Denman: A key part of that automation is definitely AI, and AI is being embedded in every solution throughout the tech stack. And we have a question here about what are some of the AI use cases to pursue in retail?

I imagine we’re talking about from a customer-facing store experience position, because AI use cases could be their own webinar. Every solution basically has some AI embedded in it.

But from a customer experience, customer-facing AI, Joe, are there any things that you’ve seen out there that you think work? Or, potentially, is there a spot that may be an untapped area that AI can really benefit?

Skorupa: Well, I don’t know exactly what you mean by customer-facing. I don’t know if I want to limit myself to that. But what comes to immediately to mind is automated and bi-directed pricing. I mean, that seems to be another area that is an obvious way to record ROI, to improve profitability.

How does it work? Well, AI and pricing begins with setting a smart price based on historical patterns, and predictive analytic futures. That will improve your outcome. But what’s even more important is, in season and in week, and mid-campaign pricing changes. And, of course, that gets right down to in many retailers daily changes online, or even hourly changes or even faster.

How can you do that if your store has 20,000 SKUs, 50,000 SKUs, 100,000 SKUs, 1 million SKUs? You can’t do that manually. Obviously, AI is the best way to do that efficiently and profitably.

Denman: This is another one about the crisis. With stores closed and retailers in dire need of money, what will be their No. 1 priority as they come out of the coronavirus situation? That’s a tough one.

Skorupa: We’ve been asked that before. Even though it’s not what RIS does necessarily on a daily basis, just thinking that I had to answer it. So let me give you a quick answer.

So the first thing that a retailer has to do is to provide information to consumers, employees about their immediate day-to-day operations. OK, that’s happening now and it should continue.

The next thing that they have to do is to be a partner and helper in this crisis. And to do that they have to operate efficiently and effectively. And how do you do that?

Well, a business knows how to do that. They analyze their cash reserves. They analyze their revenue flows. They look at their credit resources, and they tap credit in a plan that enables them to keep operating. They make plans to operate within their means, after doing this analysis. They make adjustments if necessary, and they also have to plan for long term stability.

And let’s make this clear: Retail is an essential industry. People are depending on us to get this right. And in fact, the world is counting on us to get this right. So let’s do that cash analysis, that revenue analysis, that credit analysis, let’s make those adjustments. And let’s be sure we can deliver what we promise to deliver.

And organizations that do these things will emerge with a burnish brand and a strong marketplace position when the crisis ends.

Denman: We got a lot of questions here about RFID. One asks: For the past two years, all of the apparel and footwear shipped to the world’s three largest specialty apparel retailers have been arriving with RFID tags on all of their apparel and footwear. The same can be said of Target, Nike, Adidas, Walmart apparel is now being tagged as well. This quiet revolution has not received much attention. Do you feel that clothing retailers and department stores are endangering themselves if they continue to lag behind in their adoption of RFID to enhance their inventory visibility and management?

I would say yes. RFID is certainly a valuable way to keep track of inventory. There’s plenty of other ways too. There’s computer vision, there’s inventory robots, there’s a lot of other ways, but RFID in certain segments is certainly a powerful tool for inventory. Joe, do you have a comment there?

Skorupa: As you recall, inventory visibility was the No. 2 priority that retailers told us they’re focusing on. As I mentioned, Satya Nadella from Microsoft confirmed that in his presentation — if we needed confirmation, I think maybe our research is more of a confirmation point, than his to a certain degree. But anyway, the point is that RFID is a tremendous tool for inventory visibility, for clothing and apparel manufacturers and many other types.