CX Education 18: AI and the future of customer experience with Tara Conway, Women in Retail Leadership Circle
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In this episode of CX Education, host Heather Garand sits down with Tara Conway, a seasoned retail professional from Women in Retail Leadership Circle. Tara shares her rich journey in retail, starting from a family business to leading omnichannel transformations. She provides valuable insights into the evolving retail landscape and the role of AI in shaping customer experiences.
The conversation explores the potential impact of AI on retail, with Tara highlighting both the opportunities and challenges it presents. She emphasizes the need for retailers to be patient and methodical in leveraging AI, warning against the rush to adopt new technologies without a clear strategy.
The episode wraps up with a discussion on the future of retail and customer experience. Tara shares her personal experiences with AI personal assistants and how they could be improved. She also offers her predictions for the next big customer experience trends, making this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of AI and retail.
Guest speaker
For over 20 years, Tara has been focused on pushing the boundaries of eCommerce in Canada, leveraging innovation to build an unparalleled Omni-channel customer experience and retail transformation. Her commitment to bridging the gap between physical and digital retail has delivered success within many Retailers and she continues to challenge herself and her peers to push beyond the expectations to find the next version of retail shopping.
Tara Conway
Host
Heather Garand
Key insights
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AI in retail: A double-edged sword
Tara discusses the role of AI in shaping customer experiences, highlighting both its potential and pitfalls. She warns against the rush to adopt AI without a clear strategy, emphasizing the need for retailers to be patient and methodical. Tara believes that while AI has the potential to revolutionize customer experience, it could also lead to disappointment if implemented hastily. She predicts that retailers who are patient and committed to leveraging AI will reap the benefits in the long run.
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Data: The backbone of customer experience
Tara shares her experience with Emma, the Toys “R” Us chatbot that had to be retired because of the challenges in managing the data behind it. She emphasizes that the key to improving customer experience lies not in front-end tools but in the engineering and management of backend data. Tara stresses the importance of having a strong foundation of data, understanding insights, and a continuous process of testing and learning.
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The rise of personal assistants in retail
Tara predicts that personal assistants will start to take off in retail, especially with the influx of shopping data expected in the Q4 2023. She believes that this data, once refined and cleaned, will lead to significant enhancements in personal assistants by the first and second quarters of 2024. Tara sees the potential of AI to have an incredible impact on customer experience, making shopping quicker and easier.
Episode highlights
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