Our sincere appreciation to HSBC for hosting the 6th Annual China Conference May 15th~17th. Full Jet Founder, Ms. Sandrine Zerbib joined Andy Lei, Director of Strategy for Walmart China, and Matt Scott, CTO of Malong Technologies, for a roundtable session on “the Digital Retail Revolution.” The panel discussed how artificial intelligence and other innovations will reshape the retail landscape. The panel also delved into topics such as, the barriers for established retailers to implement A.I. and opportunities for smaller operations to adopt to new technologies. With the huge potential that new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence have shown in predictive retail demand analysis, inventory management and automated programmatic advertising; a common myth is that innovation would lead and the retail sector would follow suit. However, the most important aspects of retail are inventory, cash flow / credit terms, supply chain and visual merchandising. These varying elements makeup a complicated system that definitely is not “one-size fits all.” Instead of “over-arching solutions,” the essence of innovation should be and that of trial-and-error as flexibility and adjusting to market feedback are at the core of seizing opportunities. Brands therefore must take a diverse “mix and match” of new technologies, systems and processes that can save cost and improve efficiency.
