Originally published by Retail Week.
"Time to make adaptive AI pay
Retail, both in the UK and globally, has transformed rapidly in recent years from a business primarily focused on real-world interactions to one led by technology. The latest stage of the industry’s digital acceleration is coming from the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies.
One specific branch of AI technology that is able to learn and change its behaviour as it performs tasks – known as ‘adaptive AI’ – is being implemented by some of the UK’s most cutting-edge retailers.
Adaptive AI presents a major opportunity for businesses able and willing to research and adopt similar techniques. It is also a challenge, demanding the rapid acquisition of new skills and judicious investment. But for those retailers willing to take on the challenge, there are clear benefits.
“There’s quite a big gulf that’s emerged between retailers who really understand the technology, who see the potential benefits that it can offer, and those that don’t,” says Richard Lim, chief executive of consultancy Retail Economics, on the changes he’s seen in AI adoption over the last 18 to 24 months within the UK retail sector.
“So, you’ve got a really uneven landscape across the industry,” he says, with some businesses “really leaning into this kind of technology” while others fall behind.
“The next wave of digital acceleration is coming from AI technologies and I can only see that gulf widening, between those that are really embracing it and those that are not.”
Adaptive AI in UK retail
“AI is a big topic for retailers at the moment,” says Lisa Byfield-Green, research director for Retail Week. Many of the biggest, most successful retailers are investing in the technology for a wide range of applications. “They might be using it for operational efficiency; particularly, things like supply chain, or understanding their customers better, [or] identifying new opportunities for products and ideas,” she says.
“Adaptive AI is best suited to environments that are dynamic and constantly evolving over time – an environment that may sound familiar to retail businesses,” says Owen Eddershaw, associate and AI lead at investment and innovation advisory firm True.
“Consumer-dependent aspects of retail, such as customer service, fraud detection and marketing performance, are all fertile grounds for the application of adaptive AI systems that can edit their outputs to mirror the dynamic nature of consumer needs and behaviours.
“We’re seeing a lot of interesting solutions emerge in the marketing space, leveraging adaptive AI to continuously learn from existing and historical campaign performance to predict the success of and optimise new creative content,” he says.
So which UK retailers are using these adaptive techniques in the most interesting and exciting ways – often in conjunction with other technologies – to improve their bottom line? Head over to Retail Week to download the report.
Retail Week's report looks at some of the most inspiring examples in UK retail today, deep-diving into 10 of the UK’s best AI-powered retailers and their winning ways, to help businesses make informed decisions regarding their own tech investment strategies. The report also features the unique insights of industry leaders and experts interviewed including True.
