Innovation of the Week is a subscriber-only series highlighting retail initiatives that have caught the eye of our team. Every week, we will bring you new ideas and case studies that link to the trends in our Retail Horizon 2024 reports – across consumer, technology, sustainability, and economy, policy and industry.
What is it?
Amazon has launched its AI-powered shopping assistant Rufus in the UK, having rolled it out in the US earlier in the year.
The new Rufus chatbot, being launched initially to certain customers on Amazon’s mobile app, has been trained on the ecommerce giant’s product catalogue and information from across the internet, helping it to answer customer questions.
The AI bot will also help shoppers with purchase research, make comparisons between different types of product and even answer specific questions about individual items.
Once active, app users will see Rufus appear as an icon in the bottom corner of their screens, which they will be able to expand to ask questions as well as tap on suggested questions and ask any follow-ups.
Why does it matter?
Rufus first launched for US customers ahead of Prime Day over the summer and has been met with generally favourable reviews there.
While generative AI (Gen-AI) has dominated technology news headlines this year, many products have so far over-promised and under-delivered. Although the likes of ChatGPT are well known, ecommerce has yet to see much in the way of Gen-AI.
Rufus represents one of the first major steps forward in that space and further enhances Amazon’s reputation as a leader here.
Strategic implications
Continued investment in AI tools is helping retailers to personalise the customer experience and drive loyalty. By making shopping and gifting more engaging and relevant, customer lifetime value is increasing.
Winning strategies
- Personalisation and innovation
- AI for productivity and engagement
Retail Horizon 2024 is Retail Week’s exclusive strategic toolkit for subscribers.
Across four in-depth reports, our team of analysts explore the most significant trends that will shape the sector in the year ahead across consumer, technology, sustainability, and industry, economy and policy.
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