How AIs, like Siri, Could Become Our Proxy Shoppers

People of means don’t spin their wheels on frustrating shopping expeditions, however, AIs could be the equalizer for the rest of us.

Today, smart devices are used to answer fairly simple questions and do fairly simple tasks. Here’s a chart that shows the most frequent uses. However, over time we can expect these devices to become more and more plugged-in to our more intimate and technical needs. That’s scary in terms of privacy.

Recently, I had a shopping experience that changed my thinking about that privacy issue.

The Perfect Pillow

I needed a new pillow to sleep on. So my wife and I went to JCPenney. An obvious choice, right? But it was a disaster. The pillow section was huge. The branding and pricing ranges were not clearly marked. It was chaos, a haystack of pillows and my needle was nowhere to be found.

Worse, no one approached us. We wandered around looking for help, but none could be found. In the distance, a cashier was barely visible, but she was taking money. It’s a lost cause to wait in line at the cashier for shopping assistance.

After 10 minutes, we left the store empty handed.

Next door, at Dillards, there was lots of help. Several sales people greeted us right as we entered the store. Alas, their pillow selection was so-so, and I didn’t see just what I wanted. Close. No cigar.

Plan B. Super Target. A few days later, we were at a Super Target. Their pillow section was not large, two aisles, but it was well marked and sorted by price. I could see, visually, where I wanted to be. Then, I selected a pillow in my price range that checked all the boxes. Less was more.

I was very happy. I paid US$10.99.

Plan C. We didn’t need this option. But it was on my mind, just in case. Casper is one of our wonderful sponsors, and they sell what looks to be very nice, high-tech pillows. But this awesome pillow is out of my price range.

Plan D. When I started thinking about this, I wondered what Siri would have to say on my iPhone. I asked. The result was a text response on the screen for a link to Bed, Bath & Beyond. But not to pillows in particular. Just the home page. I would have had to search further. Frustration.

This buying adventure revealed several things. When shopping for a personal item, be it linens, food, clothing, or technology items, there are many, many options. Some of them are a waste of time. Some of them could be better accomplished by a helper who can take the time to do some reconnaissance and figure out the very best option and price. You know. Jeeves.

This is what our AIs could really help with.

Next page: Shopper Identity. Apple’s disconnect. The future of shopping with AIs.

Identity Management

Coincidentally, this week, I ran across the concept of “Customer Identity.” The article I found was “3 reasons why customer identity should top retailers’ 2017 holiday wish lists.” It sounds like one of those pie-in-the-sky articles, but it really gets to the heart of the matter.

A company can no longer chuck goods onto shelves and expect foot-traffic to save the day. Of course, we’ve known this all along. We’ve seen how brick and mortar stores of all kinds have shut down because customers can pick out, generally, what they need, from Amazon. And now Walmart. With relative ease.

Ordering pencils now is simple. But specialty, personal items means identity management,

Because there is a wealth of choices on Amazon, if a company really wants to reach out to finicky customers, it has to develop that customer identity mentality. Key in the article above is item #3. “Personalization means increased revenues.” The art of reaching out and creating a relationship with customers is paramount. For a good example, see: “How Harley-Davidson Used Artificial Intelligence to Increase New York Sales Leads by 2,930%.”

The trick will be how to do that even as Amazon and others (maybe Apple as well) assume control of the conversational gateway.

Brick & Mortar Might Resurface as the Gateway

I think I’ve always had a vague notion that brick and mortar stores need to amplify the buying experience. What’s interesting is how many stores seem to be getting away with the old way of doing things. They carry on valiantly, rolling the money up, until the final collapse. But ultimately, stores are where people help people. As the authors wrote in The  Cluetrain Manifesto, markets are conversations.

Laying off sales people and presenting an empty store is a sign of the very, very end. Amazingly, many companies don’t know that yet. Apple understands. That concierge who greets you the instant you enter the store is crucial. I fear for JCPenney.

All this has made me wonder how Apple got so disconnected from its Mac customers in the past few years with all those glorious retail stores. If Apple had been data mining and working to be in close contact with Mac customers, it might have become clearer, much earlier, that there were a boatload of customers looking to upgrade their Macs, whether Mac mini, Mac Pro, iMac or MacBook/Air/Pro.

Instead, it seemed to me that customers were connecting, instead, with journalists to express their needs because journalists were listening. There was a conversation. For the Mac, Apple was distant, pre-occupied, disconnected.

Future of Shopping

My expectation for the future is that these smart speakers, the Amazon Echo-like devices, (perhaps one from Apple) will become more of a conversational partner. Yes, they may pry into our personal needs a bit, but merchants have been doing that for years with loyalty cards. AI’s just make the merchant’s knowledge more obvious.

As I mentioned above, one problem is how merchants will compete, make themselves visible, and create a relationship with the customer even as the high tech AIs dominate the conversation with customers. In any case, Apple could very well feel that it also needs that competitive edge with its own smart speaker. Perhaps: Siri Speaker.

I’d personally like to see Apple create a better “customer identity” relationship. That way, over the course of the fall, in the future, Siri can chat with me about what kind of new Mac I’d like. Or iPhone. Then, instead of getting up at 1:00 AM to fight with millions of other customers amongst Apple’s overloaded servers, Siri would already know which iPhone I want.

Siri: John, I can get you an iPhone 9, black, 128 GB.

John: Yep. Order it now.

I’d get a lot more sleep. On my very special pillow.

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