Olaf Melchior’s Post

Day 1 at Retail Week x The Grocer. From live commerce = 5x conversion to improving in-store productivity to making Philadelphia part of the simplicity and comfort we all need, a great range of topics and 1-to-1 discussions. Of course my favourite session was our roundtable on AI - from hype to real business value; thanks to all our CPGs and Retailers for sharing your experiences, one thing that is very clear is that it remains 'people' that bring the real value and USP to any business, people-led and tech/AI-enabled. Yes that is GenAI Linda, and thanks to my GenAI colleagues Tim Knight and Oxana Miroshnichenko.

Walmart unveils new generative AI-powered capabilities for shoppers and associates Time and money are two of the most valuable resources people have. And one of the most popular ways for Americans to save on both, is shopping online. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American families spend six hours per week on household planning and shopping. Many of those families do so digitally at Walmart. The world’s largest retailer, famous for its low prices, generated over $82 billion in e-commerce sales in fiscal year 2023 and is steadily growing its active digital customers. In 2024, the company is further improving the digital shopping experience, building generative AI into its search function to deliver customers a helpful and intuitive browsing experience. Using a combination of Walmart proprietary data and technology and large language models, including those available in Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, as well as retail-specific models built by Walmart, the new design serves up a curated list of the personalized items a shopper is looking for. At CES 2024, Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella introduced the new AI innovations to benefit Walmart customers. https://lnkd.in/dvvHudQz

🛍️ The retail landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and data driven companies like H&M are leading the change💡 Alan Boehme, CTO of H&M, revealed their game-changing strategy at Shoptalk Europe: transitioning from a fashion giant to a data-driven powerhouse, fueled by the force of AI. 🚀 Boehme's wisdom resonates: "Data is everything today. We must listen to the stories data has to tell and not simply confine them to supporting only the story we want to tell." 📊📚

#AI continues to make inroads in the most traditional businesses. I found this interesting article about Instacart's partnerships with grocery store chains and how they're modernizing --> https://bit.ly/3vG4B3p

Don't miss my #keynote at this years Global Retail Pricing Forum from EPP - Pricing Platform in Amsterdam on how retail pricing will change until 2030. Other speakers include - Sheetal Chavan from Zalando - Noël Wang from Decathlon - Sabine Borsari from SWAROVSKI - Jan Michael Schulte from OBI Group Holding - Dr. Yola Engler from Westwing Thanks to Mariana Flores, Pol Vanaerde, Britt Dejager for inviting me. Hope to see you all there! #pricing #pricingstrategy #priceoptimization #prices #monetization #monetizationstrategies #ai #machinelearning #retail #retailinnovation

#AI continues to make inroads in the most traditional businesses. I found this interesting article about Instacart's partnerships with grocery store chains and how they're modernizing --> https://bit.ly/43ORlpE

I look forward to traveling ✈ to New York City to join the NextGen Commerce Conference taking place this coming week on June 26, 2024. The conference is organized by Coresight Research. What I like about Coresight events is that Deborah Weinswig 韋葆蘭, Renee Hartmann and the rest of the team do a great job of attracting a diverse group of plugged-in senior leaders from the retail sector. The sessions are also fast paced so you have to be quick in presenting ideas and observations. The NextGen Commerce Conference builds on the valuable work that Coresight has been leading through its AI Council.  Launched last fall, the Council has personally been beneficial in helping build a better understanding of how AI technology will diffuse through eCommerce and marketplaces.  Gaining perspective on the many eCommerce and marketplace use cases is valuable. However, it is also important to understand the AI adoption curve.  AI solutions are bought directly by brands. But, more often than not, the solutions are embedded in third-party business services.  So, in addition to understanding use cases, it is important to understand how AI will become deeply bundled within business services. My remarks will focus on the explosion of innovation taking place among circular economy service providers. These companies are embedding AI into their service/technology/platform offerings including product digital passports, advanced product grading technology, returns management, reverse logistics optimization, and circular marketplace discovery, matching and pricing solutions. Examples of these circular economy service providers embedding AI into their core services include: Treet, Optoro, goTRG, TWICE COMMERCE and Trove. Coresight’s event will take place at Amazon’s offices in New York City. Amazon spent $1 billion on this property in 2020, so definitely looking forward to seeing what it looks like. 👀 See: https://lnkd.in/gAw_A2NQ 👉 Interested in attending NextGen Commerce Conference? Here’s the registration link: https://lnkd.in/gKnfgRv4 #retail #innovation #AI #platformstrategy #circulareconomy #Amazon #trends #reverselogistics McFadyen Digital

📢 We're thrilled to announce that Amazon Shipping will be sponsoring the 8th Retail Summit: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & HUMAN TOUCH FOR RETAIL PERFORMANCE 🚀 on July 3rd and 4th in Stresa. Organized by Confimprese in collaboration with The Innovation Group and JAKALA, this event gathers industry leaders, top executives, and retail experts to explore how AI, digital transformation, and evolving consumer behavior are reshaping the retail landscape. Join us to discover how Amazon Shipping is empowering retailers with innovative solutions for seamless order delivery across various e-commerce platforms. Let's discuss how we can enhance your operations and navigate the evolving retail environment together. See you there! 🛍️   #RetailSummit #DigitalTransformation #AmazonShipping

Congratulations Sainsbury's on your full-year results! We’re thrilled to see your real-time forecasting with Blue Yonder is optimizing sales, reducing waste, and distributing stock when and where it is needed, bringing significant benefits to you, your customers, and the planet! We’re delighted to be part of your journey toward $3.1 billion in savings through your save-to-invest program and will continue to support you to roll this out across your fresh ranges this summer. Learn more about Blue Yonder here https://bit.ly/3xTSL1S #AI #SupplyChain

Congratulations Sainsbury's on your full-year results! We’re thrilled to see your real-time forecasting with Blue Yonder is optimizing sales, reducing waste, and distributing stock when and where it is needed, bringing significant benefits to you, your customers, and the planet! We’re delighted to be part of your journey toward $3.1 billion in savings through your save-to-invest program and will continue to support you to roll this out across your fresh ranges this summer. Learn more about Blue Yonder here https://bit.ly/3xTSL1S #AI #SupplyChain