3 Operational Challenges AI Can Help Solve

This article is brought to you by Modisoft. 

The convenience business is becoming increasingly complex, giving operators more to do on a daily basis. From manual invoice processing to managing inventory accurately and sorting through vast data sets, there is a long list of critical tasks that demand a retailer’s attention.

“There are a lot of ways AI can help reduce the burdens that operators encounter throughout the day,” said Safi Modi, head of growth at Modisoft. “By implementing AI to solve some of their most common operational challenges, they can gain time back in their day and run their businesses more efficiently, accurately and with more insight.”

There are three persistent challenges that Modi sees when working with retailers. 

Too much administrative work. Invoice processing or reconciling purchase and expense reports are some of the most time consuming and tedious tasks in the business, he said. “Manually keying in information takes so long,” Modi said. “Everybody hates putting in invoices. Everybody hates putting in expenses. And there is room for error with manual uploading. So why not have AI get it all done for you?” 

Modisoft’s AI document reader identifies and processes any documents—fuel invoices, expenses, other purchases and more—uploaded to the back office or sent via email to the system. Compared to manual entry, Modi noted that the AI-powered document reader can take the time to upload one invoice from five to seven minutes down to 30 to 90 seconds. 

Sorting through huge sets of data. Retailers collect data across almost every aspect of their business, but manually reviewing every report can make it difficult to recognize what needs attention. 

“AI can help address information overload. Retailers don’t have to look at every single individual store, or parse through a massive spreadsheet to see what’s going on,” Modi said. “AI can just run through the data and tell you exactly what needs to be done.” 

Modisoft’s new Summary by Sunny AI offers an AI-generated summary to each page of its back-office platform, giving retailers key takeaways, important updates and opportunities without requiring them to read an entire dashboard. 

“Sunny, our AI-powered virtual assistant, can provide insights to the data through conversational prompts,” said Modi. “Operators can ask questions about their business and get quick answers, recommendations or insights to help with decision-making.” 

Being reactive instead of proactive. No one wants to be putting out fires at work or scrambling to come up with fixes as problems arise. In many instances, Modi said, AI tools can detect problems before they happen or provide data to ensure they are mitigated. “AI can continuously monitor data for unusual activity, from a sudden sales decline at one location to a discrepancy between the quantity of fuel delivered and the amount invoiced,” Modi said. 

It can also help retailers be prepared. "More accurate inventory and demand forecasting based on historical data can reduce out of stocks by helping operators anticipate demand, improve planning and make more informed decisions,” he said. 

The bottom line, Modi said, is that AI should be implemented to remove the work that consumes time but doesn’t drive the business forward. “That’s how you go from working in the business to working on the business,” he said. 

This is the first article in a two-part series from Modisoft. Look out for part two, which focuses on how AI-powered insights can drive business growth.

Artificial Intelligence Back office