Customer outreach
Decide
and buy
Receive and return
Customer service and loyalty
Source: Bain & Company
Select a retail area to see which of its processes have the most potential
Retail operations
Customer outreach
Back
Customer outreach
Decide and buy
Receive and return
Customer service and loyalty
Retail operations
Back
Back
Back
Back
Decide and buy
Customer outreach
Decide and buy
Receive and return
Customer service and loyalty
Retail operations
Receive and return
Customer outreach
Decide and buy
Receive and return
Customer service and loyalty
Retail operations
Customer service and loyalty
Customer outreach
Decide and buy
Receive and return
Customer service and loyalty
Retail operations
Retail operations
Hover over a use case to see details
Generative AI potential | RETAIL
Generative AI potential | RETAIL
Generative AI potential | RETAIL
Generative AI potential | RETAIL
Generative AI potential | RETAIL
Merchandising
Store operations
Supplier joint business planning
Product design
Store concierge
Assortment architecture
Supplier communication
Planogram creation and compliance
Supplier management
Category recommendations
Report generation
Generate scripts, talking points, and reports to be used in supplier negotiations
Draft communication with suppliers and provide a chatbot
to handle simple questions
Help create and update a supplier database by aggregating and categorizing supplier information
Provide a summary of key metrics and advice for category managers
Generate summaries of daily to monthly operations and performance (e.g., for out-of-stocks, sales trends, etc.)
Help develop scenarios for store layout design informed by customer needs and trends
Draft options for new product designs, leveraging customer feedback and optimizing for criteria such as material efficiency and pricing
Generate recommendations for merchandise mix and localized store allocations
Draft proposals for planogram designs and analyze photos of existing planograms to assess compliance
A chatbot for store associates that recommends next best actions and standard operating procedure, and provides customer feedback synthesis
Store layout
In-store support and training for field staff
Supply chain management
Theft prevention
Foot traffic patterns
Sales assistant/expert advisor
Personalized exploration
Product information
Checkout and payment
Product recommendations
Enhanced search and exploration
Image-based models
Product visualization
Hover over a use case to see details
Product descriptions
Keyword generation
Product performance
Product page management
Personalized confirmation/receipt
Personalized and automated checkout
Personalized offers
Marketing
Customer insights
Media, loyalty, and engagement
Digital campaign creatives
In-store creatives
Marketing feedback
Smart view of the customer
Sentiment analysis
Hover over a use case to see details
Schedule delivery/pickup
Delivery and pickup
Make a return
Delivery/pickup status update
Targeted discounts
Schedule return
Collect return information
Hover over a use case to see details
Customer loyalty optimization
Customer connectivity and loyalty
Customer service
Customer segmentation and persona tuning
Agent co-pilot/chatbot
Post-purchase appreciation
24/7 online chat service bot
In-store chat assistant
Customer feedback
Interaction synthesis
A bot that generates personalized script recommendations, provides training tips, and answers questions for in-store sales staff
Help monitor inventory movement and levels to flag out-of-stocks, provide recommendations on managing clearance, and identify root causes of supply chain issues
Identify potential theft based on comparison of sales vs. in-store inventory reports
Summarize customer movements in store based on video footage to inform layout changes
Create customized visuals (e.g., banner ads, landing or explore pages) and marketing messages
Create content proposals for engagement materials (e.g., blogs, newsletters) and personalized responses to social media comments and interactions
Assist in creating marketing campaign content (e.g., text, images) and scenarios of content to test and analyze
Draft in-store content (e.g., displays, copy, print) based on local store or customer profiles
Summarize marketing campaign effectiveness and impact
Collect info and create summaries detailing client segments, characteristics, etc.
Monitor and summarize online sentiment (e.g., social media, online reviews, news mentions)
Use a chatbot to provide personalized sales assistance to customers by proposing products, responding to questions, providing recommendations, scanning ingredients to verify claims, etc.
Analyze customer info and generate product recommendations, explain why they’re recommended, and remind customers via email/text of products they’ve viewed but haven’t purchased
Enhance customer searches with interactive conversations and image/video to produce dynamic product searches
Generate custom avatars and/or incorporate photos for product modeling and testing
Create product visualizations (e.g., furniture in a home, clothes on customer, makeup on face, etc.)
Automatically generate product descriptions based on customer segments/profiles
Generate keywords related to a product and improve search/identification
Summarize product performance based on reviews, repair rates, etc., as well as trends to guide product development
Enhance product pages with custom/variable photos and optimize text for search engine optimization (SEO)
Automate personalized confirmation emails and receipts based on customer information
Generate personalized checkout screen messages (in-store and online) and automatically fill in checkout info based on customer data
Draft email/text notifications for scheduling a delivery or pickup
Draft email/text notifications regarding status of delivery or pickup
Draft communications, including email/text notifications for scheduling a return
Collect info to help coordinate return and summarize rationale for return
Generate personalized discounts at point of return (e.g., discount if returned in store)
Improve and increase loyalty program outreach frequency and communications through automated content generation based on member preferences and behaviors
Analyze customer behaviors to enhance customer segments and draft persona descriptions
Chatbot provides easy explanation of products/services and how-to guides for customers
Generate targeted discounts and other personalized offers after a purchase
A chatbot that provides automatic, interactive responses to customer inquiries
A tablet for shoppers with a chat assistant to handle FAQ and respond to in-store customer questions
Summarize customer feedback (e.g., top pain points) from transcripts, feedback forms, reviews, etc.
