The 4th Industrial Revolution: How U.S. Retail Giant Kroger Is Using AI And Robots
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Kroger is implementing a $9 billion initiative called Restock Kroger to enhance its e-commerce and omnichannel capabilities in response to the growing online grocery market. The company is investing in artificial intelligence, autonomous delivery, and automated warehouses in partnership with firms like Nuro and Ocado to improve customer experience and operational efficiency. By leveraging advanced technologies, Kroger aims to remain competitive in the evolving retail landscape of the 4th industrial revolution.
The 4th Industrial Revolution: How U.S. Retail Giant Kroger Is Using AI And Robots
- 1. The 4th Industrial Revolution: How U.S. Retail Giant Kroger Is Using AI And Robots
- 2. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved Title Text Introduction How US Retail Giant Kroger Is Using Artificial Intelligence And Robots To Prepare For The 4th Industrial Revolution Since online grocery shopping is growing, traditional grocery retailers are trying to develop omnichannel approaches to stay viable for the 4th industrial revolution. Kroger, one of America's largest grocers, is making a significant commitment to creating the grocery experience of the future via today's latest technology.
- 3. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved Kroger, one of America’s largest grocery chains, has decided to embrace technology to help it survive and thrive in the 4th industrial revolution. With 2,782 grocery stores under nearly two dozen names in 35 states, Kroger plans to leverage its data, shopper insights and scale to help it remain a leader in the marketplace of the future. According to a study by the Food Marketing Institute, online grocery is expected to account for 20% of all grocery retail by 2022 and reach $100 billion in consumer sales, so Kroger and its competitors are smart to figure out ways to use technology to their advantage.
- 4. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved In the fall of 2017, Kroger unveiled an audacious three-year $9 billion plan called Restock Kroger with the goal to build out its e-commerce, digital and omnichannel businesses and redefine the customer experience. The grocer already delivers 3 billion personalized recommendations each year, but they will enhance the personalization efforts to "create different experiences for customers." Not only will shoppers receive useful content digitally, but also "inspiration" through product-related content and recipes. The expansion of Kroger's Scan, Bag, Go pilot program that allows shoppers to scan products as they shop with their smartphone is also part of the Restock Kroger initiative. After being tested in 20 stores, it should be unveiled to 400 stores by the end of 2018. Additional investment in Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, machine learning, and artificial intelligence will be made to increase the efficiency of Kroger's operations. Restock Kroger Initiative
- 5. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved Today, we can get groceries delivered, but Kroger is testing the delivery of the future - grocery delivery by an autonomous vehicle. Kroger partnered with Nuro, a Silicon Valley company that specializes in autonomous vehicles for delivery, on its pilot program. Customers can use Kroger’s ClickList ordering system and Nuro’s app to place same-day delivery orders, but they will need to be home to retrieve their grocery bags from the vehicle after unlocking the doors with a unique code. No word yet on which cities will be selected to test autonomous delivery, but unmanned delivery is expected to be disruptive for local commerce. Delivery by autonomous vehicles
- 6. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved A partnership between Kroger and British online-only grocer Ocado is expected to help Kroger automate its warehouses and use artificial intelligence to bolster its bottom line. Ocado claims to have the world’s most sophisticated automated grocery warehouses and has worked with Uber and Instacart to test delivery options, and it’s this know-how that Kroger aims to leverage with its investment. The companies announced they would open three new warehouses that Ocado will operate followed by another 17 in the next three years. Ocado’s warehouses are run by robots that are powered by machine learning algorithms to navigate around the warehouse and pick products for orders. With this investment and access to Ocado’s technology, Kroger will get products to stores more efficiently. Automated warehouses
- 7. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved Kroger’s in-house analytics firm 84.51 deployed Kroger Precision Marketing that uses customer purchase data from Kroger’s 60 million shopper households to launch marketing campaigns across a digital spectrum. This helps enhance personalization for customers, but also allows product manufacturers excellent opportunities to market to their ideal customers on Kroger.com, branded digital media and the MyMagazine Sharing Network. Marketing gets a boost from analytics
- 8. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved 84.51 has made it a priority to enable and embed machine learning into Kroger’s operations where a “machine learning machine” can build and deploy a lot of models with very little human intervention in a project called Embedded Machine Learning. With a mission to “enable, empower and engage” machine learning within the organization, this was a sophisticated approach to machine learning with Solution Engineering, Model Development and Model Deployment as three phases to machine learning methodology. Machine learning
- 9. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved When a Kroger customer walks down the aisle with the Kroger app open, sensors identify the shopper and provide personal pricing and highlight products the customer might be interested in via smart shelves technology. Not only do smart shelves help the customer, but it also helps the store monitor inventory to be sure expired products aren't on the shelves or that everything is stocked correctly—and there's a customer experience impact with these as well. This technology has been in the testing phase by Kroger since 2015, so while adoption is slow, the grocer is working to optimize it before it gets deployed. Smart shelves
- 10. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved With this commitment to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and smart technology, Kroger seems on the right track to staying competitive for the 4th industrial revolution.
- 11. © 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things. LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that reaches millions of readers. Visit The Website © 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things. LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that reaches millions of readers. Visit The Website