During the Christmas shopping campaign, the entire process is powered by AI tools, Internet of Things, automation… From advertising to deliveries and the inevitable returns. Although many times we are not aware of it. Several years ago, it was already said that Amazon was going to start sending its customers products that they had not requested. Everything came to nothing, but the truth is that the online shopping giant – and many other large sellers – have the tools and sufficient capacity to jump into the pool with projects of this type. And, what is more important, with many possibilities of getting your proposals right.
The technology is there and, as in other cases, it usually remains hidden. After Black Friday and about to enter Christmas, immersed as we are in the season of highest sales of the entire year, we wanted to know how companies are taking advantage of technology to promote themselves better, to control stocks, to ensure that orders arrive on time, even so that we hardly even know that we have paid… We are going to go through the entire purchasing process checking how these tools permeate everything. Thus, from a commercial point of view, before even planning any campaign, it is important to know what the public may be demanding. There are already tools that are “capable of processing large volumes of comments and identifying feelings and emotions in user-generated content, and detecting trends or issues quickly.” This is how José Tejero, country manager of Skeepers for Spain, explains it to us, who helps brands make profitable what people think about them on the networks.
It is curious to see how these trends are first sought and later it is about personalizing the experience as much as possible for each specific client. Tejero admits that Artificial Intelligence is very present in this process and that “exclusive offers supported by genuine testimonials attract more attention compared to generic messages.” “To identify emerging trends and the most sought-after products, historical data on customer behavior, analysis of reviews and comments generated by users, as well as interaction patterns with content on social networks are combined,” he adds.
Spot trends
From Taboola, specialized in generating content that captures our attention on the Internet and from there moving to the shopping cart, they recognize that they identify “relevant trends” from their global network, which in Spain alone connects daily with some 19 million users. . “This gives us valuable information about what people read, click and are interested in,” explains a spokesperson for the firm in Spain to eleconomista.es. “Knowing the market you are in is key for advertisers, and our tools allow them to deeply understand where they operate and what types of campaigns work best,” he justifies.
For example, among other resources, Taboola has a technology called Abby, which is a virtual assistant based on Generative AI. “It allows advertisers to create highly optimized campaigns for each season of the year quickly and easily through conversational chat,” he summarizes. What we said before: first, major consumer trends are detected and later it is personalized with specific content aimed at each profile or potential buyer. As advice, they recommend that, since the holiday season lasts almost four months, “it is important to focus on the moments of greatest interaction with your audience to optimize results and maintain relevance.”
Once we know what the consumer may want, it is time to see how to take advantage of that knowledge and if we can adapt our offer of products and services to those profiles. “Each business is different, with different objectives at this time, and there are no techniques that work in all cases, except good practices such as good segmentation and knowledge of the customer,” explains José Ramón Padrón, head of Spanish-speaking communities and growth. in Automattic, parent company of WordPress.com. Among other resources to reach customers, he tells us about another Artificial Intelligence tool that is integrated into the WordPress editor, “allowing users to generate and improve content efficiently to boost sales of their e-commerce.” And he admits that it is important to be clear about whether the type of customer who approaches our product at this time “is the one we are really looking for.”
What if there is no stock?
When we have already decided on what to buy, something quite common can happen at this time: now it turns out that there is no stock… How to avoid it? “Technology has completely changed the rules of the game in the logistics sector, transforming critical campaigns such as Christmas into high-precision and efficient operations,” explains Óscar Barranco, general director of Logistics & Automation, the reference fair for logistics and transport in Spain. He adds that “AI is marking a before and after in inventory management, helping to avoid excess stock and lack of products.” According to Barranco, a good expert in the sector, this proactive approach guarantees that operations flow without interruptions, even in the most critical periods like this.
“We have seen concrete examples where AI is used to optimize package sorting in warehouses, reducing the margin of error and speeding up processing times.” He adds that companies that adopt advanced automation in distribution centers, inventory management systems based on predictive analysis or autonomous mobile robots manage not only to meet deliveries on time by minimizing errors, but also elevate the customer experience and optimize their costs. operational.
May it arrive on time…
Logistics assumes a crucial role in this season of strong sales, whether online or in physical stores. “To handle these spikes in demand, we carry out extensive early planning with clients, while using advanced data intelligence tools that analyze historical and current information,” explains Pedro Orejas, Director of Business Development at ID Logistics. Iberia. “This allows us to predict demand with increasing precision, optimize processes, manage inventories efficiently and guarantee product availability at all times,” he adds.
Among other possibilities, ID Logistics uses generative AI to optimize delivery routes, which it adjusts on the fly according to traffic, weather and profitability, reducing time, costs and the carbon footprint. And Orejas predicts that “in warehouse automation, systems that can integrate prescriptive and predictive AI will manage inventory and merchandise flows in a much more efficient way, reducing errors and improving operations.”
Machine vision in the box
When we are in a physical store and we go to the checkout, other radio frequency and computer vision technology allows us to make the process faster. Alejandro Ortiz is co-founder of IderoTech, a Spanish firm that leads the market for radio frequency object identification (RFID) systems. This means that just place the purchase in a drawer and the artificial vision and RFID system takes care of recognizing everything and printing the receipt. “Thanks to the application of RFID technology, an exact record of inventories is achieved in real time, so that the quantities of product available are known at all times.
This is key to managing orders, and making the preparation and shipping process much more agile. At the same time, errors and losses are reduced,” explains Ortiz. Beyond that drawer that we use – for example, in the Decatlon sports store chain – the use of radio frequency identification also has its application on a larger scale. : “Allows transport routes and loads to be optimized. Furthermore, with this technology, it is detected if there are products that are in high demand in a specific area, which helps plan the increase in the supply of those items so that there is no shortage,” adds this entrepreneur.
Let’s go to the most unpleasant moment of the purchasing process: the moment of payment. “It is key to take care of this crucial process with a robust solution that guarantees agile, secure and comfortable payment. A plus point in customer loyalty that makes the difference between winning or losing sales in campaigns as important as Christmas,” explains Jesús Molina, Head of Partners at Dojo in Spain. We asked him about upcoming trends and he responded that the latest consumer demands are for “fast, simple and uncomplicated” payments. And he highlights that “mobile payments and the use of wallets such as Google Pay or Apple Pay are some of the methods that are growing the most among Spanish consumers.” He predicts that this trend will continue to grow in the medium term.
What if we don’t like the gift?
But we still have one last step in the purchasing process. Especially in this gift campaign, many will have to make some type of return. And here the logistics sector comes in again. “The Internet of Things allows companies to manage returns more efficiently, a crucial aspect during these dates,” explains Manuel Álvarez, Managing Director UnaBiz Spain. He also tells us about one of his tools, which “combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to improve asset tracking” and that has allowed them to “increase the accuracy of geolocation from 68% to 92%.” %”. This ensures that we know exactly where each package is at all times. “The Internet of Things not only improves logistics efficiency, but also has a positive impact on other key aspects during Christmas. From tracking fresh products in the cold chain, ensuring they arrive in perfect condition, to managing of energy in retailers’ facilities, helping to reduce consumption and improve sustainability,” he concludes.
The objective of all these tools is to ensure that the election process is efficient, that the Three Wise Men arrive at each house on time and thus fulfill all the wishes. In any case, no matter how much technology there is behind the Christmas campaign, we recommend keeping – just in case, you never know – the traditional letter indicating the chosen presents.
#Wise #Men #catch #Artificial #Intelligence
