NARTA is making significant strides in advancing its service platforms, which has seen AI move from exploratory pilots and projects into real life platforms and processes that the team is using in several parts of the business.
“In addition to working with many of our members on their own AI transformation plans and platforms this year, we’ve made considerable progress in turning our Australian and New Zealand retail data platform into a dynamic pipeline,” NARTA CEO, Michael Jackson said.
“It’s now capable of feeding insights into our own AI models, as well as supporting growing demand for decision intelligence in forecasting, prescriptive analytics, marketing and reporting. As we continue to unlock the true value of AI, we’re seeing a growing consensus among suppliers and retailers that we need to collaborate, plan and be more strategic to leverage technology and data. This will allow us to be more efficient, responsive to customer needs, and sustainable.”
Reflecting on the biggest learning of the year, Jackson noted the gap between talking the talk and walking the walk.
“It’s easy to say you’re leveraging AI and digital transformation, but it’s much harder to truly change what you’re doing. Without the right experts and understanding, it’s easy to lose control of costs and not be able to extract real value beyond the hype,” he said.
“In my 25 years in the retail industry, the last time we had to navigate a complex technological transition was the introduction of e-commerce and digital channels, but what we face with AI is much more significant.”
The NARTA business brought in an expert third-party company, spent three months reviewing operational processes and understanding the real value in AI.
“It’s been a significant learning curve because the AI revolution is more than chatbots, writing emails or recommending content. AI has the potential to change everything from logistics and store operations to customer engagement, go-to-market strategies, sustainability practices and connecting suppliers, retailers and end customers,” he said.
“The speed of AI advancements presents a huge opportunity to better understand customers, tap into spending patterns and find new ways to engage more deeply with them. In this current environment with no major leap in new product technology in the short to medium term, growth will come from growing our share of customer wallets.”
Read more in our inaugural Industry Leaders Forum in the Appliance Retailer December magazine.