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?
Matalan has integrated a new generative-AI (Gen-AI) tool to automate the creation of product descriptions for items listed on its website.
The tool, developed in partnership with global consultancy Kin + Carta, marks a first in the UK and forms part of Matalan’s digital transformation strategy.
It is set to deliver an estimated fourfold improvement in productivity for the business and elevate customer experience for shoppers across its clothing and home categories.
Why does it matter?
Gen-AI is revolutionising retail with its ability to deliver quick, smart new tools for productivity and customer experience gains.
This Gen-AI and large language odel (LLM) tool was developed in just three weeks using Google’s Vertex AI, which reads product metadata and imagery to pick out the most relevant details for online product descriptions.
“As the UK’s first retailer to be leveraging Gen-AI in this way, this is a hugely exciting moment for Matalan. Not only does it demonstrate innovation into new and so far unexplored areas, but it shows our commitment to putting our customers and the shopping experience first – whether they’re shopping on our website or through the Matalan app”
Ali Jones, chief customer and omnichannel officer, Matalan
Strategic implications
AI will continue to disrupt the norm in customer experience and improve brand interactions to become more relevant and personalised. As solutions continue to evolve, more retailers will invest in AI technology.
Winning strategies
- AI for improved productivity and engagement
- Elevated customer experience
Retail Horizon 2024 is Retail Week’s exclusive strategic toolkit for subscribers.
Across four in-depth reports, Retail Week research director Lisa Byfield-Green and 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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