WEBVTT - Season 2 Episode 5 - AI and the Future of Retail 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:07.880 Since the dawn of civilization, there have always been places 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:12.120 and markets where people gather to purchase essentials and luxuries. 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.800 The earliest bazaars are believed to have originated in ancient Persia, 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:19.200 and the first shopping mall is widely considered to be 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.919 a Trajan's market, which housed more than one hundred and 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:25.279 fifty shops and was built around one hundred AD, not 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:29.360 far from the Roman Colosseum. Of course, shopping has evolved 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.239 a lot since the days of ancient Rome, but the 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:36.120 appeal of visiting your favorite store has remained unchanged over time. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.800 And despite the ways that online retail has transformed the 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:43.440 way we shop, new technology has revitalized the brick and 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:48.000 mortar shopping experience, with retailers eager to create unique spaces 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.400 where they can connect customers with products in person and 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:55.000 reduce product theft. But what does the future hold for 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.560 the shopping experience as we witness the rejuvenation of in 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:02.360 person retail, and what can retailers do to create a 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:08.800 more engaging and exciting experience for customers. Welcome to Technically Speak, 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:13.720 an Intel podcast produced by iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio in partnership 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:17.920 with Intel In every episode, we explore how AI innovations 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:22.720 are changing the world and revolutionizing the way we live. Hey, 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.959 then I'm grand class. Regular listeners know that in the 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.959 past we've covered topics like how AI impacts healthcare and 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.000 urban planning. This season, but now we're headed into the 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:36.640 world of retail, where online director consumer brands are seeking 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.920 innovative spaces to connect customers with products in person, and 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.840 retailers are eager to remain competitive by creating a frictionless 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:49.040 customer experience. We wanted to understand how technology is helping 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:54.280 to improve the retail space, making shopping easier, seamless, and exciting. 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.560 In this episode, we will focus on what shopping looks 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:01.120 like with an AI enhanced self service check out. Just 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.760 imagine a life without barcodes and smart technology that helps 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:10.120 retailers attract and retain consumers. Today, we'll continue our journey 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.239 of discovery into Intel's innovative ideas for the future and 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:17.320 how they will impact something as steadfast as retail. But 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:22.320 before we go any further, let's welcome our guests. Joining 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.320 us today is Shoalie's Childry, the general manager of Consumer 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.520 Industries at Intel and an expert in the intersection of 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:34.160 technology and the retail, banking, hospitality, and quick serve restaurant industries. 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.120 His team at Intel is responsible for delivering innovative technological 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.960 solutions and tools and building an ecosystem of partners to 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.399 scale those solutions. Welcome to the show, Shalish. 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.000 Thank you, Graham. I'm super excited to be here. 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:51.680 Also joining us is a Kert Denghi, the co founder 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:56.160 and CEO of Radius AI, a pioneer in transforming retail 0:02:56.200 --> 0:03:01.560 operations with advanced human centric AI solutions. Acold also founded 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:05.480 the Internet of Things Collaboratory at Arizona State University in 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:06.639 twenty seventeen. 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.280 Welcome to you, too, Acold. Thank you Greg. It's a 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:11.680 pleasure to be part of the show. 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.720 I think we'll start with a little bit of background 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:22.560 on how retail has changed during the Internet era. Shelley 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.040 shall begin with you. What kind of shift have we 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.880 seen over the past two decades when it comes to 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:32.280 people opting for online shopping over in person shopping in 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:33.440 breaking mortar stores? 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:35.120 Thank you Graham. 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:39.920 Before starting about how Internet has changed retail, I like 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.760 to stab back at what I see as the core 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:48.080 retail experience. It's really a human experience. So from the 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:52.920 dawn of retail, there's something fundamental about retail that has 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.920 not changed, and that's about that experience. It's how we 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.720 feel after we have conducted the shopping, so the commerce 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.680 and the transaction that comes later. And as we have 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:10.200 progressed through all the developments, there have been new tools 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:15.280 and capabilities and technologies and those have shaped our expectations. 