Artificial Intelligence

The nation's largest retailer is working on technology to enable store associates to respond more quickly to potential customer service issues.   The chain is developing facial recognition technology to detect frustrated or unhappy shoppers, according to a report by Business Insider. The technology uses video cameras at checkout lines that monitor customers' facial expressions and movements to identify varying levels of dissatisfaction, according to a patent filing, the report said.   

Staples is making a bold move to modernize its supply chain.   The office supplies giant is adding a robotic material handling solution across its network of fulfillment centers. Designed by Great Star Industrial USA, LLC, the automated robotic storage and retrieval system incorporates two types of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) into a unified system that brings both high and low cubic velocity items to a single pick and pack station.  

Amazon is staking a claim in the appliance market in a big way in a partnership with Sears Holdings.   The embattled retailer announced it will sell its prized Kenmore-branded appliances on Amazon. The deal opens the way for the broadest distribution to date of Kenmore products outside of Sears stores and its websites. Distribution will be nationwide, and Sears Home Services and Innovel Solutions units will provide delivery, installation, and other services.  

Greg Portell, lead partner in the retail practice of global strategy and management consulting firm A.T. Kearney:   

An important demographic for many retailers appears to be staying home more these days.   In remarks at  Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech Conference in Aspen, Colorado, Target CEO Brian Cornell cited an 11% dip in shopping activity among Hispanic consumers in the past several months. (A Target spokesman said later he was referencing industrywide data from the NPD Group, The Star-Tribune reported.)   “There’s almost a cocooning factor,” Cornell said.  

Digitally-savvy customers will be contributing to a high volume of holiday traffic — and they have high expectations for retailers.    Seventy-six percent of U.S. consumers expect their interactions with a brand to be easy, according to “The Holiday in July 2017 Holiday Retail Outlook” report from Alliance Data  This will be a mantra this holiday season, regardless of the channel shoppers use to connect with their favorite retailers.  

West Elm is upping the ante on how it recommends merchandise to customers.    The company, a division of Williams-Sonoma, introduced a new online tool that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to detect customers’ style patterns and connect them with products they can buy at West Elm stores and online. Called the Pinterest Style Finder, the tool is powered by Clarifai’s image and video recognition AI technology.  

The newest batch of start-ups are making their way to Minneapolis for the second annual Target + Techstars retail accelerator program.   After receiving applications from more than 3,000 technology start-ups — 70% of which had a co-founder who is either female or comes from an ethnically diverse background — Target whittled the list down to 10 finalists for this year’s tech accelerator. Companies range from online advertising to rebates to clothing alterations, and hail from Minneapolis to as far as Belgium.