Collect, group, and analyze data from customer interactions to identify consumer pain points, best practices, etc.
Hover over a use case to see details
Source: Bain & Company
Select a procurement area to see which
of its processes have the most potential
Procurement strategy
Organizational and operating model
Category management
Supplier management
Social and sustainability
Generative AI potential | PROCUREMENT
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Procurement strategy
Generative AI potential | PROCUREMENT
Organizational and operating model
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Generative AI potential | PROCUREMENT
Category management
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Generative AI potential | PROCUREMENT
Supplier management
Back
Generative AI potential | PROCUREMENT
Social and sustainability
Spend cube
Category intelligence
Category strategy
Demand
management
Supplier identification
Commercial offer review
Request for x (RFx)
Source to contract
Tap over a use case to see details
Spend cube
Category intelligence
Store layout
Report generation
Assortment architecture
Product design
Planogram creation and compliance
Foot traffic patterns
Supplier communication
Supplier joint business planning
Category recommendations
Supplier management
Merchandising
Store concierge
In-store support and training for field staff
Store operations
Tap over a use case to see details
Report generation
Back
Back
Supplier communication
Supplier joint business planning
Category recommendations
Supplier management
Merchandising
Supply chain management
Theft prevention
Store concierge
In-store support and training for field staff
Store operations
Report generation
Store concierge
In-store support and training for field staff
Store operations
Back
Product recommendations
Sales assistant/ expert advisor
Personalized exploration
Product performance
Product descriptions
Keyword generation
Product information
Back
Product recommendations
Sales assistant/ expert advisor
Image-based
models
Enhanced search and exploration
Personalized exploration
Product performance
Product page management
Product descriptions
Keyword generation
Product information
Summarize market intelligence information to help develop and adjust category strategies
Categorize expenses, and provide spend overview to category managers
Validate and classify invoices to enable spend cube development
Collect and summarize historical spend data to help establish baselines by type of goods and services, vendor, category, or business unit
Collect business demand and direct it to the most appropriate sourcing path while providing procurement resources with early visibility
Draft and develop RFx materials
Review supplier database to suggest potential vendors for specific category
Review commercial offer, extract relevant information, and provide initial rating
Draft negotiation prep materials, collecting and collating key market trends
Draft and develop contract terms and conditions
Draft and develop contract terms and conditions
Draft and develop contract terms and conditions
Draft and develop contract terms and conditions
Draft and develop contract terms and conditions
Generate scripts, talking points,
and reports to be used in supplier negotiations
Draft communication with suppliers and provide a chatbot to handle simple questions
Help create and update a supplier database by aggregating and categorizing supplier information
Provide a summary of key metrics and advice for category managers
Generate summaries of daily to monthly operations and performance (e.g., for out-of-stocks, sales trends, etc.)
Help develop scenarios for store layout design informed by customer needs and trends
Draft options for new product designs, leveraging customer feedback and optimizing for criteria such as material efficiency and pricing
Generate scripts, talking points,
and reports to be used in supplier negotiations
Draft communication with suppliers and provide a chatbot to handle simple questions
Help create and update a supplier database by aggregating and categorizing supplier information
Provide a summary of key metrics and advice for category managers
Generate summaries of daily to monthly operations and performance (e.g., for out-of-stocks, sales trends, etc.)
Help develop scenarios for store layout design informed by customer needs and trends
Draft options for new product designs, leveraging customer feedback and optimizing for criteria such as material efficiency and pricing
Generate recommendations for merchandise mix and localized store allocations
Draft proposals for planogram designs and analyze photos of existing planograms to assess compliance
A chatbot for store associates that recommends next best actions and standard operating procedure, and provides customer feedback synthesis
A bot that generates personalized script recommendations, provides training tips, and answers questions for in-store sales staff
Create customized visuals (e.g., banner ads, landing or explore pages) and marketing messages
Create content proposals for engagement materials (e.g., blogs, newsletters) and personalized responses to social media comments and interactions
Assist in creating marketing campaign content (e.g., text, images) and scenarios of content to test and analyze
Draft in-store content (e.g., displays, copy, print) based on local store or customer profiles
Summarize marketing campaign effectiveness and impact
Use a chatbot to provide personalized sales assistance to customers by proposing products, responding to questions, providing recommendations, scanning ingredients to verify claims, etc.
Analyze customer info and generate product recommendations, explain why they’re recommended, and remind customers via email/text of products they’ve viewed but haven’t purchased
Enhance customer searches with interactive conversations and image/video to produce dynamic product searches
Generate custom avatars and/or incorporate photos for product modeling and testing
Create product visualizations
(e.g., furniture in a home, clothes on customer, makeup on face, etc.)
Automatically generate product descriptions based on customer segments/profiles
Generate keywords related
to a product and improve search/identification
Summarize product performance based on reviews, repair rates, etc., as well as trends to guide product development
Customer outreach
Decide and buy
Receive and return
Customer service and loyalty
Retail operations