3 Reasons Why AI and In-Store Teams Are an Excellent Duo for Smoother Retail Operations Solum gears up to develop AI and machine learning solutions to boost productivity and support retail in-store workers.

Written by Jadeeyah C. Abang

For a business owner, keeping up with the world's tech trends can be a daunting responsibility. With the constant stream of news articles about the latest innovations, business owners and C-suite executives must juggle between running operations, ensuring workforce efficiency, and making sure they invest enough in the latest trends so they don't get left behind.

This perhaps sums up the annual dilemma of most companies. In a way, a business's ability to adapt to these changes is crucial for its very survival. The business world is not short of examples of former conglomerates that failed to evolve and consequently fell by the wayside.

Truth be told, there's always something to learn by watching the industry titans. Everyone is vulnerable, and no one is spared when it comes to change.

And speaking of change, these market shifts are happening at record speeds, for instance, AI is becoming more integrated into every business operation and continuously expanding its role almost on a daily basis.

This is apparent in certain brick-and-mortar stores that implemented the "unmanned store concept" using a combination of AI and machine learning solutions where there are no cashiers, and no aisles lined with sales associates. Yet, everything a customer needs is right at their fingertips.

The Balance of Human Touch and AI Technology

While the idea of unmanned or AI-run stores suggests a future devoid of human workers, the reality is far more collaborative and nuanced. At the moment, in-store staff is still crucial in understanding and empathizing with the customers. AI and machine learning still cannot replace the human judgment and decision-making required when resolving complex issues.

Nevertheless, these forms of technology can be a great support tool for handling menial and repetitive tasks, which then can significantly streamline operations.

How AI and In-Store Teams Can Work Together

From a strategic perspective, integrating AI with in-store teams allows retailers to leverage the strengths of both technology and human interaction. With AI providing speed and precision and humans enhancing personalization and empathy, here are 3 reasons why AI and humans perfectly complement each other in retail.

1. Deliver a Better Shopping Experience. For starters, in-store workers can focus on providing exceptional customer service and a positive shopping experience while AI takes care of recurring tasks. Tasks such as attending to customer inquiries, resolving issues, providing personalized recommendations or even handling returns will now be done with greater care. This form of human interaction ensures that customers feel valued and heard, which AI alone cannot achieve.

On the other hand, AI-powered displays can also help transform ordinary retail shelving into dynamic advertising platforms, showcasing related advertisements on connected displays when customers pick up products, enhancing the shopping experience, and generating more advertising revenue.

2. Boost Efficiency, and Productivity. In addition, AI and machine learning tools can also reduce the overall workload by automating price updates, inventory tracking, and even shelf restocking. This is very useful for items that need to sell quickly, as retailers need to adjust prices based on stock levels. As a result, companies will increase their efficiency in stock management, reduce spoilage, and boost sales.

For price-sensitive locations and businesses facing worker shortages, the technology offers a viable solution. According to the "State of the Hourly Workforce" report produced by Legion Technologies, while 50% of hourly employees plan to leave their jobs within the next 12 months, of those who plan to leave, 62% plan to leave their current industry altogether.

By leveraging this technology, retailers can fill gaps in the workforce, ensuring that operations remain smooth and efficient even when there are staffing challenges.

3. Gain Actionable Insights. Lastly, the integration of AI provides businesses with streamlined data that offers deep insights into customer behavior, sales trends, and inventory management. This could lead to more engaging promotional campaigns, informed decisions on product placements, sourcing, restocking, and beyond—truly, the possibilities are limitless.

For these reasons and more, there is a pressing need to equip the current workforce with automation in the retail industry. Solum (Solum Co Ltd) the world's leading electronic shelf label provider known as the maker of the revolutionary Newton and Aims Link solution championed a series of groundbreaking technologies that aim to create a synergy between AI and human operations.

Recently, the company has recognized the increasing role of AI in supporting retail operations and has debuted its concept at the National Retail Federation 2024: Retail Big Show.

With the rising cost of operations, the burden on retailers to redirect their manpower to the crucial elements of customer service inevitably led to increased demand for automating recurring tasks such as updating inventory, changing price tags, and managing basic customer inquiries.

Solum's latest solution such as Newton Pro and Newton Core enables in-store staff to focus on more complex and value-added tasks.

To learn more about how Solum's AI and machine learning solutions can enhance your retail operations, visit www.solumesl.com