As we all know, technology is playing its cards right in changing the present-day business scenario, with Artificial intelligence (AI) becoming the "not-so-hidden" ace here. From picking out valuable details from the mountain of big data to utilizing that information to empower the process through intelligent, machine-learning bots, AI is already bolstering sales efforts. And there's so much that this maverick aid can do, through the following ways: The Internet has become a wizard of sorts which can predict your demands based on the requirements you have put. This is due to the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Deep learning algorithms have already started working their bit to forever uplift the world of automated ads, to that extent that they can now predict the online behaviour of an average user.

Bengaluru: Online retailer Amazon India is fast increasing the adoption of machine learning technology in order to cut product returns, improve the speed and accuracy of product deliveries, provide more relevant search results and improve efficiency in other areas of its business. Inc. is one of the global leaders in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, along with the likes of Google, Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. In India, the company has been relatively slow in using machine learning, mostly because it launched in the country only in June 2013. Now that it's accumulating increasing quantities of data on customers, the company is increasing the adoption of machine learning in its business. "There are a lot of problems that are India-specific where you need machine learning," said Rajeev Rastogi, director, machine learning at Amazon India (Amazon Seller Services Pvt.

In less than 20 years, Alibaba has become one of the top ten largest companies in the world, primarily due to its success as an online retailer. The internet has changed the way that we shop, and as such the company is pumping money into research projects that will help ensure that it can keep up with the next game-changing advance in e-commerce.

At Bossa Nova we create service robots for the global retail industry. Our robots' mission is to make stores run efficiently by automating the collection and analysis of on-shelves inventory data in large scale stores. Navigating smoothly along the aisles, we circulate autonomously among busy customers and employees. If we were a self- driving car we'd be operating at level 5 autonomy. Yep, it is possible to move, scan and analyze all at the same time.

Whether you're new to deep learning or want to build advanced deep learning projects in the cloud, it's easy to get started by using AWS. The AWS Deep Learning AMIs, available in both Ubuntu and Amazon Linux versions, let you run deep learning applications in the cloud at any scale. The Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) come with pre-installed, open source deep learning frameworks including Apache MXNet, TensorFlow, the Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit (CNTK), Caffe, Caffe2, Theano, Torch, and Keras. With the AMIs, you can train custom AI models, experiment with new algorithms, and learn new deep learning skills and techniques. There is no additional charge to use the AMIs--you pay only for the AWS resources needed to store and run your applications.

Wal-Mart's chief technology officer, Jeremy King, points out that this is a task humans aren't very efficient at doing. "If you are running up and down the aisle and you want to decide if we are out of Cheerios or not, a human doesn't do that job very well, and they don't like it," he said. The robots are 50% more productive at scanning shelves and can complete the task three times faster than employees, while being much more accurate. Currently, associates can only scan store shelves twice per week.

By December, more than 6,985 stores closed across the US, according to retail think-tank Fung Global Retail & Technology. It also beats the previous all-time high of 6,163 store closings that took place during the 2008 financial crisis, according to estimates by Credit Suisse. The reality is that many stores are closing for the same reason they've always closed -- they simply don't meet the needs and demands of customers. But at a time when consumers are empowered with choice and market conditions are increasingly volatile, new technologies can help brands and retailers drive valuable business efficiencies, and improve the overall customer experience and value proposition. "The biggest upside to technology in fashion will be the ability to offer consistency, and being able to personalise the customer's shopping patterns," said Robert Burke, chief executive of retail consultancy firm Robert Burke Associates.

PSFK's AI Retail Playbook, a collaboration with Microsoft, outlines AI's contributions to the customer experience With the rise of e-commerce titans like Amazon, today's retail landscape is built on a digital foundation--and words like AI, data, personalization, convenience and unified commerce are the new competitive advantages. As a consequence of this digital ecosystem, consumers have an entirely new set of behaviors and expectations when it comes to shopping. With on-demand services like Amazon Prime offering next-day delivery and 24/7 gratification, shoppers have a much higher bar than their coupon-collecting and bargain-hunting predecessors. They not only consider convenience and flexibility absolute musts, but also crave personalized service and experiences. As offline and online retail converge into a single, seamless channel, AI-powered experiences will become essential for retailers to meet their customers' needs, no matter when, where and how they choose to shop.

Sometimes the speed of Amazon's delivery is bewildering. No matter how obscure your order, the retailer frequently promises same-day delivery. Is it that your neighborhood is full of fly-fishing buffs, or whatever your niche interest may be? Instead, it is likely that the company has already shipped the product to your nearest warehouse because it thought that you might order it. Magical as this might sound, it is the application of a technology known as demand sensing.

Thе sheer mаrkеt ѕіzе оf AI ѕоftwаrе аnd ѕуѕtеmѕ, which is expected to reach US$35,870 million by 2025, and the opportunities it opens are causing retailers to pay serious attention to AI. For shoppers who have drеаmеd оf having a реrѕоnаl shopper, AI simplifies the shopping process and provides personalized experiences that turn shoppers into customers who keep coming back for more. Shoppers aren't the only ones who benefit from AI. The innovative, always learning technology is contributing to higher sales and better customer experiences that improve the retail brand and bottom line. The following five retail use cases showcase how AI is transforming the industry and leading to better business outcomes.