Global AI in Retail and e-Commerce Market: Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, Trends, and Forecast up to 2025

Overview
Globally, the retail industry has become more competitive than ever as customers have plenty of choices while buying any product. The retail sector has become much more diverse because every customer has different and customized needs, which makes it tough for retailers to target a group. AI is now being used by retailers to get real-time and in-depth insights to attract diverse shoppers.

The revolution of AI is changing the customer shopping experience. AI in retail offers several opportunities in the retail space, as retailers have massive customer data available with them. Retailers can now understand their customers better and provide personalized recommendations, which help in retaining the customers and open new revenue streams for retailers. Brick and mortar retailers are spending in AI-based solutions to understand their customers better and enhance their shopping experience. The e-commerce industry is using AI to focus on applications such as product recommendations, search analysis, analyzing consumer sentiments, and promotions.

Market Analysis
According to the author, the global AI in retail and e-commerce market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 42.8% during the forecast period 2019–2025 to reach revenue of $19.37 billion by 2025. Various retail and e-commerce companies are investing in digital technologies such as IoT, AI, and big data to stay ahead of the competition. AI-based solutions are being adopted by retail and e-commerce companies to enhance the performance and to achieve higher profits & business growth. These solutions are also used for critical decision making around sales and merchandising planning, pricing strategies, and product promotions.

Market Segmentation Analysis
The report provides in-depth qualitative insights and validated market forecast or projections based on certain assumptions and historical data. The projections and trends featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions based on the vendors’ portfolio, blogs, whitepapers, and vendor presentations. Thus, the research report represents every side of the market and is segmented based on regional markets, providers, applications, and organization size.

Competitive Analysis
The report covers and analyzes the AI in retail and e-commerce market. Major vendors across different verticals are planning for high investments in this market, and as a result, the market is expected to grow at an impressive rate in the coming years. The key players are adopting various organic as well as inorganic growth strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, collaborations & partnerships, joint ventures, and few other strategies to be in the strong position in the market.

The report contains an in-depth analysis of the vendors, which includes financial health, business units, key business priorities, SWOT, strategies, and views. The prominent vendors covered in the report include IBM, SAP, Microsoft, AWS, SAS, JDA Software, Salesforce, Symphony Retail AI, Visenze, and Infinite Analytics among many others. The vendors have been identified based on the portfolio, geographical presence, marketing & distribution channels, revenue generation, and significant investments in R&D.

IBM, SAP, AWS, and Microsoft are the key players in the AI in retail and e-commerce market. In 2017, Godrej Interio, a leading furniture brand in India, collaborated with IBM and selected Watson Commerce for increasing customer engagement and experience. Kroger, one of America’s largest grocery store chains, and Microsoft partnered in January 2019 for creating high-tech grocery stores. In February 2019, Sansibar Stores partnered with SAP and is using SAP Customer Checkout application for monitoring sales in real time, offering customized discounts, time-related prices, and many more.

The report also includes the complete insights of the industry and aims to provide an opportunity for the emerging and established players to understand the market trends, current scenario, initiatives taken by the government, and the latest technologies related to the market. In addition, it helps the venture capitalists in understanding the companies better and to make informed decisions.

Regional Analysis
Europe held the largest market share in 2018 and is projected to dominate the AI in retail and e-commerce market during the forecast period. Retailers in this region are focusing on loyalty programs to make emotional connections with their customers, by leveraging the power of AI. The growing number of retailers’ partnerships in this region for expanding their services is driving the growth of the market. For example, IKEA, a home goods giant, acquired TaskRabbit, an online platform that connects skilled taskers with customers. In 2018, Metro AG, a Germany-based bricks-and-mortar retailer, invested in a start-up offering AI-based visual recognition solutions for in-store insights.

Benefits
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the AI in the retail and e-commerce market. Retailers can make the best use of the available data by deploying AI-based solutions for analyzing customer behaviour, buying patterns, preferences so that personalized recommendations can be offered to them. With data-fueled customer insights, retailers can create unforgettable experiences for their customers and build long-term customer loyalty. Visual search is helping online as well as instore retailers to enhance revenue by being able to accurately suggest the product that the customers are looking for, ranging from apparels to household goods & accessories. The report discusses the market in terms of types, solutions, applications, and regions. Further, the report provides details about the major challenges impacting market growth.