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.960 And that is exactly what has happened to Internet era as well. 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:23.200 So while we're happy shopping and tradition more Internet it 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:28.120 pvided a different technology which was pervasive in all aspects 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.000 of our life, and we carried those expectations in retail 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.559 as well. And for us it's just a different means 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:40.160 of shopping. And let's be honest, depending on our needs, 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.560 sometimes it's just way more convenient to shop online. And 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.400 it's not just about certain products that have better suit 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.840 it for online shopping. Same product at one moment, I'm 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.880 going to go buy in a physical restore, the other time, 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.760 I'm just going to go on internet. And as we've 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:01.960 all seen, retailers initially fail to see that. They saw 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:05.360 Internet just as a tool and technology that are separate. 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:09.200 They saw it as a competition as opposed to seeing 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.000 it as something that can enhance and augument retail experiences. 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.960 So initially a lot of us shifted to internet shopping 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.640 because that's where our needs are better met. But through 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:25.240 that twenty a decade, physical retailers started to see that's 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:29.000 not just a technology and they can just have a website, 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:31.920 and now they can compete with the online retailers. They 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:37.400 have integrated Internet into their physical operations. And now we've 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:42.040 also seen the retailers who started as pure prey online retailers, 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.359 they've started to open physical stores. So since then we 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:49.240 have reached what I call a steady state after initial 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:53.120 what I call the gloom and doom. I started in 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.920 retail industry in two thousand and eight, and I remember 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.719 everyone was predicting the death of physical retail, and even 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.920 then I had this conviction about this coat experience. And 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.800 then we started off at Intel. Our journey retail is 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:10.039 how we can bring all these great technologies and the 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.479 experience that are online, but deliver and working with retailers 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.640 and our technology partners that I could and others so 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:21.560 that the enhances and complements physical retail. And that's what's happening. 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.560 Yeah, and we're going to talk a little bit about 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.839 the technology side of things and particularly the role of AI. 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:32.000 But I would like your thoughts about the last two 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:37.359 decades of how we've evolved, you know, from brix and 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.320 mortar stores to online and there I think there is 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:42.640 probably a shift back to the brick and mortar stores. 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:47.560 I agree with Shilesh that we've seen exciting developments in retail. 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:51.320 Retail is one of the most complex human activities, and 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:56.280 I actually really enjoy being in retail because it's not 0:06:56.360 --> 0:07:00.560 only human, it's also social. There is a complex web 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.359 of people who work together to create this experience. But 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:09.200 people missed, especially during the pandemic, they realized they missed 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:13.520 the social experience they missed going into a store interacting 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:19.320 with humans, and retailers also saw that the characteristics of 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:23.920 shopping in person may actually be more favorable for their 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.880 financial goals as well. People who shop in stores may 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:31.600 not return things as often as they do in detail, 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.760 and that is one of the biggest expenses in online shopping. 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.280 They may actually be more satisfied with their purchases because 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:44.760 they talked about it to store clerk and they interacted 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:49.320 with the other people in a store, So creating an experience, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:54.440 a positive experience in the store has become more important 0:07:54.480 --> 0:08:00.440 once again. Besides keeping the store efficient and profit fitable, 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:05.960 we see once again gaining speed the trend of making 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:09.000 customers want to go back every day. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.360 Now you've heard Akould mention some of the social impacts 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.080 of the COVID nineteen pandemic, but I want to dig 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:20.040 a little deeper on its implications for the retail industry. 