02/03/2023

Retail Minute: Efficiencies with Robotics and AI

Automation of the retail industry across all sectors, from supply chains to fast food restaurants to e-commerce AI took over the news this week. All of this is centered around making retail more efficient and more cost effective in retailers daily activities.

Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Elizabeth Lafontaine, chief retail analyst, here at Retail Leader Pro, and welcome to this week’s Retail Minute.
Luckily, we had slightly fewer major retailer announcements this week, but one theme that stuck out to me was around robots and AI. According to CNBC, CEO of ArkInvest, Cathie Wood stated that she believes by 2030 Amazon will have more robots than staff as an organization.
While this may be a little far fetched, this is a prime example of automation of the retail industry across all sectors, from supply chains to fast food restaurants to e-commerce AI. All of this is centered around making retail more efficient and more cost effective in retailers daily activities. Striking the right balance between human capital and technology is challenging, especially as retail is still an industry that relies heavily on the in store experience.
Similarly, autonomous delivery continues to expand in major cities, with 7-Eleven testing robotic delivery in the Los Angeles market. Convenience is the latest sector to use robotic delivery testing in LA, and as we saw at NRF, autonomous delivery vehicles may provide long-term solutions for the boom in delivery demand by consumers.
Finally, there was a lot of social conversation over the past few weeks around Buzzfeed’s intended use of ChatGPT’s parent company to help create quizzes for the brand. Using AI for entertainment and customer service in my opinion creates a slippery slope for the consumer experience, even as this viral service garners attention across sectors.
From all of us here at Retail Leader, have a great weekend and we will see you next week!