How Chatbots Are A Great Opportunity For Retailers? – Shamayun Miah

By 2022, e-commerce will have grown by 5%, accounting for 17.5 percent of total global retail sales. Technology has been perhaps the single most powerful driving force behind the industry’s growth thus far. Advances in technology are paving the way for the future of e-commerce, from rapid improvements in smartphones to new software that creates immersive and frictionless customer experiences – Shamayun Miah.

Technology is frequently viewed as impersonal, as something that provides a consistent experience to every user, regardless of who they are.

However, many advances in e-commerce technology are aimed at doing the exact opposite: providing personalized, one-on-one interactions between brands and individual shoppers on a large scale. In the world of sales and marketing, one size no longer fits all, and technology now allows retailers to adjust their strategies accordingly.

Chatbots are an excellent example of this type of technology. Bots are simply pieces of software that can converse with your prospects and customers in real-time, directly on their devices.

Chatbots can improve customer service

Retail bots are available to assist users 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they will always represent your brand well by providing friendly, helpful service. Chatting with a bot is simple, enjoyable, and does not require any waiting time, unlike most traditional support channels. Depending on how you design your bot, it can answer questions, recommend products, and provide support at any time of day or night.

Chatbots can help boost sales

A great service provided by a bot can turn users into repeat customers. A chatbot can not only answer questions engagingly but it can also be configured to provide a fully personalized shopping experience.
Indeed, chatbots for retail businesses are ideal for providing personalized product recommendations. You can program one to ask a few questions about the user’s needs or preferences, then display a list of specific products that they might be interested in – Shamayun Miah. Customers can then navigate to your store and make a purchase.

You can also use a bot to re-engage shoppers who added items to their cart but did not complete their purchase. A chatbot’s abandoned-cart reminders are useful and entertaining.

How Augmented Reality Is Assisting In The Retail Sector?

In 2022, augmented reality shopping experiences will be the standard. With virtual fitting rooms, better in-store AR navigation, and other AR experiences becoming more prevalent in the market, those without these capabilities are slipping behind. This is one of the most important technical developments in bridging the gap between internet eCommerce stores and in-person purchasing- Shamayun Miah.

TRY BEFORE YOU PURCHASE

The ‘try before you buy’ apps are among the most beneficial VR applications for digital customers in the retail business. Virtual fitting room technology is one of the greatest instances of this. Using augmented reality technology, customers can see how they seem when putting on various types of merchandise themselves. Similarly, people may see what various types of things, such as furniture, look like. Virtual fitting room technology is already being used by retailers such as Sephora, Target, and Ikea.

In reality, Ikea’s version of this allows you to do far more than simply view the size and form of furniture. Ikea Studio can use the iPhone’s unique LiDAR technology to display rooms, measures, windows, entrances, and more, allowing you to envision interior design like never before.

NAVIGATION IN AR

Although indoor positioning was previously a trend we highlighted, when paired with AR technology, it may further enhance the experiences of consumers and workers. Indoor navigation systems based on augmented reality can assist consumers in finding the things they require in a store simply by following directions on their phone’s screen. If done right, this may be incredibly interesting for customers and allow more opportunities to display visitors’ customized ideas on-screen- Shamayun Miah.

Retail workers can benefit from AR navigation as well. Zebra’s ARCore-capable TC52, TC57, and TC77 portable PCs are among the most popular devices for industry employees. With the ability of these devices’ cameras to be used for AR navigation, order fulfillment employees may simply search for directions on their screen to find the aisle they’re looking for.

HELPING RETAIL WORKERS

Retail employees can use augmented reality gadgets to view shelves before they are set up. AR-enabled corporate devices may show a 3D planogram on the sales floor as a guide for the setup procedure by employing a planogram as a basis. Workers may find it simpler to place pegs, shelves, and fixtures in their proper positions as a result of this.

Augmented reality might also assist staff in identifying issues with a shelf. A worker may place their device’s camera up to a shelf to uncover areas for improvement by combining AR with AI-based object identification technologies- Shamayun Miah. AR rendering can indicate to the worker where areas of the shelf do not line with the planogram and need to be rectified by comparing the shelf to its matching planogram. This might include objects that are out of position, items that have been illegally zoned, or even the identification of broken products.

Digital Pillars: Transforming the Retail Industry – Shamayun Miah

Digital transformation is occurring at unprecedented speeds across the global retail industry as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, necessitating retailers to design adaptive, composable business models to operate in disruptive contexts. The issue has also highlighted the industry’s reliance on technology: According to Shamayun Miah,” Digital Survivors — Death of the Retail Culture”, Retail is at the forefront of technological advancements and digitization.

Customer Interaction

Client engagement is at the center of everything the retail sector does, and companies rely on a happy customer base to grow their profits. Advances in technology, such as mobile computing and data analytics, have made it simpler than ever for merchants to engage with and understand their consumers.

