Combining computer vision, IoT, and AI creates a system that delivers more value than those three technologies in isolation, as the retail industry is highlighting. While enterprise organizations have traditionally tended to stay away from emerging tech, preferring to wait until the major bugs have been worked out before making the leap, the arrival of Agile and DevOps has changed the timelines. Enterprises are moving more quickly these days as digital natives threaten to disrupt markets and industries. With that in mind, InformationWeek spotted some emerging technology applications at the National Retail Federation Big Show this week for you to watch. Sure, these were geared towards the retail industry vertical, but even if you aren't a retail company, these applications are built on the same technologies that are being customized for a range of industries.

This article is part of our November 2018 series about the state of retail. Artificial intelligence is reinventing the retail industry as we know it. From personalized customer experiences across digital touch points to improved product management, this powerful area of computing is helping retailers up their relevance, efficiency, and, ultimately, their bottom line. "When we look across the retail industry, there is, surprisingly, quite a broad use of AI already," said Vish Ganapathy, managing director and global retail technology lead at Accenture. "A lot of that has got to do with the fact that more and more technology vendors are injecting AI into everything that they do within their applications. For retail, there are very specific areas where AI can really make a big difference."

Since 1975, Woodhouse Clothing has been paving the way for modern menswear. Now a premium online retailer, its unique portfolio of over 50 brands includes BOSS, Armani and CP Company, alongside new and niche brands, such as McQ, Albam and Woolrich. Forty years on, Woodhouse still embodies its original values, housing only the best brands on the global market, with the aim of bringing that personal touch back to the world of retail. Nosto is the fastest growing ecommerce personalisation and retail AI platform in the world. Supporting more than 2,500 retail brands in more than 100 countries, Nosto has fuelled over 25 billion personalised experiences and delivered a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of more than $10 billion through its customer stores. Nosto's end-to-end personalisation platform provides deep customer insights that drive real-time personalized shopping experiences across any touch point and any device. Through its patented technology, proprietary machine learning algorithms, vast network of ecommerce data and dedicated customer success team, Nosto supports its retailers from its offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm and Helsinki. More information can be found at https://www.nosto.com/.

Most emerging scan-and-go solutions are still not completely frictionless, as consumers have to physically scan their products. They are also too expensive for retailers, requiring major upfront spend and ongoing infrastructure maintenance (e.g. In an interview with RTIH, he says: "By offering a checkout-free retail experience based on the shopping cart, our solutions drive value across the business – from payments to marketing to merchandising to loyalty – with a low cost of entry." His company has tested its Artificial Intelligence Cart (AIC) concept at various exhibitions, including the MWC in Barcelona and Vivatech in Paris in 2017, and in 2018 at the GTC in Tel-Aviv. "The reactions from leading retailers were very motivating and constructive from the beginning. Retailers have increasingly been investing in technology like artificial intelligence to compete against retail giants like Amazon, so the proven results and unique approach our platform offers have been met with excitement," he says.

Investing in personalization is good for brands. Research from McKinsey found that brands that excel at personalization deliver five to eight times the marketing ROI and boost their sales by more than 10% over companies that don't personalize. Personalization can be an overwhelming and time-consuming task, but it's made simpler through artificial intelligence. In fact, it's never been easier to understand consumers and create personalized offers with AI. Here are seven of the best examples of using AI to improve personalization.

Walmart products are no longer available through Google Express, Google's online shopping tool. It's not clear when the change occurred, but Google Express confirmed via Twitter earlier this week that it is no longer offering products available through Walmart on its platform. Walmart is no longer on our website, sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Google began offering Walmart and Target products through its shopping platform in 2017, but Walmart no longer appears in the Google Express marketplace. According to Android Police, attempting to view the former landing page for Walmart on Google Express now present visitors with a page that states "Walmart is outside your delivery area."

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Amazon's drone delivery service may be missing in action but the company has not given up on its dream of robots delivering parcels. It is launching Amazon Scout, a service employing six squat six-wheeled delivery robots, across Snohomish County, Washington, just north of its Seattle HQ. "These devices were created by Amazon, are the size of a small cooler and roll along sidewalks at a walking pace," the head of the Scout project, Sean Scott, wrote in a blogpost. "The devices will autonomously follow their delivery route but will initially be accompanied by an Amazon employee. "We developed Amazon Scout at our research and development lab in Seattle, ensuring the devices can safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path." In 2013 Amazon's boss, Jeff Bezos, launched Amazon Prime Air and announced an intention to begin offering flying deliveries direct to the home within five years.

Amazon has launched a new robot delivery service in the US using a six wheeled machine that is "the size of a small cooler". The Amazon Scout uses self-driving technology to navigate through neighbourhoods to deliver packages to Amazon Prime customers, though its initial roll out is limited. The first deliveries are taking place in Snohomish County, just to the north of Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Deliveries will be limited to daylight hours between Monday and Friday amd only six of the Scout delivery robots will be deployed at first. Each will also be accompanied by an Amazon employee to ensure they can safely navigate around any pedestrians or pets it might come across.

Amazon is launching a new self-driving delivery device called Scout, and it's adorable. Scout is the size of a "small cooler" and can roll along sidewalks, delivering packages safely to a customer's doorstep. The device is currently operating in Snohomish County, Washington, the company announced Wednesday. "The devices will autonomously follow their delivery route but will initially be accompanied by an Amazon employee," Amazon said in a statement. "We developed Amazon Scout at our research and development lab in Seattle, ensuring the devices can safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path."