Computer Vision has turned from a R&D topic to an established technique for firms globally. In China, leading enterprises and solution providers are working together to demonstrate the business value of computer vision technologies. Many of them have achieved successes across different use cases in the retail industry. 

We already know that digitizing the in-store experience requires digital store platform that integrate sales and service systems to improve customer experience and drive operational excellence. In this scenario, computer vision brings its sensing, thinking and acting capabilities to augment human capabilities and drive better experiences for customers and increased efficiencies for the business.  

Our recent research presents four of the most promising cases of retailers that have enabled existing and new digital touchpoints with computer vision technologies to achieve specific business and customer outcomes: 

• Self-checkout product recognition enhances CX and operations. Maky bakery store partnered with Huawei to build a self-Checkout solution as part of its new digital architecture that improves its customers’ experiences. 

• A mobile app digitally transforms product placement auditing for consumer goods. One CPG company, who previously relied on inspectors to manually report placements and quantities in stores, now adopts a computer vision solution from Clobotics to digitize the process and report data in real time. 

• Patrol robots improve inventory management operations. Alibaba Smart Placement System coordinates its patrol robots in retail branches to improve CX and reduces revenue loss by reducing out-of-stock rates and misplacements. 

• In-store cameras digitalize consumer behavior for retail auto sales. Dongfeng-Nissan uses a solution from CloudWalk to digitalize human-to-human interactions. The solution integrates with the surveillance cameras system in dealerships to turn observed behaviors into quantitative metrics that support strategic decisions. 

If you are interested in learning more, please take a look at the new “Computer Vision Supports Retailers’ Digital Transformation” Forrester report. And if you’d like to share some insights about your company’s strategy for emerging technologies, feel free to reach out to me directly or set up an inquiry by emailing inquiry@forrester.com.