How the Ukrainian retail sector leverages artificial intelligence

The era of artificial intelligence (AI) has already begun. In our increasingly digital world, ignoring AI is no longer an option and companies need to embrace AI to stay competitive.

Ukrainian retailers are closely monitoring the development of new technologies and working on their own solutions, which allows them to improve business performance. LIGA.net asked some Ukrainian retail market players to share the real-life cases of using AI in different business areas and the prospects of new solutions. It also explored the stories of retail sector representatives about the use of AI at the iForum 2023.

AI in grocery retail

Auchan Ukraine uses AI for idea visualization.

«The topic of innovative technology is not entirely new territory for us. For instance, we were among the first to use iBeacon in Ukraine. It is a system of sensors located inside the store. When customers walk past certain censors, they receive a personalized notification on their mobile devices about specific promotions or offers available in a particular store and in a particular department that they passed by.

The system has proven itself well in Europe and the United States. However, the Ukrainian consumer was not ready for a personalized promotional offer at that time. Perhaps we will return to this idea later when hunting for discounts and deals becomes a widely embraced activity in Ukraine,» Serhii Fedorovichev, Regional Sales Director of Auchan Ukraine told LIGA.net.

VARUS retail network also follows the AI trends. The company shared its experience of leveraging artificial intelligence. The retailer’s content division has been successfully using a number of AI-enabled services for varus.ua website for quite some time.

For instance, ChatGPT helps to generate texts for product descriptions. If you set it a correctly formulated task with a detailed description, it quickly produces the desired result with a minimum number of errors. This significantly saves time, allows us to replace routine tasks with meaningful ones and cut down on costs.

Another service, Midjourney, is used to create product images on a website. After a series of experiments and tests, the VARUS content division found that the service could easily replace a photo shoot session and cover the need for images for some of its own products. In particular, it is useful for generating high-quality images for meat, fish, fruits, ready-to-eat meals, and other products.

Fozzy has been using AI-powered technologies for over three years now. The company develops advanced solutions for retail chains, logistics and restaurant business through the Laboratory Zi, a research and development center for artificial intelligence and innovation. The center conducts research and offers solutions using artificial intelligence, convolutional neural networks, machine learning, immersive technology, and the Internet of Things.

This is how a system for analyzing reviews on social networks (message tagger) and a smart product recognition ecosystem for the restaurant business (Kissa AI) were created.

Kissa AI works as a food scanner using computer vision based on neural networks. It determines what the guest has ordered and how much it costs.

«Our guest places a tray of food in a ‘portal’ equipped with cameras, scales, light indicators, a screen, a scanner, and a payment terminal. Using computer vision technology, Kissa AI recognizes the dishes and generates a receipt,» Fozzy’s press service explained.

At present, Kissa AI can be tested in the Cantin cafe at Silver Breeze business center. The service speed is more than 10 times faster than that of a conventional cash register: it takes 1-2 seconds from scanning an order to generating a receipt.

Oksana Zhebchuk, Director of Transformation at Fora supermarket chain (part of Fozzy Group), shares the prospects of using AI in the future: «Artificial intelligence is only gaining momentum, but it clearly already is and will be an indispensable assistant in forecasting, prioritizing, model building, and interacting with customers.»

However, not all retailers are in the rush to start utilizing AI. For example, NOVUS is still exploring the practical applications for artificial intelligence, though it recognizes that in the future AI will become an important part of our lives and business.

AI and delivery of the future

Nova Poshta is another company that is not utilizing AI-powered technology just yet, though it sees the prospect of using AI in two ways: for customers and employees.

«We have been considering a technology that will help customers create invoices by voice. So far, we haven't found the right solution. Although we have performed numerous tests with the voice feature, it still takes longer to create an invoice by voice than using a mobile app, or in a branch. Use of AI will help employees to get information more easily. We want to make it easier for them to use the company’s knowledge base, optimize document flow and simplify access to any information available within the company,» said the company’s press service.

To test various AI capabilities, Nova Poshta held an open innovation hackathon. It brought together 18 development teams looking for AI-based solutions to improve customer service. As a result, five Ukrainian teams were selected, with whom the company has started cooperation in this area.

AI and shopping malls

Gulliver is probably the first shopping mall to try AI-powered technology in its marketing communications.

Kateryna Zhurakivska, Marketing Director of Gulliver shopping mall, shared some practical cases.

«Artificial intelligence generated layout for promotion of the Gulliver’s Telegram channel using the preset parameters that was later used inside the shopping mall. In addition, we actively used this tool on our social networks to create entertainment and aesthetic content, such as the selection of stylish images, etc.», says Zhurakivska.

Recently, Gulliver shopping mall, in collaboration with the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko, created a multimedia film about the famous Ukrainian poet, writer and artist, which was shown on the facade screens. The film featured a digital avatar of Taras Shevchenko created using AI. At the same time, a chatbot was developed in Telegram, where the virtual writer could be asked anything. The main goal of the project was to use modern technology and new formats to tell about our culture and history.

Oleksiy Pashunov, Managing Director of DREAM shopping mall, also has experience in using AI.

«Today, the implementation of advanced technologies is slow. We are focused on what we believe to be the most necessary components of relations with visitors and tenants. However, our plans for the future include enhancement of customer service with the help of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence. As an example of international AI experience, I can single out geofencing, which, based on the visitor’s location, allows sending personalized messages about promotions, etc.

Some shopping centres in Western Europe are using AI to help visitors get information on the availability of particular products. The bot can even understand if a visitor is upset and alert the staff to help the customer promptly. Some facilities use the I-Mall system, which uses data to track visitor behavior in the mall and can provide personalized recommendations on the information display. As for Ukraine, amid these difficult times, we are focused on meeting the needs of our visitors and maintaining loyal relationships with our tenants,» said Pashunov.

How AI will shape the retail industry

According to the survey released by Honeywell, nearly 6 out of 10 retailers overseas expect to adopt artificial intelligence, machine learning (ML), and computer vision (CV) technologies over the next year to enhance the online and in-store shopping experience.

Only 3% of respondents said they were not using these technologies at all.

Nearly half (48%) of respondents identified AI, ML and CV as the top technologies expected to have a significant impact on the retail industry over the next three to five years.

Oleksandr Yampolskyi, Leader of Retail, Wholesale and Distribution Group at Deloitte Ukraine, also shared his outlook.

«It becomes apparent that artificial intelligence will cause some major changes in the retail industry in the coming year, from checking the customer’s age (for example, 18+) at self-service checkouts to analyzing customer experience. How will AI affect the retail sector? We asked ChatGPT and were impressed by the directness and accuracy of the answers given. Here are some examples.

Planning: AI can be used to analyze data from various sources (such as customer data, sales data and social media data) to make predictions about customer behavior and market trends. This will help retailers make more informed decisions about which products to stock, how to price them, and how to sell them.

Inventory management: AI can be used to optimize inventory management. For example, to predict future product demand, track inventory levels in real time, and automate order change processes.

Chatbots: AI can be used to create chatbots that answer customer questions, provide recommendations, and even complete transactions without human assistance,» says Yampolskyi.

Therefore, new technologies, including artificial intelligence, will help retailers offer a personalized customer experience, optimize operations, increase productivity and efficiency, improve inventory management and prevent fraud, and thus improve the company’s financial performance.

Source: LIGA.Business