Technology

It comes with the cold and the falling leaves: The mounting horror that time is running out. It was already December and I hadn’t thought once about Christmas presents. I'm not an especially talented gift-giver, and my family doesn't have easily satisfied tastes. Every year I find myself daydreaming about a polite, hypercompetent professional who…

Seemantini Godbole, executive vice president, chief digital and information officer, joined Lowe's in 2018. In a discussion this week at NRF's 2024 Big Show with Scott Rankin, principal and global head of strategy at KPMG, Godbole said when she was brought into the company, "there was a lot of things to be desired from a…

While e-commerce adoption accelerated in the last three years — with nearly three-quarters of Americans (73 percent) now shopping online multiple times a month — e-commerce has become much more competitive. One strategy brands should consider to differentiate is to offer a seamless, enjoyable and personalized shopping experience, enabled by generative artificial intelligence. E-commerce leaders…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is enabling Walmart to move from being an omnichannel retailer to an adaptive one, at least according to Anshu Bhardwaj, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Walmart Global Technology and Walmart Commerce Technologies, who spoke at a session during the National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City earlier…

The bar for the customer experience is continually being raised and 2024 is set to be no exception as the competition between retailers gets tougher. Organizations will need to ensure they keep up-to-date with the latest shopping trends to meet the demands of the omnichannel experience, particularly with technologies like artificial intelligence on the rise.…

Nearly one year has passed since new generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities burst onto the scene and sparked the latest AI hype wave. Since then, businesses have envisioned how AI could help them cut costs, increase efficiency, and improve experiences for customers and employees. Yet, the palpable excitement for AI’s potential has been tempered by…

Competition plays a huge factor in the retail industry. Operating in a highly saturated market, retailers must constantly work towards meeting their customers’ expectations quickly while providing a high-quality experience. With price and convenience being the two biggest factors affecting consumer purchase decisions, retailers must find ways to keep costs down while continuing to streamline…

During the pandemic, it seemed as if shopping had changed forever. With stay-at-home orders and lockdowns across the U.S., consumers had no choice but to shop online. Today, however, the COVID-19 pandemic is largely behind us, and in-store shopping is very much back. According to one survey, 85 percent of retail sales in 2023 are…

Consumers are generally dissatisfied with their retail experiences, at least according to a global study from the IBM Institute for Business Value called "Revolutionize retail with AI everywhere: Customers won't wait." The report points out that only 9 percent of consumers said they were content with their in-store shopping experiences and 14 percent content with…

Artificial intelligence allows retailers to gain a far deeper understanding of customer preferences and behaviors by analyzing information like browsing and purchase histories. Using sophisticated AI algorithms, retailers can build comprehensive profiles that reveal what individual shoppers like and need over time. This empowers retailers to provide hyperpersonalized product recommendations that closely match each customer's…