How UK retailers are using AI to enhance safety and operations
Michael Affronti, senior vice-president of product at Dataminr, discusses the role of AI in enhancing safety and operations for UK retailers
Retailers across the UK are in crisis. More than 14,000 shops have closed their doors so far in 2020, and 117,000 retail workers have lost their jobs, according to the Centre for Retail Research. Thousands more British shops could close before the end of the year, analysts say.
As the Covid-19 pandemic stretches into its tenth month, British consumers say they don’t feel safe shopping in physical stores, and would rather shop online. In a September survey, one out of 10 shoppers said their shopping habits had changed permanently, and would never go back to what they were pre-pandemic.
On the other side of the till, shop workers say their working conditions are more dangerous than ever, with twice as many incidents of assault, abuse and threats as normal, according to the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers.
The Covid-19 pandemic has upended the digital transformation plans already underway at many UK retailers, compressing those plans from years to months. Retail CIOs and CTOs are being asked to find the technologies necessary to survive the pandemic and navigate the landscape of new risks that retailers face.
A critical, immediate challenge facing all retailers is improving the physical safety in their stores, for both shoppers and retail workers. The solution requires operational change—hand sanitiser stations, mask mandates, frequent, highly visible cleaning, physical barriers, contactless payments, contactless pickup and temperature checks.
It also requires new technology. A group of retail CIOs and CTOs in the UK are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help them better understand emerging security risks happening across their portfolio of physical stores, to protect shoppers and shop workers.
While no one knows what the full impact of the pandemic will be, there is increased pressure for retailers to adapt to the disruption and quickly make key decisions in regards to public safety and business continuity.
