Convenience Think Tank Finds AI Is 'All About Data Integrity'
AUSTIN, Texas — Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can provide effective data analysis and tangible results for convenience retailing, according to the newest "Vision Report" from the Convenience Technology Vision Group (CTVG).
The report stemmed from CTVG's December meeting which focused on the transformative impact of AI on the retail landscape and featured a presentation from Greg Buzek, founder and president of IHL Group and was facilitated by industry technology expert, Ed Collupy.
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Buzek outlined the specific areas where AI is currently making an impact in different retail sectors, including personalizing customer experiences, inventory visibility and corporate back-office functions. He also emphasized the growing significance of AI in the convenience industry.
The subsequent discussion highlighted the challenges and benefits of AI adoption, emphasizing the vital need for clean data.
"It's not going to be in that sizzle or customer facing stuff that I would focus my efforts. I would do it on all the plumbing … the blocking and tackling stuff that's behind the scenes, that's where the biggest benefits are, and you have the greatest opportunity for [growth]," said Buzek.
He advised larger organizations to explore AI within existing business applications and smaller companies to consider enterprise resource planning providers or third-party solutions for integration.
CTVG members at the meeting also revealed some of the more diverse applications AI can be utilized for, from fuel pricing and inventory monitoring to chatbots and employee training. However, some attendees also warned that integrating all of their different systems together presented its own challenges.
"We're never going to build our own natural language module and do that sort of stuff. It's going to come packaged in my ERP system... where I've got pieces or sections of my business data that are clean, because I've got four ERP systems and six POS systems. I'm never going to spin all that stuff together. And because of our industry, it'll probably never change. So there's always going to be that headwind," said Steve Evans, chief technology officer at Haffner's.
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More information and the full report may be found here.
CTVG operates under the Vision Group Network and brings together invited leaders for quarterly virtual meetings to discuss technology issues impacting the convenience channel, such as AI, alternative payments, robotics, IoT, blockchain, cybersecurity, food technology, workforce management and more.