brick and mortar-based, or a hybrid of the two—are increasingly embracing the power of intelligent AI solutions to drive satisfaction and sales in real-time. Growing at a CAGR of 40%, the retail AI market is already expected to reach $8 billion by 2024. Let’s take a look at how some of today’s leading retail brands put AI in action for a superior customer experience strategy:
1 | Tommy Hilfiger
Their Solution: Tommy Hilfiger created the TMY.GRL AI Facebook Messenger Bot to promote its latest fashion lines and celebrity partnerships.
How it Enhances Their Customer Experience Strategy: The TMY.GRL chatbot, originally created in 2016 to promote a specific capsule fashion line, combines the power of AI with Facebook Messenger in order to increase engagement and sales. Customers who use Facebook can connect with Tommy Hilfiger via the Messenger bot to ask questions about fashion lines, view behind-the-scenes runway clips, and purchase items from the current collection. The TMY.GRL chatbot uses AI to recognize and respond to customers’ real-time interests, keeping them engaged with conversational language and even emoji usage.
2 | ASOS
Their Solution: ASOS, a popular e-tailer, uses an AI sizing tool called Fit Assistance to help shoppers find their perfect fit.
How it Enhances Their Customer Experience Strategy: For online customers, the “try before you buy” approach isn’t a possibility. That’s why ASOS’s Fit Assistance uses customer input—including height, weight, age, fit preferences, and more—to suggest an appropriate size in real-time, and pulls garment data and transaction history to help customers determine their sizing based on previous purchases. The tool also shows shoppers what other customers like them think of the sizing suggested by Fit Assistance. ASOS’ application of AI technology not only helps online customers feel confident in their purchases but also minimizes returns.
3 | Kroger’s
Their Solution: Kroger’s developed a “smart shelf” solution to bring AI into the grocery store aisle.
How it Enhances Their Customer Experience Strategy: Customers can open the Kroger’s mobile app while shopping in-store to receive personalized, AI-driven suggestions about what’s on the shelves. The app can display details about personal pricing based on a customer’s current membership status, promote products a customer is likely to be interested in, and “ping” them when an item on their virtual shopping list is nearby. This advanced AI tool blurs digital and physical environments, proving to Kroger’s customers that the brand is ready to help them meet their dynamic shopping needs.
4 | Neiman Marcus
Their Solution: Neiman Marcus’s AI-powered “Snap. Find. Shop.” tool helps customers find exactly the right product in real time.
How it Enhances Their Customer Experience Strategy: The “Snap. Find. Shop” solution invites customers to upload a photo of any item—from clothes to shoes, to accessories—and uses intelligent image recognition to serve up the Neiman Marcus products that most closely match what they’re looking for. By analyzing visual input to deliver exactly what a customer is looking for in-session, this AI tool takes product recommendations to a new, more personalized level.
5 |1-800-Flowers
Their Solution: 1-800-Flowers developed a SmartGift tool for Valentine’s Day to intelligently place and modify last-minute orders.
How it Enhances Their Customer Experience Strategy: 1-800-Flower’s SmartGift optimized this year’s Valentine’s Day orders. If a gift-buying shopper opted to use SmartGift, the intelligent tool sent a text or email to notify their gift recipient of the flower arrangement being sent to them. From there, the recipient had the option to accept the flowers or select another arrangement that was more to their liking, as well as alter the delivery date and location. Whether a shopper was buying a last-minute gift or simply appreciated the insight of their loved ones, 1-800-Flowers gave recipients the real-time flexibility to alter their order at almost any step in the process.
Interested in discussing how an intelligent AI solution could optimize your retail enterprise’s customer experience strategy? Contact ZineOne to learn more about how our AI-powered Customer Engagement Hub (CEH) enables the hyper-personalized shopping experiences today’s consumers expect.
