3 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Customer Experience Posted on : Sep 16 - 2019

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here. The technology is already making an impact across many industries. According to IDC, worldwide spending on AI systems is forecast to reach $35.8 billion in 2019 — a 44% increase over 2018.

For any company that hasn't started its AI journey — it’s time to get started. That’s because AI is shaking up the customer experience, bringing users and brands closer together than ever before. But many people aren’t yet aware of the effect of AI, or don’t understand the scope of its applications. Here are three ways artificial intelligence is already impacting CX for millions of consumers.

Personalized Recommendations at Face Value

When thinking of personalization, one of the first things to come to mind for many is Amazon and its massive inventory of items available for purchase. Customers are provided with personalized recommendations based upon their known preferences and purchase history. That bit of AI assistance helps shoppers find the needle in the haystack: the item(s) they are seeking among the millions of products available. It also helps the retailer, Amazon, in securing a sale.

Personalized recommendations like this is one application for AI (and a worthy one at that), but AI can go even further in recommending items to retail shoppers. Walgreens is a great example. The company partnered with Cooler Screens to target shoppers with specific beverage options based on facial recognition software. Digital screens, cameras and sensors embedded in the doors of refrigerator and freezer cases turn the displays into high-tech in-store billboards, with messages tailored specifically to customers based on their age, gender and the day’s weather. The products within the display cases are promoted in the best possible light, and consumers are provided with more detail to inform their purchase decision.

Walgreen’s application of AI shows how personalized recommendations can become more targeted in real time, and can help make customers’ decisions easier and more efficient. And, again, both retailer and customer benefit.

The Power of a Bank at Your Fingerprints

The science of biometrics identification is already used in popular smartphones and many FinTech apps. Fingerprint readers are built into smartphones and laptops, and Apple’s Face ID allows users to unlock their phone simply by looking at it. But some companies are going beyond smartphones and laptops to impact the customer experience in new ways.

Mastercard, for example, is giving customers a way to register their own fingerprint on a biometric card at home. A fingerprint sensor, embedded in the card, captures and compares the print of the person currently holding the card with the stored digital image of the card owner’s print. A successful print match enables the cardholder to conduct transactions without supplying a PIN or providing a signature. An unsuccessful print match, on the other hand, prompts a request for a PIN or signature.

The customer benefits from enhanced ease-of-use and increased security. Merchants decrease the risk of purchase fraud and can reduce in-store credit card support requirements. Mastercard’s tactic of taking biometrics beyond smartphones may push other financial services companies to deploy similar AI technologies. View More