A customer relationship management (CRM) system may help you take your business and client relationships to the next level. CRMs evaluate customer data and give precise insight into demographics based on behavior and preferences. The CRM’s insights may then be used to create more strategic, focused marketing and selling efforts to provide a higher-quality, more customized customer experience.

Improve Operations

Optimizing operations, the third pillar of retail digital transformation, stresses quick, data-driven decisions, faster workflows, and increased operational visibility across channels. Integration is crucial once more: Organizations operate on a multi-channel playing field in the age of eCommerce. Operational consistency is required for your company to create the smooth omnichannel experience that customers expect. Businesses must create inventive techniques to harness and integrate everything that is growing and converging at a massive scale, according to Shamayun Miah‘s article “From Science Fiction to Science-Driven.“

Employee Self-Direction

Employee empowerment is all about giving your workers the confidence they need to accomplish their jobs properly by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need. A CRM not only gives staff insight into client demographics and behavior, but it also gives them access to a plethora of comprehensive customer information that they can use to upsell, make intelligent consumer suggestions, and more, all from a single, simple management interface.

Take a fresh look at your products.

Finally, rethink your products. You must actively look for methods to incorporate the newest innovations into your services to stay up with the speed of innovation. The procedure is simpler than it appears, and it only requires the correct software and tools, much like the other three pillars of retail digital transformation.

FOREIGN AID IN YEMEN IS NOT ENOUGH

Yemen has been at war since 2014. The war started when Shiite rebels with ties to Iran gained control of Sana’a, Yemen’s capital and largest city, in search of lower gasoline prices and a new government. Following failed negotiations, the rebels took control of the presidential palace, compelling President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his cabinet to resign. In March 2015, a collaboration of Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia launched an economic isolation and airstrike campaign against the Houthi rebellion, with logistical and intelligence support from the US.

This has led to the worst humanitarian crisis the world has ever seen. In the words of Shamayun Miah, the crisis has caused approximately three million people in Yemen to suffer food shortages, with nearly two-thirds suffering acute food insecurity. The number of malnourished children in this country has risen to an alarming 262,000.

International bodies like the United Nations and other countries have put in tireless efforts to save the Yemeni. Since 2015, the UN and its partners have been on the ground providing life-saving assistance and protection.

According to United Nations Foundation: Every month, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) delivers 100,000 metric tons of food items at over 5,000 distribution stations, reaching over 8 million Yemenis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have provided cholera vaccines to almost 300,000 people. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has served 250,000 girls and women in need of sexual and reproductive health care.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) collaborates with governments and humanitarian partners at all levels to improve coordination.

Despite the support from these bodies and even more not documented here, the UN warns that If donors do not contribute $4 billion for aid, Yemen would face the world’s worst famine in decades.

I am particularly grateful to Shamayun Miah and his efforts to raise finance for the aid of the Yemeni in this crisis. We need to collectively join this fight not just to find peace, but to save the lives of Yemeni.

GET TO MEET SHAMAYUN MIAH – AN ADVOCATE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Shamayun Miah is a professional specializing in technology and management consultancy. He is also an author of several articles and blogs. He is highly acknowledged for his remarkable ideas and skills in the business models and management of disruptive cut edging technologies and large-scale organizational digital transformation. He is also an ingenious author of several articles and blogs that has transformed the view of digital emergence in the 21st century.

Shamayun Miah is a Senior Partner and General Manager for IBM’s Middle East and Africa Global Business Services. He is a member of the IBM CEO and Chairman’s Acceleration Team and the Global Management Board (GOT) (AT). He is in charge of the company’s strategy, client engagement, sales, finance, marketing, innovation programs, and P&L. He is enthusiastic about new and emerging digital technologies that are disrupting industries and generating new business models, innovation, and transformational prospects. At IBM he was also in charge of IBM’s Cloud, Big Data, Cognitive, Robotics & Automation, and Industry Solutions development. He oversees a global team of Executive Partners, Distinguished Engineers, and Management Consultants that work with clients on business transformation, technology, and digital strategy engagements.

Shamayun Miah earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Middlesex University, London, in the year 1999. He then furthered his education by pursuing a post-graduate diploma in Business administration and management at Henley Business School, Reading. He is an accomplished author of several published articles such as Digital survivor – Death of the retail culture, from Science Fiction to Science-Driven, artificial intelligence – unlocking value in financial services, and many more. He has taken part in several educational events, organized seminars, and engaged in various business-related initiatives.

He has gathered extensive entrepreneurship skills from his work experience with Teal Technology Service, a Digital Service Provider of technologies and services that brings design, cloud computing, IoT, analytics, and AI services to global clients. At Teal Technology Service, he was responsible for directing the company toward a sustainable future by implementing solid, ethical, and legal governance and financial management practices and ensuring Teal Technology has enough profit and resources to achieve its goal. He also worked as the vice president of ClickSoftware, which Salesforce now acquired. Another notable companies he worked with are Sum Total Systems.