Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
In the August issue of Hardware Retailing, retailers and wholesalers shared the ways they are using artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations. The ways retailers are using AI run the gamut from marketing to inventory management to loss prevention and are allowing employees to be more efficient and the operation to run smoother and be more profitable.
Along with offering real-world examples of independent retailers using AI in their operations, you can also learn valuable insights from exploring how your big-box competitors are investing in AI.
Lowe’s
Partnering with AI technology company, Nvidia, Lowe’s created the home improvement retail industry’s first interactive store digital twin in late 2022. The “digital twin” is a completely virtual replica of a physical home improvement store, created in NVIDIA’s Omniverse environment. It fuses spatial data with other Lowe’s data, including product location and historical order information, and pulls all of these sources together into a visual package that can be accessed on a range of devices.
“We’re thrilled to pioneer retail digital twins and elevate experiences for both our associates and customers,” says Seemantini Godbole, Lowe’s executive vice president, chief digital and information officer. “Through emerging technology, we are always imagining and testing ways to improve store operations and remove friction for our customers.”
The Home Depot
In April 2024, Google Cloud and The Home Depot announced an extension of their multiyear partnership, which has been ongoing since 2015. The Home Depot is now accessing Google Cloud’s AI capabilities, including machine learning, computer vision and generative AI to use in inventory management operations and improve supply chain efficiency.
“As one of the first major retailers to migrate our website to the cloud, Google has been a critical partner as we have built an interconnected shopping experience for our customers,” says Fahim Siddiqui, executive vice president and CIO of The Home Depot. “Our technology team looks forward to continuing to work closely with Google to remove friction for our customers when they shop with us and to stay on the cutting edge of retail technology.”
Tractor Supply Co.
Tractor Supply Co. has implemented Revionics’ intelligent pricing platform to help scale its loyalty-enhancing pricing across its vast retail network. Revionics’ Base Price and Markdown applications provide advanced capabilities to streamline and automate pricing decisions across locations and products.
“Tractor Supply is focused on providing customers with what they need at the everyday low prices they deserve,” says Matt McGrath, Tractor Supply’s vice president of pricing, events and presentation. “Our collaboration with Revionics plays an important role in our ability to offer customers the most attractive prices. The scale and sophistication of Revionics, along with the ability to price at a localized level, have been extremely strategic for our business. We look forward to the continued benefits from their technology platform.”
Target
Target is implementing a new generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tool to team members at all of its nearly 2,000 stores by August. The tool, called Store Companion, is a GenAI-powered chatbot designed by Target that can answer on-the-job process questions, coach new team members, support store operations management and more.
The Store Companion chatbot will be available as an app on store team members’ specially equipped handheld devices and will provide immediate answers to employees’ questions about processes and procedures.
“We know technology will continue to play an outsized role in the future of retail—for our team members, our guests and our business. With that in mind, we’re continually experimenting with new tools to make it even easier for our team to do their jobs and to bring more of what guests love about shopping at Target to life,” says Brett Craig, executive vice president and chief information officer, Target. “The transformative nature of GenAI is helping us accelerate the rate of innovation across our operations, and we’re excited about the role these new tools and applications will play in driving growth.”
Target is also using AI in other ways, including summarizing reviews online to make product descriptions more relevant and adding guided search for more robust search results.
