This article is brought to you by InStore.ai.
The convenience retail industry, and its customers’ behavior, is always evolving.
“Shoppers expect more than ever from convenience stores they frequent. They want a fast and elevated shopping experience, which requires innovation fueled by deep customer understanding to meet their evolving demands,” said Brandon Warshaw, head of growth and strategy for InStore.ai. The technology provider is aiming to accelerate how c-stores enhance both operational efficiency and the customer experience through voice analytics and artificial intelligence. “Stores that choose not to embrace tools and technologies that reveal the true customer experience risk falling behind.”
But with so many aspects of day-to-day operations to stay on top of across stores, districts and headquarters, new technology needs to be efficient and action-oriented for retailers to realize the value of the investment quickly, he said.
“Retail operations are already complex—technology should streamline workflows and reduce manual tasks, enabling employees to focus on higher-value activities,” he said.
Ease of implementation is paramount when it comes to new retail tools and capabilities. Where some technology goes wrong, Warshaw continued, is in its ease of implementation—or lack thereof. “Any new technology brought to stores should allow for easy deployment across various store formats and regions,” he said. "It’s important to minimize the impact on current IT infrastructure, including networks and POS systems.”
Artificial intelligence is a powerful enabler, allowing retailers to leverage data and turn it into actionable insights. “There is a lot of noise out there about data and AI—but the key is to find the right solution to accelerate the business. InStore.ai leverages proprietary models developed specifically for convenience and fuel use cases to surface insights and recommendations relevant to the business’ priorities. This eliminates the need for employees in the field or headquarters to spend time sifting through data to understand what is going on and how it can be improved. We’re providing a proactive tool for commercial and operations improvement,” Warshaw said.
The company’s approach uses discreet microphones at registers and around the store to record conversations between employees and customers, and uses AI to analyze them to provide insights to operators.
For instance, recordings from a certain store could pick up words and sentiments about anything from loyalty programs to restroom cleanliness to self-checkout issues and beyond. The data collection and analytics are automated, Warshaw said, and it “provides actionable insights and recommendations through configurable alerts, notifications and summaries pushed to the right people in the business to make an impact.”
“InStore.ai’s unique approach to generating an ongoing, independently valuable stream of insights and recommendations based on interactions taking place in stores offers a competitive advantage to helping retailers make informed decisions about the customer and employee experience,” Warshaw explained.
This is part of a series on InStore.ai. Read about using voice analytics at POS, how voice analytics can optimize operations, how to supercharge your loyalty efforts and how to address employee attrition with AI.