Survey: 9-in-10 respondents using AI improved speed of complaint resolution

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

PHOTO: ELENA KOYCHEVA

“The technology itself is used primarily to enhance efficiency, though leading CX firms use AI “to bring a deeper level of customer understanding, driving customization and a personalized journey.” Nine-in-10 survey respondents said since incorporating AI, they had seen measurable improvement in the speed of complaint resolution. Eight-in-10 said AI had enhanced the number of calls they were able to process.

While it’s still early days yet with AI, success stories have started to emerge.

  • Rakuten, a Japanese ecommerce firm, has been able to move three quarters of inbound calls to chatbots, greatly increasing the volume of calls the company can handle. 
  • Canadian mobile telecom carrier Telus was able to offload 40 percent of calls to chatbots, improving service levels and cutting customer wait times from an hour to 2.5 minutes, improving operational efficiency as well as CX. Customer service representative satisfaction also improved.
  • Alibaba, the Chinese version of Amazon, used AI-powered chatbots on the company’s Tabao site to handle more than 93 percent of customer queries in 2017, which company officials say would have required 83,000 human agents working around the clock. Alibaba now offers these chatbots as a standalone service.”

Holiday season is good time to put AI to work for e-commerce (Andy Betts)

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

“Gartner expects that by 2021, early adopter brands that redesign their websites to support visual and voice search will growtheir digital commerce revenue by 30 percent.

Shopping cart abandonment is an industry-wide scourge. It’s estimated that upwards of 70 percent of online shopping carts are abandoned before customers complete their purchases.

there’s a correlation between the lack of enthusiasm CMOs feel for their digital performance and the fact that only 36 percent of global marketing decision makers telling Forrester they use AI.

Yet only 7 percent of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) surveyed recently by IBM said that their digital transformation initiatives were exceeding their expectations.

The US Census Bureau pegs Q2 e-commerce sales at $127.3 billion, an estimated 9.6 percent of all US retail sales in the second quarter of this year. Online sales, number of orders and overall traffic to e-commerce sites are all up. On average, consumers spend $114.19 per online order”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/martechtoday.com/holiday-season-is-good-time-to-put-ai-to-work-for-e-commerce-227678/amp

Andrew Ng launches ‘AI for Everyone,’ a new Coursera program aimed at business professionals

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

“Ng’s new course is available through Coursera, appropriately, and launches on November 14. And while it’s open to anyone, it’s principally geared toward business professionals who want to “better understand AI” and how it can impact their business — that is to say, executives interested in learning to select AI projects that’ll yield a return.

“Artificial intelligence will transform every industry, just as electricity did 100 years ago,” Ng wrote in a forthcoming blog post, pointing to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute. AI will result in a 1.2 percent increase in gross domestic product growth (GDP) over the next 10 years, the researcher firm predicted this year, and help capture an additional 20-25 percent in net economic benefits — $13 trillion globally — in the next 12.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/venturebeat.com/2018/11/13/andrew-ng-launches-ai-for-everyone-a-new-coursera-program-aimed-at-business-professionals/amp/

3 AI trends that are changing the Asian tech scene

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

“Southeast Asia’s adoption of artificial intelligence has been especially evident in the areas of “high tech and telecom, transportation and logistics, financial services, and healthcare,” according to a 2017 report from management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. But the technology’s applications are not just limited to industries – they can be seen in personal activities such as shopping and television viewing as well.

This reality was showcased at the Startup Runway Demodays in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City in October by Korean startup accelerator Roa Invention Lab. At the events held in October, eight startups highlighted how they use AI in different products and services.”

https://www.techinasia.com/3-artificial-intelligence-trends-changing-asian-tech-scene

Refresher: 2017 eCommerce Holiday Spending Report

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

As we wrap 11/11 (aka Singles Day) we have officially begun the start of the holiday shopping season. With that in mind, I thought it would be the perfect time for a 2017 refresher.

  • “As Deloitte predicted, the weeks leading up to Black Friday/late November and late December accounted for up to 80% of retail sales in the holiday season, with online retail shopping emerging the clear winner in sales contributions.
  • The National Retail Federation revealed last week that retail sales outperformed last year’s numbers by over 5.5%, with revenue from online sales and non-store sales shot to $138.4 billion, seeing an 11.5% rise over last year’s numbers.
  • According to Adobe Insights, 2017 is the first year where holiday sales have surpassed the $100 billion mark in digital transactions alone.
  • The number of in-store shoppers dropped by 3 million to 99 million from last year, while online shoppers increased to 108 million, a 5 million increase from last year.”

https://medium.com/gobeyond-ai/2017-ecommerce-holiday-spending-report-63b03b8a9031

Walmart Plans To Launch AI-Based Lab In Its Store

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

“US-based retail corporation Walmart is reportedly planning to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) -based lab which they are calling an Intelligent Retail Lab inside one of its stores in Levittown, New York. The company plans on using AI to help it identify when stocks are running low so that it can replenish it. The company is also aiming to use technology to identify spills, when products are placed in the wrong shelf, etc. According to the company, the team responsible for building the AI-based lab is named Kepler.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/inc42.com/buzz/around-the-tech-and-startup-world-25/amp/

Boost search results by 40% and increase sales by 5%

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

“Founded in 2012, Oulu startup Smartifik has raised undisclosed funding to develop customer facing tools based on natural language processing and natural language understanding. The product suite contains a chatbot, advanced search, personalized product recommendations, and speech recognition. The company claims its tools, targeting ecommerce clients, can boost search results by 40% and increase sales by 5%. Smartifik’s client references are mainly local web-shops selling jewelry, hunting gear, and cosmetics.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nanalyze.com/2018/11/artificial-intelligence-startups-finland/amp/

69% of time AI and Deep Neural out-perform existing techniques

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

“The highest monetary impact is in retail with estimated 0.4–0.8 $ Trillions.

  • The consulting firm McKinsey & Company estimates that Artificial Intelligence has the potential to create between $ 3.5 Trillions and $ 5.8 Trillion in value across nine business functions in 19 industries — annually
  • Artificial Intelligence will generate up to $ 2.6 Trillions in additional value in Marketing and Sales
  • Additional $ 200 Billion in value will be added to Pricing & Promotion and $ 100 Billion
  • The study of McKinsey shows that 69 % of time Artificial Intelligence and Deep Neural Networks are able to improve the performance beyond what existing analytic techniques were able to deliver.”

https://medium.com/swlh/who-is-going-to-make-money-with-artificial-intelligence-4a9aa7dd11a9

From $100 million in 2009 to 250 times that in 2017, $25 billion

~ Brandon McGee ~ Leave a comment

“The global retail market is adjusting to China’s rising economic power, and Chinese customers’ desire for AI-enhanced mobile shopping experiences. Singles Day’s spread across the world suggests a new chapter of computer-enhanced shopping experiences is beginning.

Alibaba, the giant Chinese e-retailer that promoted the day as an opportunity – or excuse – for single people to treat themselves with new purchases, has seen its revenues on Nov. 11 grow from US$100 million in 2009 to 250 times that in 2017, $25 billion. And that was only two-thirds of total online sales that day.

Singles Day dwarfs the three other largest online retail mega-events. In 2017, Thanksgiving weekend online sales – including Black Friday and Cyber Monday– totaled $7.3 billion. The third, Amazon’s Prime Day, in 2017 took in $100 million an hour – but Alibaba raked in 10 times that amount on Singles Day that year.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/singles-day-shows-chinas-global-retail-power-103125