AI boosts retail efficiency ahead of crucial festive season
The advent of the 'golden quarter' heralds a pivotal period for retail sectors globally, with Singaporean retailers gearing up for the critical festive shopping season. To optimise operations and enhance customer engagement, DeepL has introduced a seminal white paper detailing the utilisation of Language AI in retail. This release addresses the strategic use of AI-driven multilingual communication tools to improve productivity, reduce costs, and bolster revenue.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has recently revised its growth expectations for 2024 in the retail sector upwards, setting a crucial backdrop for implementing innovative technologies. Large retailers, including Lazada, Shopee, Charles & Keith, and Love, Bonito, are among those considering these advancements. According to DeepL's white paper, titled 'The Executive Guide to AI-enabled Communication and Global Retail,' Language AI can significantly enhance various aspects of retail operations.
Key insights from the white paper indicate that AI can improve operational processes by facilitating communication between international offices and headquarters. Additionally, AI enables employee productivity by ensuring that core systems and support tools like customer service and human resources are operated in local languages. AI also reduces the costs and workload associated with translating and localising communications and content.
David Parry-Jones, Chief Revenue Officer at DeepL, remarked on the importance of Language AI in overcoming retail challenges. "The last couple of years have shown the volatility that many retailers face in their day-to-day operations and AI can go a long way to improving these, especially in the end of year crunch. While language can often be overseen in this context, being able to more efficiently communicate with suppliers globally can help resolve a supply chain disruption more quickly through more effective interactions," he said.
Parry-Jones further noted, "Beyond the internal wins, research shows that 75% of shoppers want to communicate in their native language when making purchases online, further driving home the need for effective translation options at every stage of the retail experience."
DeepL's research underscores the prime use cases for Language AI, highlighting its role in creating multilingual content (46%) and facilitating communication in languages where proficiency is limited (36%). The predominant areas requiring translation are external communications (57%), internal communications (39%), and marketing/advertising materials (32%). These needs are reflected in tasks such as translating emails, customer support tickets, and chatbot interactions, creating marketing assets and localising internal systems and external resources like product information and websites.
Jakob Kalina, Head of Localisation at Alza, cited how DeepL's API has transformed their customer engagement processes. "The DeepL API has revolutionised our approach to managing massive amounts of user reviews at Alza. Translated reviews have enhanced customer trust in our online shopping experience. Translating hundreds of thousands of reviews from Czech to German and Hungarian has noticeably increased our conversion rates. This strategy has not only improved our customer service but also solidified our position in the competitive e-commerce market," he explained.
A recent Forrester study illustrated the substantial return on investment (ROI) from implementing DeepL's solutions. It reported that businesses experienced a 345% ROI, a 90% reduction in translation time, and a 50% reduction in workload. These findings underscore the potential for companies to boost revenue and scale operations in new markets more efficiently.
