Long ago, paying a visit to retail stores, interacting with multiple sales representatives, and spending an entire day to pick out a product was the only way to shop, but today the scenario is different. Technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), has drastically changed the shopping experience of buyers in the past few years.

Consumers can now enjoy shopping from the comfort of their home and interact with virtual agents of retail outlets at any time of the day. These AI-powered virtual agents, chatbots, enable consumers to make calculated choices by directing them to products based on their interests, search history, and shopping history. Additionally, these chatbots also help suppliers create a personalized experience for their customers, which in turn, improve traffic on the retail website.

On the other hand, apart from helping suppliers improve customer engagement, AI also helps retailers in optimizing their marketing process. AI-powered pricing and inventory algorithms help retailers set up different pricing strategies and best promotional offers to retain existing customers, acquire new ones, and increase sales. Case in point, AI algorithms gather information pertaining to products from competitors’ while considering the on-going sales or promotions.

Besides customer engagement and marketing, AI also pilots the transformation in the logistics and merchandising segments of the retail industry, and this edition of Retail CIO Outlook sheds light on some of those benefits. A distinguished panel comprising of CEOs, CIOs, VCs, and analysts, along with the editorial panel of Retail CIO Outlook have selected the Top 10 Artificial Intelligence Solution Providers - 2019, which are at the forefront of delivering distinct AI-powered solutions to the retailers