Walmart is testing artificial intelligence-enabled cameras, interactive displays and a data center in a Neighborhood Market in Levittown, New York, blogged Matt Smith, associate director-program management, Thursday. The goal of the Intelligent Retail Lab, inside a 50,000-square-foot space in the New York City suburb, is to explore how AI can contribute to the store experience through sensors, cameras and processors. The initial focus of IRL is product inventory and availability; the retailer will launch the program with meat products, said Smith. He quoted Mike Hanrahan, IRL CEO, as saying the team will use real-time information to let associates know more precisely when to restock products so they’re available on shelves when needed. Cameras and real-time analytics will automatically trigger out-of-stock notifications to internal apps that alert associates when to re-stock. The store has to be able to detect the product on the shelf, recognize unit or weight volume, and compare quantities to upcoming sales demand, he said. Associates “won’t have to continually comb the store to replace products running low on the shelves” because they’ll know what to bring out of the back room before customers show up. A goal is that customers will be able to trust that products they’re looking for will be available during the times they shop, he said. The store will also tap the technology to ensure shopping carts are available and registers open. As part of the program, technology will be exposed, and shoppers will be able to interact with educational displays placed in the store. A welcome center allows customers to “dive deeper” into technical specifications and questions. A large display encourages visitors to “move around and learn how technology reacts to body positioning,” Smith said. The tech was built “to improve associates’ jobs” and make their lives “more interesting by alleviating mundane tasks," he said. Some 100 IRL associates will participate in experiments daily, he said.
Zoovu, an artificial intelligence-based conversational marketing platform, bowed an interface that delivers a self-service, customized digital assistant to brands and retailers, it said Wednesday. The platform enables interaction via chatbots and voice assistants for “authentic personalized experiences” to consumers as they shop. Zoovu cited Gartner saying that by 2022, 72 percent of customer interactions will involve emerging technologies including machine learning applications, chatbots and other virtual personal assistants as retailers look to provide more “conversational” communication. Add-ons include lead generation plugins, customer relationship management integrations, dynamic product tagging and reporting capabilities, it said. Zoovu collects interaction patterns to understand the positive and negative elements of Q&A feeds and provide real-time insights to help brands and retailers optimize product recommendation and customer profile-building to ensure more personalized, streamlined shopping.
March retail sales at electronics and appliance stores fell 4.1 percent from March 2018 but were up 0.5 percent sequentially from February, reported the National Retail Federation Thursday. Retail sales across the board were up 1 percent in March from February and up 0.8 percent year over year, said NRF. Online and other non-store sales of all types were up 1.2 percent month over month and 9.2 percent year over year, it said. “March’s numbers are very encouraging and set the stage for improved expectations for the economy in the coming months, especially since the first quarter is typically weak,” it said.
CTA hails “longtime member” Best Buy for promoting Corie Barry to CEO (see 1904150018), said President Gary Shapiro Tuesday. Barry’s appointment was “well-deserved,” he said. “To remain the world leader in innovation, our nation must develop a diverse group of talent and promote the best and brightest candidates. Corie’s hiring recognizes her exceptional leadership and successful growth during her two decades with the company.”
ProSource added 12 new members in Q1, including 10 in its custom-integrator category whose annual revenue exceeds $1 million, said the buying group Tuesday. Elevated Electronics, Overland Park, Kansas, joined as a “power” member (annual sales exceeding $4 million), said ProSource. Audio Advisor in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the group’s newest “pro” member (sales exceeding $10 million), it said. The new members collectively do more than $45 million in annual sales, said ProSource.
Amazon raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all of its 350,000 employees last year “because it seemed like the right thing to do,” said CEO Jeff Bezos Thursday in his annual letter to shareholders. “Today I challenge our top retail competitors (you know who you are!) to match our employee benefits and our $15 minimum wage,” he said. “Do it! Better yet, go to $16 and throw the gauntlet back at us. It’s a kind of competition that will benefit everyone.” Best Buy, Walmart and Barnes & Noble didn’t comment. Best Buy pays $12 average hourly, Walmart $11.72, Barnes & Noble $10.63, according to the PayScale website.