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.840 It's no surprise that some small retailers in your community 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.960 didn't survive the pandemic. Some of those businesses simply couldn't 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.800 pivot from their in person to online retail fast enough 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.640 to save their shop, or they didn't have the resources 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.200 to make the change at all. But the businesses that 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.400 did survive were able to invest in technology that allowed 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:44.600 them to make online retail easy and accessible. These companies 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.800 came out on the other side of the pandemic not 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.840 just alive, but stronger. With this in mind, I asked Akut, 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:52.760 what have you seen from companies that are investing in 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.520 technology to help fortify their retail business. 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:04.400 The pandemic changed human behavior, and we saw that impact 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:09.440 retailers differently and to rapidly adapt to behavioral change, you 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.840 need data and this is one of the ways that 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:18.440 technology help retailers. So if you have consistent, objective data 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:25.200 to guide your decisions, then you adapt faster, learning and 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:30.839 changing your processes and procedures, adapting to the market as 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.040 part of the system, as opposed to people saying now 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.640 we have to change. Change becomes part of your culture. 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.160 And as Charlie said, right now, the arrow is pointing 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:46.360 towards increasing the productivity of the people you have because 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.920 you cannot hire too many of them. Retailers that are 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.400 rapidly expanding right now, but one of the things they 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:57.640 don't want to drop is the customer experience. So you 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.520 want to automate things that are not visus to the 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:04.720 customer that is behind the desk, and you want to 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:09.760 allow the employee to personally interact with the customers so 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:14.480 that they get that in person experience so that they 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:15.320 want to come back. 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.840 Yeah, I would like to talk a little bit more 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:24.040 about the technology specifically, what would the customers feel, what 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.000 would they experience that would be different, whether it be price, 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:31.360 better information, better stock availability. What are some of the 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.040 tangible things that a person like myself just walking into 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.680 a store would actually experience. 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:43.400 So all of the questions you've post I think exactly 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.720 that's what the role of technology is. However, I see 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:51.720 the technology as something that will augment enhance existing experiences. 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:55.440 As an example, in all days, the only way I 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:59.680 would get introduced to products, new products was through stores 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.440 were the curators of the product. That is not true anymore. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.200 We are introduced to new products through social media channels, 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:11.120 through all sorts of other technology. Then we go in 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.400 the stores. I'm not necessarily a lot of I'm looking 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.480 for that product in the store. I already know it. 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.240 I probably have done a lot of research as well, 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.000 so I'm not just relying on the associate to tell 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:25.880 me everything about too often because I'm only focused on 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.560 that one product. So I know a lot more than 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:32.920 an associate probably can because he or she has to 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.840 worry about thousands of fiscus in the store. So now 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.599 the focus is not so much about curating the products 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:43.160 more about meeting my needs there. So maybe when I 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.600 walk in the store, can you help me find the 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:50.520 product easily? Technology can help to make sure that they 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:54.160 have the right products in the store. Because now with 0:11:54.520 --> 0:12:00.000 artificial intelligence supply chains will be way more efficient. Technology 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.319 like computer vision or RFID can help you to make 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:06.920 sure that you have products on the shelf. Technology can 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:10.920 also make sure that you are able to deliver more 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:15.840 personalized experience to shopper in all kinds of retail setting, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:17.520 not just high end stores. 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:20.880 So I want to point out that there are different 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:25.960 types of customers and for some customers this omnichannel experience 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:30.719 where they enhance their experience through online knowledge is very important, 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.560 and sometimes we become a different customer ourselves at different days. 