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In this week’s column, investments in AI and market expansion lead the way.
The State of Generative AI
Coresight Research’s latest market report, done in partnership with Digital Wave Technology, took a deep look in the use of generative AI and data by retailers. The firm examined how companies are using the technology and where investments are being made. What they found is a “fragmented landscape” of retail applications as well as investments that are pegged to soar over the next few years.
The firm said in the report, titled “AI and Unified Data: Empowering Next-Generation Product and Shopper Intelligence,” that the combined market for GenAI hardware and applications “totals $79.8 billion in 2024 — and it will grow quickly over the next few years, to $235.5 billion in 2028.”
Authors of the report also said the AI applications segment, including GenAI models, “is set to grow 4.5 times in that timeframe — outpacing hardware, with estimated compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) for 2024–2028 of 46.3 percent and 24.9 percent, respectively.”
Regarding the fragmented landscape of retail applications, the authors noted that date generated is frequently managed separately depending upon the function.
Demand forecasting, marketing, merchandising and pricing data are often in separate buckets, which “leads to the development of uncoordinated strategies and an overall disjointed and poor understanding of data and resulting decisions within an organization,” the report stated, adding that, for example, “marketing strategies and tactics may not be harmonized with pricing strategies, which could result in a failure to capture the target market.”
Improving Customer Service
When it comes to improving the shopping experience with personalization, retailers need to do more. According to the just-released 2024 Retail Customer Experience (CX) Index, which was done by Incisiv and in partnership with Talkdesk Inc., 34 percent of all retailers are “personalizing just one-third of their shopper journey,” the authors of the report said, adding that while retailers are trying to keep pace with technology trends, “gaps remain across capability adoption and customer expectations.”
But researchers did find some bright spots, “because as brands have prioritized customer experience strategies in recent years, maturity levels have trended upward.” The authors of the report also found that artificial intelligence (AI)-powered virtual assistant integration swelled from 38 percent in 2022 to 59 percent this year. And personalized recommendations by support agents jumped to 27 percent in 2022 to 49 percent in 2024.
Dave Weinand, chief customer officer at Incisiv, said the findings “reveal that while retailers have made significant strides in customer experience, there remains a critical gap between consumer expectations and what is currently being delivered. Retailers must accelerate their adoption of advanced technologies, particularly AI and automation, to deliver the hyper-personalized, efficient service today’s consumers demand.”
“This index is a crucial benchmark for retailers to understand where they stand and what steps they need to take to enhance their customer engagement strategies,” Weinand added.
The report also noted that apparel and footwear retailers, followed by luxury retailers, lead at adopting customer engagement strategies.
Apparel and footwear retailers “are at the forefront of customer interaction by effectively utilizing text messaging, voice communication, and an omnichannel live chat experience to enhance customer engagement significantly,” the report noted.
Ed Durbin, vice president and general manager of industry strategy for retail and consumer goods at Talkdesk, said the evolution of customer experience in retail “is nothing short of revolutionary. As consumers increasingly demand hyper-personalized, seamless interactions across multiple channels, retailers turn to AI-powered solutions to meet and exceed these expectations.”
Durbin said that at Talkdesk, “we are proud to support this transformation with AI-powered customer experience solutions that help retailers keep pace with changing consumer behaviors and set new customer engagement and loyalty standards.”
Room to Grow
Jumpmind Inc., a provider of retail technology arena, said it is expanding via the launch of Jumpmind U.K. and Jumpmind Ireland. These new operations aim to cater to the company’s expanding clientele across the U.K., Europe and the Middle East while meeting the needs of international retailers doing business in these markets.
Jumpmind offers omnichannel solutions for point of sale (POS), inventory management and unified promotions, which are all designed to enhance the shopping experience. The company leverages a modern, microservices-based platform that offers flexibility and promotes innovation. This platform can be deployed across numerous store locations and devices, often going live within months. In an effort to meet international demand, Jumpmind has evolved beyond its North American roots to offer localized and multilingual POS solutions that enable a consistent brand experience across global markets.
With this expansion, the company serves a robust retail market. Recent findings from Forrester estimated that retail sales in the Europe-5 economies (comprising France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.), exceeded 2.3 trillion euros in 2023 and are pegged to rise to 2.7 trillion by 2028.
To lead Jumpmind’s strategic expansion into these territories, the company has named Shaun Britton as vice president for EMEA. Britton is an industry veteran with over twenty years of experience, predominantly in sales management. He most recently served as vice president of sales, EMEA, at Mercaux, following a tenure at Aptos.