Urban Outfitters expands partnership with AI company CB4

Urban Outfitters has expanded its partnership with CB4, an artificial intelligence (AI) software company, by rolling its software out to all 200 North American stores after a successful pilot.

The retailer’s store staff use CB4’s AI solution to “uncover specific products with high local demand that aren’t meeting their full sales potential - prompting store teams to position the products better or make other adjustments to improve product buyability”.

CB4 runs machine learning algorithms against a store’s point of sale (POS) data for brick-and-mortar retailers to distinguish physical problems in a store that are holding back sales. Retailers lose 3-5 percent of total sales due to human errors in-store, according to the company.

Keith Spirgel, chief operating officer of Urban Outfitters, said in a statement: “CB4 doesn’t require a store merchandiser or the highest-level visual decision-maker to act. The recommendations are straight-forward, and folks on different levels can identify the greatest opportunities in the least amount of time, which has been very useful.”

Yoni Benshaul, CEO of CB4, commented: “In working with apparel retailers, we’ve learned there are countless decisions for store teams to make every day. CB4 AI helps guide store associates to simple actions that lift sales, whether it’s making sure that a specific colour is prominently placed on the floor or un-layering something so it can be seen better.”

The artificial intelligence company also works with retailers including Levi’s, Lidl, Eroski, Kum & Go and more.

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