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:38.560 For instance, sometimes I'm in a hurry. I'm there just 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.000 to find one thing, and I really want to know 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.720 where exactly it's in the store, and I want to 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.240 just start there get it come out. There are other 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.880 times when I want to be at my leisure, I 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:54.600 want to discover new things. And for the retailer also, 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:59.240 they want to inspire their customers and lead them to 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:04.000 spontaneous purchases. So you want to create an experience for 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:06.960 those people who have time in their heads. It becomes 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.400 a challenge, of course to provide these different types of 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.640 experience all at the same time in the same store. 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:20.400 So given this challenge, you need to customize technology to 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.320 the different needs. I want to point out some of 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:27.320 the technology that you actually want to be invisible. You 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:31.160 put it there, it makes life easier, but the employees 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.160 or the customers don't even need to think about it. 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:40.640 So taking such a technology and making it disappear is 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:45.280 one of the goals of technology companies, and a lot 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:50.120 goes in the background of making that possible. Artificial intelligence 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:54.720 at its best is one of the empowering technologies that 0:13:54.840 --> 0:14:00.199 makes it possible, and one of the interesting things ABOUTNOLO. 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.679 There are different ways it can become visible. For instance, 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:08.199 there's a lag, so you're doing something and you're expecting 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.320 your response and it takes forever for it to actually happen. 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.000 Why does that happen? Of course, as a customer, I 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:17.120 don't care. I'm just waiting there and it's not responding. 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:21.880 But from a technological point of view, that tells us, well, 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:25.720 maybe there's a communication link right between the store and 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.560 the cloud and that's taking a long time to go 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.960 and come back. Well, maybe I need to put things 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:35.760 at the edge, meaning the store, right where the customer is, 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:40.280 and then you can take that data that's happening. Whatever 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.160 the customer said, or the object they put on the 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:49.320 counter and process it, respond to it there and create 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.280 that instant experience so that it disappears because the lag 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.200 is the one that alerts to them that there's something 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:00.680 going on there. So that leads us into edge AI, 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:05.880 which is one of the things that huge industry working 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:10.520 all together, has been able to put together recently. It's 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:15.479 right now becoming feasible at actual locations. 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.800 Coming up next on Technically Speaking and Intel podcast. 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.640 Biggest advances in the last few years, and AI is 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:29.040 technology that learns by itself. 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.280 We'll be right back after a brief message from our 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:46.520 partners at Intel. Welcome back to Technically Speaking an Intel podcast. 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:52.720 I'm here now with Shailish Chowdhry and Akuttinghi. Chalie, I 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.200 know that you have the team there at Intel working 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.920 on these sorts of smart retail solutions at any that 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:02.760 you can share with us, ones that you're quite excited about. 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.560 Yes, we're actually working on a wide range of products 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.960 and like majority of them are AI. Every retailer today 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.880 is interested how they can use AI both to drive 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:20.000 or productivity but also to drive better experience for us 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:23.920 as shoppers. So I see two categories one is some 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:28.200 of the larger retailers, they are in the front edge 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:30.880 of innovation, so they are working on a lot of 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:35.080 what I call pilots and demonstration projects. One of the 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.160 examples at the checkout because checkout is one of the 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.800 most critical experiences. Also, we're working on the projects which 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:45.520 they call store automation, that has to do with better 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:50.400 visibility the inventory, also the improving receiving and the operations 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.200 the pack end. We're also engaged in the projects which 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.240 a lot of time gets referred to as last mile delivery, 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.160 which is a lot of times they're shopping online that 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:05.160 gets delivered through the physical retail and instead of opening 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.840 massive distribution centers, a lot of retailers already have stores 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:12.040 in all around neighborhoods and they're starting to use them 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.600 as their fulfillment centers, and they're upgrading a lot of 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.920 them to deliver similar experience that some of the larger 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.720 online retailers can within half an hour a you ordering 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:25.800 a product and showing up at your door. The third 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.720 area we're seeing a lot of interest is on personalization. 