How will AI shape retail in 2017?

In a year of uncertainty and unpredictability, change strangely remained our only constant in 2016. Against a backdrop of unexpected political events – the outcome of the Brexit referendum, the election of Donald Trump and the Italy constitutional reform vote, for example – and an unsettled global economy, technological innovation has been developing at a dizzying pace. Nowhere has this been more notable than in the retail sector. Customer demand for convenience is driving change. Our Unfaithful Consumer research found that 55 percent of consumers see it as the most important factor when it comes to deciding where, and how, to shop. With the help of truly disruptive new technology, the focus in 2016 was on making the entire shopping experience more convenient for the consumer.