Supercharging personalization with gen AI

Generative artificial intelligence (gen AI)’s potential for increasing productivity is a hot topic for many different industries. Gen AI could boost global labor productivity by more than one percentage point a year in the decade following widespread usage, estimate Goldman Sachs economists. In a recent webinar hosted by Supermarket News, Andrew Cron, SVP and chief scientist at 84.51° and Deborah Weinswig, CEO and founder of Coresight Research, shared their perspectives on gen AI's potential. 

A gen AI co-pilot

Cron described gen AI as a "co-pilot" that can boost associate productivity, especially for repetitive tasks. “We’re still in the learning phase of what this technology can and can’t do,” he noted. While there aren’t many use cases yet where gen AI could be in the driver’s seat without human oversight, as a co-pilot, it can potentially “make someone 10xs more productive,” Cron said.    Weinswig agreed, noting gen AI's prospects for "hyper-personalization" and “localization,” such as by customizing nutrition content for shoppers' specific health needs, locations and preferences. "This is where they can really give more information to the consumer," she said. 

Delivering personalized offers at scale

Cron and Weinswig also discussed opportunities for gen AI to make personalized offers and marketing messages scalable. Brands and retailers personalize product recommendations and discounts based on data insights, but crafting truly personalized ad copy and visuals at scale requires an "army" of creators, Cron said.    Gen AI could be a force multiplier, enabling one person to rapidly create hundreds of personalized assets or more. Cron acknowledged that human oversight is still essential, but as a productivity multiplier with a human in the loop to validate outputs, the potential is immense.     Examples of how gen AI can create hyper-personalized offers and scale them include: 

1. Data analysis and customer segmentation – By analyzing vast amounts of customer data, gen AI can create highly granular customer segments for tailored offers. 

2. Content generation – Equipped with data insights, the technology can generate personalized content like product descriptions and marketing emails at scale based on customer interests. 

3. Product recommendation – It can analyze data to recommend products most likely to interest customers across channels. 

4. Conversational AI – It can power personalized virtual assistants to provide tailored recommendations and answer questions in real time. 

Both Cron and Weinswig agreed gen AI is just one example of how technology can enable more seamless shopping experiences. Other opportunity areas include optimizing supply chains, reducing waste, solving for on-shelf availability and much more.     A strategic, ROI-focused investment in technologies like AI and the internet of things (IoT) and more can drive top-line growth and bottom-line savings. As Cron summarizes, "Both [cost savings and growth] are super important, and AI, machine learning and IoT have a place in both of them."     Watch the full webinar here.