The future is now: How multi-unit brands are leveraging A.I. today

Whether we realize it or not, Artificial intelligence (A.I.) is starting to become a part of our daily fabric. From electronic assistants like Alexa and Siri to business tools like Salesforce and Gmail, A.I. has proved to be a powerful technology that helps improve the way we work and live. Listed below are ten examples of brands that are harnessing the power of A.I. to solve for some of their business challenges.

1. Neiman Marcus introduces visual search app

   What if a customer could take a picture of literally any piece of clothing, and instantly search to see if their favorite store sells it? Neiman Marcus customers can, thanks to their Snap. Find. Shop. App.  The app helps the retail brand build customer loyalty by making the search process as easy as taking a quick snapshot.

2. Subway uses A.I. to inform their market optimization strategy

   Ensuring growth opportunities for franchise systems is a cornerstone of Subway’s development strategy. By leveraging an A.I. powered location intelligence platform, Subway can combine their proprietary data with industry-standard data like customer conversation and mobile pathing data to build a more robust site selection and optimization strategy around their customers.

3. Walmart solves for inventory tracking with robots

   Mispriced and missing items are a liability for a retail store’s bottom line. Walmart is testing the use of robots to scan store shelves and correct the issues automatically, helping to save on labor costs, pricing errors, and customer frustration.

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4. Taco Bell uses A.I. to facilitate online orders

   Speed and convenience are two of the most significant assets for any fast food. By allowing users to place custom text and voice orders with their new Tacobot, Taco Bell has started to use A.I. to help hungry customers get food faster.

5. Lowes robots help shoppers find items

   Lowes is putting A.I. to work right on the retail floor with the introduction of the LowesBot. These robots can help shoppers find items, answer simple product questions, and scan shelves for products that need restocking instantly. The result is an improved shopping experience for those who need assistance navigating the store.

6. McDonald’s drive-thrus begin using A.I.

   McDonald’s restaurants are currently leveraging A.I. powered voice-response technology at drive-thrus throughout the US to help with improving order efficiency. Additionally, the fast-food leader has also invested in an A.I. technology that could automatically tailor drive-thru advertising using site-specific data.

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7. Kroger uses A.I. to create “Smart Shelves”

   World’s largest grocer, Kroger, is currently using an app that can help customize product recommendations for shoppers. The app uses artificial intelligence technology to suggests products based on the customer’s in-store location along with their previous shopping habits. The app has helped the brand, attract customer attention towards items on sale, and also recommend products that customers are potentially interested in.

8. Uniqlo personalizes clothing recommendations with A.I.

   Shoppers at clothing retailer Uniqlo can get effortless personalized clothing recommendations just by looking at the store’s revolutionary “UMood” kiosk’s. The kiosk’s display various products and monitor the customer’s neurological response to provide individually tailored product recommendations based on the shopper’s reactions.

9. Sam’s Club designs A.I. powered stores

   The popular warehouse chain leverages A.I. to introduce Sam’s Club Now, a new type of store that simplifies the shopping experience for its customers. The technology in place allows shoppers to scan items as they place them in their cart and pay from their phones, eliminating the need for traditional checkout lines.

10. Roy Rogers uses A.I. to fuel expansion

    The iconic quick-service restaurant chain is using A.I. powered location intelligence platform to fuel a more data-driven, accurate site selection strategy, fast.The brand’s choice to leverage A.I. in its site selection and analysis is a vital part of an overall strategy to improve its operational model and create a more rewarding business opportunity for its franchisees.

As these examples demonstrate, multi-unit brands are using A.I. to help improve speed, efficiency, data management, and to help make more accurate business decisions. To learn more about how multi-unit brands like yours can leverage A.I. technology for growth and optimization, register for the upcoming webinar: Implementing A.I. in 2020.