Retailers bring conversational AI and analytics closer to the user

3 weeks ago 8

After years of experimentation with artificial intelligence, retailers are striving to embed consumer insight directly into everyday commercial decisions. First Insight, a US-based analytics company specialising in predictive consumer feedback, argues that the next phase of retail AI should be epitomised by dialogue, not dashboards.

Following a three-month beta programme, First Insight has made its new AI tool, Ellis, available to brands and retailers. Ellis is designed as a conversational interface that allows merchandising, pricing and planning teams to ask questions about products, pricing, and demand in the First Insight platform. The company says its approach is intended to compress decision times into minutes.

Research by McKinsey has found that while most large retailers now collect volumes of customer data, some can’t translate insights into action quickly enough to influence product development decisions. It notes AI tools which shorten the distance between insight and execution are more likely to deliver measurable commercial value than reporting systems.