The Silk Route of Retail Transformation – Weaving Innovation through AI and Automation

The craft of a weavers' village was on the brink of collapse as there were no takers for their old traditional handlooms. Not because it lost its sheen but because no one other than a few local middlemen knew that the village exists, let alone their art. However, one day a documentary maker happened to cross the town and noticed the exquisite fabrics hanging casually in front of almost every household. He was fascinated by it and documented the dying art.

The audience response to it was ecstatic, and soon there was a spike in demand. Life sprung in colors in their looms, and they finally understood customers’ needs. They evolved and reached broader customer segments by going digital. Due to their exposure to technology, the villagers stopped migrating to other states as bonded laborers, and eventually, they thrived. Today they are one of the prominent names in the handloom circle.

 A cluster of beautiful art, a communication channel, and digital technologies crossed their paths, disrupted the conventional way of business, transformed the village, and put it on the retail business map. If a simple collaboration creates such a profound impact, imagine what will happen if powerful technologies cross each other, especially in the retail sector, weathering an unprecedented slowdown due to COVID 19.

 The current slowdown has opened the doors for innovation in the retail sector for sustainable growth in the future. Technologies like Edge, Artificial Intelligence, Predictive analysis, supply chain automation, and Robotics are set to cross their paths and create a robust 360-degree supply chain and retail ecosystem.

 The impact is even more significant in the brick and mortar retail section. Covid 19 has altered customer behavior as many prefer to maintain distance from crowded stores and have adopted digital shopping even without any lucrative deals. Gartner has predicted that by 2023 at least 50% of large enterprises will use AI, analytics, and IoT in their supply chain management. However, the dynamic shift in consumer behavior during the pandemic has already initiated the process, and automation across the retail value chain is perceived as the biggest accelerator of transformation.

 Artificial intelligence is the key to drive growth in the manufacturing sector as their top priorities remain in reducing logistics cost, improving efficiency, asset utilization, and bringing autonomy to the decision-making process. Enterprises can primarily benefit from proliferating innovations like AI-powered automation, edge computing, and robotics to monitor factory equipment, detect defects to reduce downtime, accelerate productivity, and reduce manual dependency. Smart machine solutions can report any deviation in quality during the production process and initiate remedial action in real-time.

 A robust supply chain is a bridge that connects the manufacturing and retail sectors and delivers an excellent customer experience, especially in the COVID-19 era. AI-based supply chain distribution systems, cloud-based payment platforms, and accomplished robots for warehouse management will enable the retail industry to adopt a solution-based approach.

 The future warehouses and fulfillment centers will have an optimized supply chain system steered by intelligent machines and collaborative robots that will own complicated and challenging tasks and will support operators to work in a safer environment.

 The retail industry, which faces a severe slowdown due to the pandemic, can take advantage of the supply chain automation to tackle the evolving customer demands. Automation in inventory management, order splitting, and fulfillment will motor the retail value chain towards growth and ensure success.

 Online shopping became a popular choice for customers during the pandemic; however, brick and mortar shops are still valued for enhanced customer experiences. Imagine going to a shop, selecting your choice items, leaving the shop without waiting in long queues to pay you bill, and yet enjoy the physical shopping experience. Deployment of inventory robots and surveillance cameras powered with Deep Learning in the outlets will help retailers guide and track the customers’ shopping cart and send the invoice online before checking out of the shop to offer a frictionless shopping experience.

 With many technologies available, enterprises need to weave the innovations together and forge their way to success, even in the most volatile market conditions. Only those businesses, who understand customer needs in a hyper-competitive environment and acts contextually by leveraging technological innovations, will triumph.