After “well-received” tests last year in select stores, more Walmart locations are going robotic, blogged spokesperson Elizabeth Walker Tuesday, describing floor-cleaning bots and inventory checkers that will give employees more time “to do what they’re uniquely qualified for: serve customers face-to-face.” Walmart plans to add 1,500 autonomous floor cleaners it calls “Auto-C,” which can be programmed to scour open sections of a store, after a staffer preps an area, and “leave behind a clean, polished floor.” It’s adding 300 shelf scanners, called “Auto-S,” that scan items on store shelves to log availability, correct shelf location and price accuracy, she said. The shelf scanner works with “Fast Unloaders,” 1,200 on the way, which scan and sort items unloaded from trucks based on priority and department, said Walker. The retailer is also adding 900 new pickup towers -- “like a giant vending machine” -- that customers can go to after receiving an email saying an item is ready for pickup. Store associates load ordered items into the towers. For consumers, the robots enable “a store that can function seamlessly,” where associates will be there “when customers need them,” and they ensure items are where they are expected to be, Walker wrote. Walmart workers “immediately understood the opportunity for the new technology to free them up from focusing on tasks that are repeatable, predictable and manual," said John Crecelius, senior vice president-central operations, Walmart U.S. “By leaning into the future, associates will be able to have more satisfying jobs as retail continues to change.”
The New York Times urged right-to-repair standards for cellphones and other consumer electronic devices. An editorial Sunday said companies use warranties to push customers to authorized dealers and refuse to share schematics on the basis that they're “seeking to ensure the quality of repairs, protecting both their customers and their own reputations." An open marketplace for repairs “benefits consumers, independent retailers and the environment,” the paper said, noting national legislation may not be necessary and pointing out that after Massachusetts passed an auto repair law in 2012, major carmakers agreed to nationalize those standards. “A single state law could prove a dam buster for other kinds of products, too,” it said. At least 20 states have introduced right-to-repair legislation this year (see 1903190031).
Voice-controlled connected home products are part of Sears’ image makeover, which it will test beginning Memorial Day weekend in three downsized Home & Life stores in Anchorage; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Overland Park, Kansas, the company said Thursday. The new store format is based on insights from 10,000-15,000-square-foot Sears Appliances & Mattresses stores that opened two years ago in Fort Collins, Colorado; Pharr, Texas; Honolulu; and Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, said the retailer. The Home & Life stores’ “power categories” -- appliances, mattresses and home services -- are those where Sears has “a real strength,” said Peter Boutros, chief brand officer for Sears and Kmart and president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands, in a statement. The connected home products include a “curated” assortment of smart products deemed “relevant” to customers, who will be able to learn how to set up a smart home with “reliable appliances” compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, said the company. The new stores will include a service desk where shoppers can meet with store experts to discuss how appliances will look in a full-scale kitchen. The stores, geared to the communities they serve, will have local artwork and photos, it said. In the news release, Sears juggled its long history with its plans, touting its 125-year retail record, while promoting retail trends including in-vehicle pickup, free store pickup and returns, buy-online-pickup-in-store and its social media pages. It noted in fine print that mattresses and in-vehicle pickup won’t be available in the Alaska store. Sears didn’t respond to questions Friday.
Value Electronics will do home theater demonstrations Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at its Scarsdale, New York, showroom, highlighting image performance enhancements produced by pairing Panasonic’s UB9000 UHD-BD Blu-ray player with JVC 2019 projectors, it said Thursday. Last week, JVC released a firmware update adding two color profiles exclusively for the UB9000 to obtain optimum HDR image quality, it said. The demo will include 4K HDR Blu-ray titles and content shot in native 8K HDR10 60 fps downconverted to 4K HDR10 at 60 fps, said Value Electronics President Robert Zohn. Event organizers include Zohn and executives from JVC and Panasonic.