Douglas is continuing to drive forward the use of AI and plans to integrate a new chatbot into its digital offerings. Last year, the retail company launched the ‘Beauty Advisor’ based on Google’s AI as a proof of concept and tested it internally. In future, Douglas intends to use the AI chatbot to respond efficiently to customer service enquiries and provide personalised product recommendations with the help of GK Air.
Over the next three months, the virtual agent, which has been further optimised based on internal feedback, is set to go live and become available to customers, explained Eva Molisch, Senior Vice President Group CRM & Analytics at Douglas, to Lebensmittel Zeitung. The beauty specialist sorts the questions received via the chatbot into different categories and forwards them to specialised systems. Service-related issues, such as those concerning the ordering and delivery process, complaints or questions about invoices, are passed on to the relevant backend solutions, whilst product-related enquiries go to GK Air’s AI-based engine.
GK’s solution draws on the existing recommendation logic that has been established across all channels at Douglas. To do this, it processes transaction data from the retailers online shop, stores and app, as well as information from Douglas’s loyalty programme. In addition to individual purchase history and customer preferences, predicted repurchase cycles are also incorporated into the tailored responses and personalised product recommendations.
GK Air calculates personalised product recommendations in real time
In addition to the AI chatbot trial, Douglas is already using GK Air’s recommendation logic in live operations across multiple touchpoints. The retail company uses this to personalise content for shoppers in its online shop, newsletters and app. This content is not calculated and displayed statically in advance, but in real time based on current customer transactions.
The beauty retailer also uses its app as an entry point in the customer journey within the physical store. In future, the AI chatbot will also be used there to provide expert answers to customer enquiries. At the same time, Douglas identifies and engages customers in brick-and-mortar stores via the app: users can redeem vouchers in-store, use Click&Collect and check product availability. Even before a visit to a store, Douglas can use the shopper app to send context-based information such as product recommendations or appointment reminders via push notifications.
AI-based industry solution proves popular
In addition to Douglas, numerous other well-known companies are relying on GK Air to personalise their customers’ shopping experience. Whilst Christ Watches & Jewelry Switzerland focuses on recommendations based on image similarities, Coop Switzerland integrates relevant coupons into its newsletter to increase purchase frequency with the help of GK Air. Würth Germany is boosting its turnover through product bundles in its online shop, which are calculated in real time using GK’s solution. Meanwhile, Witt Group, Falke and Thalia are using it to optimise their customers’ user experience across all channels through personalised product recommendations.
