The Frontline is First in Line with AI
Retail has always been about people and processes coming together to deliver unique and relevant shopping experiences. Now with AI, retailers can enhance engagement, delight customers, and empower employees to solve problems like never before.
The frontline is first in line with AI, as it plays a crucial role in the shopper experience. According to recent research by McKinsey, there is a strong relationship between the employee and customer experience, as empowered employees are more likely to deliver superior customer service. Yet many frontline workers spend too much time searching for information, and this is one of the top five reported obstacles to their productivity.
Generative AI offers significant potential for enhancing frontline productivity and wellbeing, with evidence that most frontline workers think it could help, and they would be comfortable using AI for administrative tasks. Generative AI can automate routine tasks, allowing associates to engage more with customers. This shift can lead to a more stimulating work environment, which leads to higher job satisfaction and can help retailers combat ongoing challenges with employee turnover, seasonal hiring, and training.
Agents are Revolutionizing Retail Operations
Investing in generative AI is crucial for retailers looking to reinvent customer engagement, empower store leadership and employees, and stay competitive—and now that opportunity has skyrocketed with agents.
Agents use AI to automate and execute business processes, working alongside or on behalf of a person, team, or organization. Now retailers can leverage agents to help their teams work more efficiently and effectively by giving them faster access to information so they can better support customers and be more productive.
Find in-the-Moment Answers Fast
One important way to get business value from agents is to help store associates find information about company policies or procedures when a customer is waiting for an answer.
SharePoint agents can help store associates find quick answers from internal company sources in seconds. Using the power of natural language, associates simply ask what they’re looking for on their tablet or mobile device and the agent responds in natural language with a link to the policy documentation for reference.
Simplify Store Processes
Complex business processes are another ongoing operational challenge and opportunity for custom agents to help improve productivity.
Custom-built agents can help retailers connect to external data sources and systems so store associates can find information such as product inventory availability in or near their store, shipping status, or how to initiate a return.
Meeting You Where You Are on Your AI Journey
Microsoft offers AI solutions that you can customize to meet your unique needs and scale. There are several ways agents can be deployed, from no code to low code and pro code. Here are a couple options available today.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is a new offering that adds pay-as-you-go agents to our existing free chat experience for Microsoft 365 commercial customers. Copilot Chat empowers retailers to get started on their AI journey today and includes querying the public web (such as a retailer’s website) for free. To enhance Copilot Chat, retailers can also build custom agents using Copilot Studio and SharePoint agents that enable access to retail systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and product information management (PIM), and to documents on SharePoint.
A New Era of Retail Fueled by AI, Powered by People
The range of potential gains with AI extends across retail operations—from people to processes to customers, helping make retail more human at every step of the way. From delighting shoppers to helping associates feel more supported and productive, AI can boost store operations efficiency, creating an environment where both shoppers and workers thrive.
Learn More
Learn more about how these forward-thinking companies are driving ROI with Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents—and illuminating the path ahead for every organization.
Conclusion
The article highlights the potential of AI in retail operations, specifically focusing on the frontline workers who are the face of retail. Generative AI can automate routine tasks, allowing associates to engage more with customers, and agents can help streamline complex workflows, simplify store processes, and provide quick answers to associates. Microsoft offers AI solutions that can be customized to meet unique needs and scale, and retailers can leverage these solutions to drive ROI and stay competitive.
FAQs
Q: What is generative AI?
A: Generative AI is a type of AI that can generate new and original content, such as text, images, or music.
Q: How can generative AI help frontline workers?
A: Generative AI can automate routine tasks, allowing associates to engage more with customers, and provide quick answers to associates.
Q: What are agents in AI?
A: Agents are AI-powered tools that can automate and execute business processes, working alongside or on behalf of a person, team, or organization.
Q: How can agents help streamline complex workflows?
A: Custom-built agents can help retailers connect to external data sources and systems so store associates can find information such as product inventory availability in or near their store, shipping status, or how to initiate a return.
Q: What is Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat?
A: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is a new offering that adds pay-as-you-go agents to our existing free chat experience for Microsoft 365 commercial customers.
