Rise of the machines: what to expect from AI in 2017

The last year has been characterised by uncertainty, unpredictability and change both on a global political scene and in retailing. In particular, technology has been developing at such an accelerated pace that what’s cutting edge in January becomes old news by June. Nowhere has this been more notable than in the retail sector. 2016 saw some great leaps forward in innovation and fashion brands experimenting with new digital technologies. The bar has been set high for 2017 to push the boundaries and innovate even further.

AI everywhere

Technology is now at a stage where Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems can not only analyse data but make predictions, and this has vast implications for fashion retailers. This year, I believe tailored customer shopping experiences will become increasingly elaborate. Brands can easily use AI, which they can harness thanks to the rise in e-commerce and tools like Sentinent.ai, to analyse shopping data in real-time, and entirely redefine how they interact with you.

Some of the more exciting applications for AI in fashion retail are around visual search, offering shoppers items that are similar to a picture they like and have uploaded, and for personalised recommendations. The goal is that AI engines will be able to serve customers the way that a good shop assistant would – by working out what features are important to customers, and which aren’t.

It’s something we’ve been seeing already at shoe retailer Skechers.com, where shoppers can click on a product they like, and AI-powered engines analyse the catalogue in real time to identify and serve up similar styles. Italian lingerie company Cosabella is also now using it to rapidly test alternative options for its website design — a process that would have been time-consuming using traditional A/B testing. Clearly, far from being ‘inhuman’, AI has the potential to help provide a more personal service and accelerate the intuitiveness of the online shopping experience.

Blockchain and the fight against counterfeits

An emerging technology, Blockchain has the potential to revolutionise the supply chain for retailers. Blockchain, a shared ledger for recording the history of transactions, has applications across a range of industries, including retail, finance and manufacturing. It can be used to register the transfer of goods on the ledger as transactions that would identify the parties involved, as well as the price, date, location, quality and state of the product and any other information that would be relevant to managing the supply chain. The public availability of the ledger would make it possible to trace back every product to the very origin of the raw material used, helping to increase transparency One new tool, BlockVerify, promises to use blockchain’s transparency to fight against counterfeiting, aiming to make the verification of a product’s authenticity as easy as scanning a QR code on the box. Each product will have its own identity on the blockchain to record changes of ownership, which can be easily accessed by everyone. It’s being lauded to help in the clampdown on counterfeit drugs, which accounts for huge economic damage and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives every year, but could also have applications for fashion counterfeiting in the future too.

Robotics in the supply chain

As well as transforming a customer’s in-store experience, embracing AI could also change the way fashion products are delivered. Advanced data analytics can help the logistics industry be more agile and efficient and seamlessly link real-time customer demand with stock planning and management.

The future lies in more sophisticated robots which can be programmed for many different tasks such as picking and packing. Delivery is fast becoming a key brand differentiator for fashion retailers, and harnessing the rapidly developing advances in automation and robotics can only help reduce the time to market. Taking it a stage further, the move towards Robotics Process Automation (RPA), provides the glue that integrates multiple systems dedicated to order taking and fulfilment, going beyond physical systems to embrace the underlying software, with the help of AI.

The potential market for deployment of RPA and accompanying systems is huge. PwC estimates that as much as 45 percent of current work activities can be automated, saving 2 trillion US dollars in annual wages.

The rise of voice search

According to Google, voice searches make up more than 20 per cent of all searches now, so it’s only a matter of time before consumers will be shouting ‘black jeans’ into their phones to find the perfect pair.

Ted Baker has already made strides in this space, becoming the first-ever fashion brand application of Google App’s Voice Search in its Autumn/Winter ’16 campaign film. The espionage-inspired Mission Impeccable film allows users to speak into their phones to activate a Google search.

In Ted Baker’s case, the brand is re-imagining window shopping – engaging shoppers who activate Voice Search on their phones – and speak key phrases that appear in their brick-and-mortar window displays – to unlock thousands of incentives and unique products in-store. Using geofencing technology, Ted Baker ensures that customers are where they say they are – within earshot of the shop, bringing an online component to the typical retail experience. It’s another example of the online and offline coming together and something that we can expect to see other retailers experimenting with.

Fledgling innovation was well and truly catapulted into the mainstream in a few short months in 2016. From manufacturing and logistics all the way through the consumer shopping journey, innovation has the potential to transform fashion retailers beyond recognition in 2017.

Guy Chiswick is Managing Director of Webloyalty, Northern Europe. He has 17 years’ experience in marketing and advertising and has worked for some of the industry's biggest brands as well as emerging start-ups.

Guy leads a diverse team of experts focussed on client development and category growth, and has spearheaded Webloyalty's retail and multichannel client engagement strategy since joining in 2010.

Webloyalty is a leading provider of online savings programmes designed to help companies build stronger, more profitable relationships.

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