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Shoptalk is Europe's premier retail and FMCG event, attracting top leaders and influencers from the UK and across Europe. It excels in connecting retail solution providers with CPG and retail brands, facilitating digital transformation in both online and offline stores to enhance speed, efficiency, and revenue growth.
This year, Shoptalk raised the bar by staging a grand event focused on “AI-driven digital transformation.” Many sessions centered on the role AAI will play in the coming years.
As one of the sponsors, we showcased our Image Recognition-powered retail shelf monitoring solution, ShelfWatch, and our GenAI solutions. Conversations with numerous FMCG leaders and retailers revealed great excitement about the potential of AI and its prioritization in their digital transformation strategies. Representing the ParallelDots team, Ankit Singh (Co-founder & CTO) and Jennifer Hussey (Sr. Sales Manager EMEA) navigated the event and shared insights on how the AI revolution will impact the FMCG and retail industries. Here, we share our key learnings and the enthusiasm from top FMCG leaders:
- Excitement Around Generative AI: According to EY, the FMCG industry saw 277 AI-related deals between 2020 and 2023, totaling over $8 billion. Although Generative AI represented just 5% of these deals, its influence is growing significantly this year. Generative AI's ability to analyze vast datasets and predict trends enables businesses to stay ahead of consumer demands by offering relevant, sustainable, and appealing products to conscious consumers. One popular application is AI-assisted chatbots, which provide customer support and personalized recommendations across both online and offline channels.
- Retail Image Recognition & AI: By replacing traditional manual store audits, image recognition shelf monitoring solutions are enabling FMCGs to reduce costs, save audit time, and make precise data-driven decisions that positively impact top-line growth. Despite 60% of FMCG sales coming from offline channels, brands have limited visibility into strategy execution, hindering speed and accuracy in decision-making across teams. Image recognition solutions leverage computer vision and AI to process thousands of shelf images daily. These AI models are trained to analyze the images and deliver nearly 100% accurate insights on shelf stock, product positioning, pricing, and promotional displays.
- Augmented Reality and its use cases: AR finds a very appreciative application in transforming store audits. From manual or ‘photo taking store audits, AR is the next leap which enables immediate product recognition in the “AR view”. This enables field force teams with superior on-the-go shelf scanning capability and instant SKU detection using Image Recognition & AI. AR is also increasingly finding its way to transform advertising for marketers, create wow moments with respect to their brand and reinvent shopping experiences for consumers worldwide both across online and offline channels by improving product visualizations.
When it comes to finding applications for AI in the FMCG and Retail industry, we have just scratched the surface. We are going to witness many innovative applications that will solve systemic challenges, drive efficiency and bring innovative shopping experiences.
If you wish to explore ParallelDots Shelf Monitoring Solution 'ShelfWatch', sign up for a demo here or visit our website for more information.
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