How Home Depot Is Enhancing The Ecommerce Experience With AI

The retail experience is certainly changing in the face of the global pandemic. A Rip Van Winkle who might have fallen asleep in January 2020 and woken up in September 2020 would find their retail experience to be a surreal experience with shoppers wearing masks, markings on the floor separating folks from one another by six feet, and plexiglass screens by registers in checkout aisles. The online shopping experience has changed in many ways as well, with some items that had previously been taken for granted such as toilet paper, inflatable pools, and other commodities now being scarce commodities. Online retail is changing in other profound ways as consumers change their buying patterns and behaviors, with the shift to work-from-home and school-at-home changing the way people live, work, and socialize. Retail establishments that had previously counted on big Fourth of July and Labor Day celebrations, back-to-school specials, large social gatherings, and practically the whole travel and hospitality industry have had to throw out their usual sales, marketing, and supply chain practices and rethink their fundamental business strategies.