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.680 So it's just not about mass personalization, it's about individual personalization. 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:39.359 The one I'm really excited about. We cannot name who 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:42.760 that retailer is, but that has to do with search. 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.080 In spite of all the advances, Say, if I like 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:50.320 a shirt that you're wearing, grab I don't go buy it. 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:52.760 I have to go through like ten to fifteen searches 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.560 to be able to find the same shirt unless I 0:17:55.640 --> 0:18:00.680 know exact brand and style. But with advances like Jenney AI, 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.919 I should be able to find exact same shirt with 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.080 literally one or two prompts. And that's going to be 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:12.200 a game changer on how we shop and where we shop, 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:17.000 but also how retailers are going to deliver the shopping 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:18.120 experience for us. 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.680 Yeah, so in that scenario, you might get your smartphone out, 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.879 take a photo of someone with that shirt, searches for 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:28.960 that vision to all the various local retail stores, and 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:31.199 then be able to deliver it, or you can go 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.399 pick it up and try it on and still have 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:35.040 that in person experience. 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:39.760 Absolutely in that scenario. The thing when I heard about it, 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.840 the word that came to my mind that each and 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.880 every one of us will be a walking model. Now, 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.240 the social media has made a lot of people influencers, 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.480 and that great, we are getting influence, but now everybody's 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:53.960 an influencer, everybody's a. 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:58.760 Model, and I could what are your thoughts around using 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:04.520 computer vision, particularly more towards I guess the checkout experience. 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.800 Do you think we could do away with barcodes or 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.280 do you think there could be a time where we 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:14.960 could almost go in and walk out and charge our cards. 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:21.600 Well, we're still experimenting as a technology and retailers together 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:26.080 as a team, and also customers as willing participants, are 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:30.359 giving us great feedback. On one end was the vision 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:34.520 of totally friction less checkout, right, so you walk in, 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:39.000 you walk out, and automatically you get charged for whatever 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:43.320 you bought. And we found that people did not respond 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:49.440 very positively to the totally friction less experience. What we 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:53.240 perceived as friction, like that hello from the employee was 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:57.560 not friction. That was actually a positive thing. Don't discard that. Yes, 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.560 and you might need help, and who's are to help? 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:02.639 There needs to be somebody to help. So there was 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.359 some adjustment there in terms of perception. What do customers 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.880 actually want? So you don't want to turn your brick 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:14.919 and mortar store into a glorified vending machine. So on 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:18.320 the other hand, people do not enjoy scanning items either, 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.439 so there needs to be some sort of middle ground, 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:25.560 and I think that's the hybrid experience now that is 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:31.800 gaining traction, where we mold the technology into the natural 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:36.960 flow of the store and make each of those steps frictionless. 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:41.800 So picking up the item is frictionless, you actually have 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:47.160 real time inventory, much faster inventory check, and it's accurate. 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.760 It starts there and then it goes towards putting your 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:53.399 items and you don't have to scan them. Computer vision 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:59.240 is used to recognize the items immediately, even if you 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:02.120 put twenty of it takes the same amount of time. 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:04.640 You just put it there, and then it may even 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:09.160 actually say hey, that's an age verified item, automatically alerts 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:11.760 the clerk. You don't have to call anybody, and then 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:13.240 they're already there. 