Dive Brief:
- Target has completed a full chain roll out of a new artificial intelligence tool designed to help store employees quickly resolve on-the-job challenges, CFO Michael Fiddelke said during a Wednesday earnings call.
- The technology, which has been integrated into handheld devices in Target stores, has been leveraged more than 50,000 times by team members since the roll out, which began earlier this year, according to the finance chief. He said the tool can provide “straightforward responses” in under a minute on average when asked about issues such as how to sign up a guest up for a Target Circle Card or how to restart a cash register after a power outage.
- “We’ll continue to refine this tool over time based on feedback from our team, but many are already telling us that it’s enhanced their everyday work experience, making it easier and faster for them to help our guests,” Fiddelke said.
Dive Insight:
Target’s generative AI initiative is part of the retail giant’s broader effort to use the technology across its business to empower its workers, enhance the guest experience and support the company’s long-term growth, according to a June press release.
During Wednesday’s call, Fiddelke said Target store leaders are now expecting the new tool to be “particularly helpful as we bring on new permanent and seasonal team members in advance of this year’s holiday season, helping them to become more productive, more quickly than in the past.”
Worldwide spending on AI will reach $632 billion by 2028, research firm IDC reported on Monday.
“AI-powered transformations have delivered tangible business outcomes and value for organizations worldwide and they are building their AI strategies around employee experience, customer engagement, business process, and industry innovations,” Ritu Jyoti, group vice president and general manager of AI and data research at IDC, said in a press release. “With rampant innovations in trusted AI tools and technologies and improved harmonization of human and machines interplay, barriers to AI adoption at scale will continue to diminish.”
More than 60% of companies see generative AI as a top three priority over the next two years, but only about 35% have a clearly defined vision for how they will create business value from it, according to a survey released in June by Bain & Company.