Google Cloud adds AI-based inventory, e-commerce tools for retailers

Google says it’s enhancing Google Cloud for Retailers with new shelf-scanning, AI-based capabilities and updates to help retailers transform their in-store, checkout processes and optimize their e-commerce sites. Its discovery AI and recommendation AI services.

In physical retail stories, shelf screening technology is a desirable skill since low – or no – inventory is a concern for retailers. Empty shelves cost US retailers $82 billion in lost sales by 2021 alone, according to an analysis from Nielsen Ikea.

According to the company, the new AI-based shelf inspection will be used to improve product availability on the shelf, provide a better view of current conditions in the shelves and identify where restocks are needed.

The device is built on Google Vertex AI Vision and powered by two Machine learning The models — product recognition and label organizer — can be used to identify different types of products based on visual image and text attributes, the company says, so retailers don’t have to spend the time and effort to train their own AI models.

In addition, the shelf inspection tool can identify products from images taken from different angles, such as a ceiling-mounted camera, a mobile phone or a store robot, Google said in a statement. Images from these devices are fed into Google Cloud for retailers.

The capability, which is currently in preview and expected to be generally available to retailers globally in the coming months, does not share any retailer images and data with Google and can only be used to identify products and labels, the company added.

Improving the retail website experience

To help retailers improve their online browsing and product discovery experience, Google Cloud is introducing a new AI-powered browsing feature for retailers through its Discovery AI service.

Capability uses machine learning to select the best order of products to display on a retailer’s e-commerce website, he said.After shoppers select a category, the algorithm learns over time the appropriate product order for each page based on historical data.

As it learns, the algorithm can optimize how and what products are displayed for accuracy, relevance and likelihood of being sold, Google said.

“This navigation technology takes a completely new approach, self-healing, learning from experience and requiring no manual intervention. In addition to making significant improvements in revenue per visit, retailers can save time and cost by manually setting up multiple ecommerce pages, the company said in a statement.

The new capability made available in total now supports 72 languages.

Personalized recommendations for customers

Google Cloud has released its Decision AI Service for Retailers, a new AI-based capability that enables retailers to create hyper-personality for their online customers.

The new capability, which is expected to advance Google Cloud’s retail search service, is powered by a product-pattern recognition machine learning model that can study customer behavior on a retail website, such as clicks and purchases, to understand individual preferences.

AI will move products up in searches that match those preferences and perform personalized results ranking navigation, the company said.

“Consumers’ personalized search and browsing results are based solely on their interactions with that particular retailer’s website, and are unrelated to their Google Account activity,” Google said. retail site, or through a first-party cookie on the website.

The capacity is generally made available.