Weakly Watson: IBM Watson and a Department Store
July 28, 2016
I have fond memories of selling men’s shirt at a department store in Illinois when I was a wee, thin lad. At the end of the year, the place was jammed with people. On a slow day, there were three or more folks riffling through the men’s shirts. Department stores have fallen on hard times. There is the Amazon thing. Social media sites like the Needs.com wants to become a storefront.
Macy’s is a well known vendor. We have one in Louisville, Kentucky, but I think my last visit was in 2011. Too much hassle with the parking, the traffic, and the clutter in the men’s department.
Macy’s labeled its 2015 Annual Report and its 2016 Fact Book with the title “The Agility to Adapt.” I love marketing mantras and the lingo of MBAs. Yep, adapt. Macy’s seems to be struggling to generate sustainable top line revenue and healthy profits. My take on the company’s financial performance is that flat lines suggest mucho efficiency think. At some point, Macy’s has to find a way to jump start growth.
I read “Macy’s Taps IBM Watson to Improve In-Store Shopping App.” The idea is:
The retailer will use Watson’s machine-learning and cognitive-computing technology to assist shoppers as they wander through Macy’s department stores
Millennials, let’s assume, love apps. (I think apps are a bit of disappointment for some folks.) Millennials love to shop (I think online appeals to some of these fine lads and lasses.) Millennials love their smartphones. (I know this is a fact because two of them bumped into me as I walked into an eatery yesterday.)
What could be better? A retailer and Big Blue?
The write up informs me:
The app will apply Watson’s natural language processing (via its Natural Language Classifier API) in order to let shoppers ask questions like “Where can I find the swimsuits?”, and then it’ll find answers based each store’s unique products, services, and layout. Navigation is being provided by Satisfi’s location-based software, which accesses Watson’s technology from the cloud to make the whole experience come together. As time goes on, the app will get smarter as it learns more about each store’s customers and the frequently asked questions for each location.
When I read this, I thought about Pokeman Go. Perhaps the way to generate traffic in a department store is to entice the potential buyers with digital egg hunts. Instead of creatures, one could hunt for bargains with cute digital personas and clever graphics.
IBM Watson does not seem to have the zeitgeist of Pokeman Go. Apps strike me as a little 2007, but I am out of touch. Why not ask Watson?
Stephen E Arnold, July 28, 2016
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