A famous television series kicked off with its first episode titled "Winter is Coming." This phrase ended up carrying more weight than just the arrival of a season in the fictional series. In real life, some might say another monumental event is nearly upon us: Black Friday. References to Black Friday began as early as the 1950's in the United States. It wasn't until the 1980's that it came to refer to the retail shopping period following the Thanksgiving holiday, with one explanation suggesting the color indicated this being the time at which retail companies moved from operating at a loss (or "in the red") to profitability ("in the black").

In Southeast Asia, e-commerce is big business, with Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand generating US$14.8 billion in online sales throughout 2016. According to a 2019 study from Facebook and Bain & Company, ASEAN's digital consumers' spending will triple by 2025. Within the e-commerce sector, online retailers are already embracing artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as chatbots, to deliver a more personal experience for shoppers online. According to a 2018 article by Rene Millman titled'Adoption of AI booming in Southeast Asia,' the adoption rate of AI in the region grew to 14 percent in 2018. The article, citing an IDC report'Asia Pacific Enterprise Cognitive/AI Survey,' revealed that 37 percent of companies would put AI adoption plans in place in the next five years.

Black Friday is nearly upon us - and you'll get even more time to snap up a bargain this year as Amazon is slashing prices a whole week early from November 22. If you can't wait until then, we've rounded up the best discounts on top tech available now, from Amazon Echo Dots and Apple Airpods to TVs, laptops and Roku Streaming Sticks. If you're not an Amazon Prime member yet, sign up for a free 30-day trial to enjoy unlimited one-day delivery on millions of items. With an RRP of £49.99, get £15 off the best-selling Amazon Echo Dot Smart Speaker with Alexa in this great deal which is on now. If you've still not joined the Echo Dot revolution, you can enjoy music and hands-free phone calls through other Echo devices, Skype and the Alexa app.

Bossa Nova Robotics today unveiled its latest creation, the 2020, a smaller version of its rover for checking inventory on store shelves. The latest from Bossa Nova is still over six feet tall but is about half a foot thinner to help maneuver store aisles in smaller stores. A company spokesperson called the robot a fit for most properties beyond a convenience store. The initial Bossa Nova was designed for use in larger stores like supermarkets and did trials in WalMart stores last year. The 2020 is able to count fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen foods, and apparel.

E-commerce is experiencing continuous evolution and has revolutionized retail industry significantly. This evolution is a vital requirement to meet the changing needs of people and make online shopping easier for them. The industry has seen steady growth in the last couple of years and doesn't look like it is stopping anytime soon. Speaking of its growth in recent years, a study, revealed that global e-commerce sales worth a whopping $3.453 trillion were made in 2019, and projected to even grow to $4.135 trillion in 2020. In 2021, the industry is expected to grow even further to hit the $4.878 trillion mark. At the start of the e-commerce wave, it was fairly limited in its capabilities due to limiting technology.

Most consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) have struggled to find solid footing in a turbulent industry. Bain research has found that 34 of the world's top 50 consumer goods companies experienced a decline in revenues, profits or both in recent years,1 forcing CPG executives to find new ways to compete. Emerging technologies, including AI, have given a sharp advantage to firms in other sectors. Companies at the forefront of AI are household names, known for changing the playing field and reinventing their industries: Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple. To stay ahead, these leaders are investing heavily in technology. Amazon, for example, ranks No. 1 in R&D, spending more than 10% of its revenues on IT while retailers manage 1% to 2%.

Machine learning (ML) is routinely used by countless businesses to assist with decision making. In most cases, however, the predictions and business decisions made by ML systems still require the intuition of human users to make judgment calls. In this post, I show how to combine ML with sensitivity analysis to develop a data-driven business strategy. This post focuses on customer churn (that is, the defection of customers to competitors), while covering problems that often arise when using ML-based analysis. These problems include difficulties with handling incomplete and unbalanced data, deriving strategic options, and quantitatively evaluating the potential impact of those options.

Machine learning (ML) is routinely used by countless businesses to assist with decision making. In most cases, however, the predictions and business decisions made by ML systems still require the intuition of human users to make judgment calls. In this post, I show how to combine ML with sensitivity analysis to develop a data-driven business strategy. This post focuses on customer churn (that is, the defection of customers to competitors), while covering problems that often arise when using ML-based analysis. These problems include difficulties with handling incomplete and unbalanced data, deriving strategic options, and quantitatively evaluating the potential impact of those options.

Consumer expectations are higher than ever as a new generation of shoppers look to shop for experiences rather than commodities. They expect instant and highly-tailored (pun intended?) To be forward-looking, brands and retailers are turning to startups in image recognition and machine learning to know, at a very deep level, what each consumer's current context and personal preferences are and how they evolve. But while brands and retailers are sitting on enormous amounts of data, only a handful are actually leveraging it to its full potential. To provide hyper-personalization in real time, a brand needs a deep understanding of its products and customer data.

Black Friday fever is almost upon us, and this year online retailer Amazon is rolling out the deals a whole week early in what will be its'biggest ever' event. That means you can get your hands on fantastic offers on toys, beauty, home and more over an extended eight-day period in the UK. During Black Friday last year, customers purchased over two million items on Amazon. Popular buys included the much-loved Amazon Beauty Advent Calendar, the Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker and the highly-rated Instant Pot Pressure Cooker - showing the huge range of fantastic deals available on the day. This year, the sales extravaganza is expected to feature Lightning Deals, limited-time offers, new exclusive-to-Amazon product launches and other big savings.