When you enter a store in the near future, will the first interaction be you talking to a screen on wheels that comes rolling up? It just might: ChatGPT is bringing a host of new possibilities to the retail sector as well.
ChatGPT books your dream holiday
Thanks to ChatGPT, artificial intelligence has become much more accessible: you can now just talk to a computer in your native, human language. Consequently, a lot of companies in a lot of sectors are starting to use the AI tool in abundance. The retail sector is no exception, and retailers are only beginning to discover the multitude of interesting possibilities the application has for them as well.
OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, now allows developers to build plug-ins that can teach ChatGPT more specific knowledge. For example, online travel agency Expedia has created a plug-in that aims to make planning a trip easier. Klarna Shopping has also created a plug-in, which it says should provide a “highly personalised shopping experience”. Shopify and Instacart use the AI system in their chatbots, which help customers choose products. Zalando is also currently rolling out a test with an AI assistant.
Data mining is one thing that AI can do at astonishing speeds and a human shop assistant simply cannot. Such clever assistants can look up a lot of relevant information within a few milliseconds, such as the result of market surveys, customer preferences and tastes or the current stock status. An AI assistant can immediately give accurate shopping advice based on all those data. In addition, a customer service department can also use the ChatGPT system, for example for when a customer asks about the status of an order.
The employee of tomorrow?
The retail sector can also use ChatGPT for other tasks. For instance, the system can help create product descriptions or advertisements. With a few simple instructions, the system can produce texts that are almost immediately ready to use.
Use is currently limited to online retail, but there are also applications for physical shops. With developments within robotics and labour shortages, a human-like robot with artificial intelligence could be here sooner than we think.
Issues to solve
Apart from the fact that most people still prefer human interaction to speaking to a robot, current AI technology still has many obvious limitations. For instance, ChatGPT has a very hard time recognising nuances. Moreover, since the system gets all its information directly from the internet, the results are not always reliable.
Although opening up the system via plug-ins can expand ChatGPT’s “knowledge” at a rapid pace, everything ChatGPT generates in terms of text will still require human intervention in a lot of cases. It is sometimes difficult to remember that the system is still very young, or as trend watcher Daria Krivonos puts it, “You would not expect a baby to be able to run already, do you?”
In other words, AI can be – and will become – a useful tool in many tasks in retail. From helping customers compare products to creating marketing plans, it is clear that there is huge potential for the future. The benefits are there for the taking, for those who want to invest time and means to discover them.
