Brunswick Group’s Post

It was great to participate in World Retail Congress again this year and see so many clients and contacts there. The event continues to go from strength to strength and congratulations to Ian McGarrigle and Hanna Jackson on getting such a terrific line-up together. Alongside my colleague Sonia Abrahams, I presented some exclusive Brunswick Group research on consumers' perceptions of AI in Retail. We know this was highly topical even before the event but having heard AI as a major focus of almost every session during the Congress, it felt very timely to be able to present insights on what the most important person in the retail process - the customer - feels about the use of AI in retail. The good news is that done right, using AI in your engagements with customers can really benefit a brand and position it as forward-looking and customer-focused. Customers recognise that AI has the potential to deliver a more convenient and personalised shopping experience. But there are reputational risks too - customers still want the option to engage with humans, and are concerned about privacy and how their data will be used. They worry that AI will be used as a tool to reduce human interactions and cut customer-facing jobs. The attached one-pager gives a brief summary of the research and do let me know if you're interested in finding out more.