AI tech can make retail storefronts relevant and engaging to the modern consumer. With the continued dominance of artificial intelligence in business applications, we've started to see a dramatic shift in how people shop for and purchase products. At least 60% of the U.S. population have made mobile purchases; 82% of mobile phone users use their devices while in-store to help them make a product decision. As mobile commerce continues to grow, retail stores will need to adopt new technologies to stay afloat. Consumer reliance on smart devices will only become greater, so brick-and-mortar stores must act quickly if they don't want to become outdated.

Is AI the face of the new Brick-and-Mortar market? Artificial Intelligence's business applications are undergoing unprecedented growth as a new evolving reality. Therefore, giving AI its due credit stands to reason on a two-fold basis. Firstly – AI helps your retail business improve the bottom line and increase productivity. Secondly, customers are actively looking for a value-added experience from physical stores apart from a high-quality product.

While many know UK company Ocado as an online grocery retailer, it's really one of the most innovative tech companies in the world. Ocado was founded in 2000 as an entirely online experience and therefore never had a brick-and-mortar store to serve its customers, who number 580,000 each day. Its technology expertise came about out of necessity as it began to build the software and hardware it needed to be efficient, productive, and competitive. Today, Ocado uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in many ways throughout its business. Since 2000, Ocado tried to piece together the technology they needed to succeed by purchasing products off the shelf.

The sense of discovery and surprise at something that matches an unrecognized yearning can be exhilarating. But the sheer size of many stores is exhausting -- with some, I need a site map, flashlight, and overnight bag to take it all in. In others, the inventory is specialized and packed in so tightly that online seems a better way to find what I want. If you're primarily an online shopper, you may be asking how relevant brick-and-mortar stores are. The answer is: quite relevant.

The National Retail Federation's 2020 Big Show in New York was jam packed full of robots, frictionless store mock-ups, and audacious displays of the latest technology now available to retailers. Dozens of robots, digital signage tools, and more were available for retail representatives to test out, with hundreds of the biggest tech companies in attendance offering a bounty of eye-popping gadgets designed to increase efficiency and bring the wow factor back to brick-and-mortar stores. SEE: Artificial intelligence: A business leader's guide (free PDF) (TechRepublic) Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the annual retail event. With the explosion in popularity of Amazon, Alibaba, and other e-commerce sites ready to deliver goods right to your door within days, many analysts and retailers figured the brick-and-mortar stores of the past were on their last legs. But it turns out billions of customers still want the personal, tailored touch of in-store experiences and are not ready to completely abandon physical retail outlets.

After a three-year renewal project, Shibuya Parco, an iconic shopping complex in the bustling central Tokyo district, is back in the game. Having been at the vanguard of fashion and youth culture, especially in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the facility, which reopened Friday, largely contributed to shaping the image of Shibuya as a magnet for young people. Since then times have changed, thanks to the rise of online shopping that has threatened many brick-and-mortar stores. The lively district, which is undergoing a yearslong massive redevelopment project, has been transforming itself from a youth hub to a magnet for international visitors. In that sense, the rebirth of Shibuya Parco -- which had been closed since August 2016 -- is seen as a high-profile opportunity to observe whether iconic facilities of its ilk are still capable of piquing consumers' interest.

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.

Multi-channel is the new norm – consumers are not completely abandoning brick-and-mortar stores. Instead, they expect seamless shopping experiences across online, mobile and offline stores. They might first browse and research online, then purchase or pick-up in-store--or the other way around. Successful retailers who can gain customer loyalty are those who can deliver a superior seamless experience across all channels. Data is the new gold – The additional touchpoints mean retailers have greater opportunity and more data to identify their customers and discern their preferences. However, without a proper data and analytics infrastructure, many retailers struggle to mine and analyze huge volumes of data generated daily to gain valuable insights that can help them innovate.

Machine Learning Digest is a curated weekly news overview for those who are concerned about the Machine Learning development across a spectrum of industries. It provides brief summaries and links to articles and news, describing the most remarkable events in the ML sphere. Smart technologies become a new tool helping healthcare sector improve a lot. Nowadays a number of AI-based methods have been cheated especially for identifying people who may be at a higher risk of developing some disease than others. And now, the researchers at Genetech and Roche have created a deep learning model that can detect patients with vision problems related to diabetes that have a higher possibility to go blind.

Chatbots and other AI-assisted customer service tools are on the rise as an efficient, automated way to improve customer journeys, but few studies have asked U.S. consumers how they actually feel about talking to machines when they need help. A new Arm Treasure Data survey of 1,000 adults recently did just that, asking how people feel about AI assists in fields as diverse as medicine to retailing. The industry-to-industry differences are surprising, providing insights to a trend that is rarely examined, but growing rapidly. The economic case for bots is clear: No matter how big a company is, it's virtually impossible for business owners to stay connected to their clientele 24/7. Whether providing necessary customer support for existing clients or capturing new leads, business owners can spend their entire workday managing these communication channels and still struggle to keep up.