How 5G and AI are redefining retail

The retail trade has changed rapidly in recent decades. Online shopping in particular has significantly raised customers' expectations: they can compare prices, browse offers and read product reviews from the comfort of their own home. Despite these advantages, the physical shopping experience remains indispensable for many. However, retailers who want to stand out from the crowd and retain customers must offer an exceptional customer experience. In addition, omnichannel strategies that create a seamless connection between the online store and the brick-and-mortar store are essential. Modern technologies play a central role in this new shopping world. With the help of the latest 5G mobile communications standard and artificial intelligence, retailers can optimize their processes in a wide variety of areas.

• An exceptional store experience. A digital mirror in combination with a 5G network enables the use of augmented reality and virtual reality solutions in the store. This gives customers the opportunity to visualize their new outfit with a wide variety of accessories. In addition to the virtual try-on, smart labels that provide stories and product information on individual items contribute to a special shopping atmosphere. Given that most purchasing decisions are made at the PoS (point of sale), digital signage can also help to bring a particular product to the fore. This digital signage is widely used in retail, but it is only with 5G that it can display promotional images, videos and texts on a wide variety of displays in real time and in a target group-specific manner. 

• Completely personalized customer interactions. While individual preferences are clearly traceable in online retail, customer traces in brick-and-mortar stores are usually lost in the sand. This makes it difficult for the industry to derive meaningful measures for product management or marketing. This is where the AI discipline of computer vision comes in. Cameras are used to track customers' routes and purchasing behavior. This not only makes it possible to identify the best places for advertising or special offers - if the recorded image data is evaluated in real time thanks to 5G, personalized product recommendations, offers and promotions can be made that are specifically tailored to the needs of the individual customer. These are displayed via an app on the smartphone, for example, so that the customer receives the recommendations before leaving the store. 

• Optimized processes in the store. 5G and AI technologies also ensure smooth processes in retail - for example, customers can use chatbots to get answers to the most common questions. This eliminates the tedious search for the right sales assistant. In turn, an app can help to find items in the store. This can even go so far as to display the location of goods that are already in the customer's online shopping cart. Changing rooms can also be reserved via the app to reduce waiting times. Thanks to the improved connectivity provided by 5G, retailers are also able to offer various self-checkout options. One possibility is the integration of mobile FinTech providers that process payment directly and even approve credit in real time.

• Smooth operation in the background. By using 5G, IoT and AI, retailers can ultimately automate tasks such as stock checking and management. After the customer has placed a product in the shopping cart, intelligent shelving systems automatically trigger a reorder. This ensures that fast-moving items are always in stock. At the same time, stock shortages and overstocks are avoided. In the warehouse, time-consuming manual stocktaking is considerably simplified by computer vision scans carried out by drones or robots. Intelligent technologies also help to optimize warehousing through automated picking, packing and shipping. Public 5G networks also make it possible to track delivery vehicles in real time, and loading and unloading times at the loading ramp can be reduced to a minimum by determining their position within centimetres.

"Most retailers offer their customers an end-to-end online shopping experience with multichannel presences. However, offline, i.e. in stores, there is a need to catch up due to 5G and artificial intelligence," says Frank Thonüs, Managing Director at Dell Technologies in Switzerland. "5G in combination with artificial intelligence enables use cases that enable unique customer experiences that optimize behind-the-scenes processes and thus increase profitability."

Source: www.dell.com