The National Retail Federation (NRF) brings together thousands of retail professionals each year at NRF: Retail’s Big Show, to discuss the ongoing changes in the industry through panel discussions, networking events, dinners and more.
This year, our very own Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Samir Desai, joined the NRF stage to discuss generative AI in the industry. His insights included how to incorporate the new tool into everyday use, what A&F Co. is using generative AI for currently and what we should be thinking about when technology advances make their way into the market.
One big takeaway Samir highlighted: Don’t invent new problems just because the technology is there. He advised the importance of continuing to test and learn and determine how new tech advances can enhance overall efficiency, rather than incorporating technology into existing processes solely because it’s accessible. “It’s about leveraging all the investments we have made over the past years and now figuring out how to parlay that into leveraging some of the new tools that are coming out.”
Samir continued on about the importance of leveraging customer data to make better informed decisions, explaining that A&F Co. uses our mobile app to stay better connected to our customers to learn about their online shopping habits and patterns. The A&F AI stylist is one example he provided of how we are using new technological advances to improve the overall shopping experience for our consumers. With AI stylist, customers can “navigate our product catalogue” with AI generated product recommendations depending on the user’s requests and search terms.