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:20.120 What ACRED is describing this hybrid frictionalist experience that still 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:23.879 provides for human touch when necessary might be the future 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:26.600 of grocery shopping. And I think we can all agree 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.679 that an experience like this one will make running errands 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:31.600 or picking up milk and bread on the way home 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:35.000 from work simpler for all of us. But what about 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:39.640 the business owner's tasks? With implementing this frictionless experience. If 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:42.600 we take employees largely out of the equation, do we 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:45.080 also lose some of the oversight that keeps people from 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:48.240 forgetting to scan their items? Does this technology make it 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.080 easier for customers to steal from the store? Retail stores 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:55.080 lost and estimated eighty seven billion to theft in the 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:58.200 United States in twenty twenty two, and this could reach 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:01.720 one hundred and fifteen billion by twenty twenty five. So 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:05.680 I asked Shelish about the challenges businesses my face as 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:08.800 they adopt this frictionless experience when it comes to product 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:10.320 loss and product theft. 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:17.399 Very interesting topic and we've been seeing this debate as well. 0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:21.280 And Graham, the product loss that a lot of time 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:26.240 gets referred to as shrink has always been part of industry, 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:30.919 So it includes not just the product loss due to theft, 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:35.320 but also a product that gets lost during shipping, during receiving, 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:38.520 so that a lot of different ways that product loss 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:42.600 can happen. Now when it comes to theft, there are 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:45.720 multiple elements there as well. So one is organized crime 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:50.360 and one is just consumer trying to sometimes mislabeled products. 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.760 Other times it's just not even scanning products. What does 0:22:54.840 --> 0:22:59.000 computervision allows us to do is accurately see a product. 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:01.800 Now you can what product is. You're not just relying 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:05.080 on the barcode that somebody may have switched. So it's 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:09.880 actually in that instance will help you reduce the product loss. 0:23:10.040 --> 0:23:13.280 If somebody doesn't scan a product, there's an alert that 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:16.119 gets sent to store associate. So what we are seeing 0:23:16.240 --> 0:23:18.359 is in the back of the store. A lot of 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:21.399 loss happens there as well, and you'll be surprised how 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:24.199 in a creator receiving is a part of it, and 0:23:24.320 --> 0:23:28.160 computervision technology can help drive the accuracy in the receiving 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:31.760 and further reducing the product class. So these are some 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:34.480 of the early reserves that we have seen in the 0:23:34.520 --> 0:23:37.520 pilot and these are all read examples. 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:40.960 Yeah, because I was thinking of that trade off between 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:44.520 what you call the customer experience and this computer vision, 0:23:44.560 --> 0:23:48.840 because I went to a new self checkout and I 0:23:48.880 --> 0:23:52.040 think it detected my hand going over the scanner but 0:23:52.160 --> 0:23:55.080 without a product, and it thinks that I didn't scan 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:58.199 it properly, and it kind of alerted the shop as 0:23:58.240 --> 0:24:01.600 system next to me. So I guess, as you say, 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:04.360 it is a journey but the positive thing is that 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:07.280 there was a person there. It wasn't like the alarms 0:24:07.280 --> 0:24:10.480 and everything and the security guards coming down bearing down 0:24:10.520 --> 0:24:14.880 my neme. So is there any day that you've seen 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:19.000 and some of the trends around product loss and product theft, 0:24:19.359 --> 0:24:22.080 particularly around that sort of self checkout area. 0:24:23.080 --> 0:24:26.760 Yes, we hear from our customers that it is a 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:31.359 top concern of theirs loss in general and not just theft, 0:24:31.480 --> 0:24:36.600 as Shylish very aptly described. But one of their biggest 0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:40.040 problems is food waste, and it is part of their 0:24:40.080 --> 0:24:44.960 business model. It can be improved massively by AI models, 0:24:45.200 --> 0:24:50.480 but also alerting the store employees, Hey, that item there 0:24:50.520 --> 0:24:53.000 has been sitting there for more than three hours. You 0:24:53.080 --> 0:24:56.040 need to remove that so that the quality is preserved, 0:24:56.760 --> 0:25:01.399 basically balancing waste and quality at the same time, but 0:25:01.560 --> 0:25:05.320 also ringing up the right item. Not everything has a 0:25:05.359 --> 0:25:08.920 barcode in a store. So you pick up a hot dog. There'sn't, 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:13.320 thank god, a barcode on the hot dog. So you 0:25:13.480 --> 0:25:16.400 picked it up, maybe you put some condiments, maybe that's 0:25:16.600 --> 0:25:21.439 price separately, right, ringing that up right now requires the 0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:24.040 employee to ask you, what do you have there? Right, 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:28.679 so that already extends the process and the accuracy of 0:25:28.720 --> 0:25:31.919 the reporting and so on. I mean, we need to 0:25:32.000 --> 0:25:36.160 really for the environment too, we need to lower food waste. 0:25:36.400 --> 0:25:39.720 So if you do accurate checkout and you know exactly 0:25:39.760 --> 0:25:42.480 what was picked up and you ring it up, then 0:25:42.560 --> 0:25:47.399 you improve on waste. So the important thing there is 0:25:47.440 --> 0:25:50.280 doing the right thing at the right time, and that 0:25:50.400 --> 0:25:55.240 helps your inventory controls, that helps your customer experience, that 0:25:55.359 --> 0:25:56.520 helps your shrink. 0:25:57.040 --> 0:26:00.439