Imagine having access to your own personal shopping assistant anytime, anywhere. Thanks to a partnership between IBM and Fluid, the shopping advisor powered by Watson, you could.
Together, IBM and Fluid are working to redefine today’s e-commerce experience by evolving it beyond the traditional criteria of price, convenience and selection, and adding a transformational new factor: the expertise and personalised advice of an in-store sales representative.
The consumer shopping experience is ripe for Watson’s ability to interact naturally with people, while serving as an advisor that thinks, learns and empowers its users with insights unlocked from data. A recent study from the IBM Institute for Business Value of more than 30 000 global consumers shows that 40% of shoppers use social, location and mobile technologies for information gathering, and yet are not likely to use them to purchase products.
So what is hindering that sizable share of the consumer market from making purchase decisions from their devices? To start, the current state of online and mobile shopping yields a time-consuming, inefficient experience, as consumers comb through Web sites for information, link by link, or enter keywords into search engines and hope for the best.
Today, 50% of consumers spend 75% or more of their total shopping time conducting online research, according to data from the e-tailing group and PowerReviews.
Something crucial is missing from the typical online and mobile experience: the thoughtful help of an expert sales representative, who is knowledgeable, relatable and ready to advise you on important purchase decisions.
All of that is about the change. IBM and Fluid are embarking on a new mission to transform the way consumers shop, through personalised, digital experiences with a personal shopping concierge that understands and advises its users on key purchase decisions.
IBM and Fluid’s collaboration aims to spark an “industry first”, as together they remove the pain points of digital commerce, and replace them with the best of what in-store retail shopping has always offered.
The Fluid Expert Shopper (XPS), made with IBM Watson, is an app that gives consumers the power to ask the app highly specific questions, as they would a sales associate in a store, and receive personalized advice that truly satisfies their needs.
In partnership with The North Face and other consumer brands, Fluid XPS will take advantage of Watson’s ability to answer consumers’ questions and learn from their responses, engage in realtime conversations and then tailor suggestions for products in a rich and relevant manner. Watson will understand the context of its users’ questions, and continuously learn about their needs based on the information they share.
When complete, Fluid XPS will draw on data, including the brand’s product information, user reviews and online expert publications through IBM Watson, to provide consumers with informed recommendations according to their needs and desires. Consumers will receive valuable insights in making smart, satisfying purchases and be able to interact with Watson on desktops, tablets and smartphones for the first time.
“By tapping into IBM Watson’s cognitive intelligence, Fluid is infusing the personalised, interactive feel of an in-store conversation into every digital shopping interaction,” says Mike Rhodin, senior vice-president of the IBM Watson Group. “This is what positive market disruption looks like, and it’s a key example of how a new era of cognitive applications will revolutionize how decisions are made by consumers and businesses alike.”
