3 Things You Need to Know About Image Recognition for Retail

Artificial intelligence has been getting a lot of attention these days but, for many industries, it is not yet clear what its practical applications are or what the benefits will be.

Image recognition for retail is one of the more straightforward commercial applications of artificial intelligence. However, it seems to be out of reach for most businesses since, while CPG conglomerates and large retailer chains dominate the market, many retail-focused businesses are smaller local distributors, independent shops or manufacturers, and other partners such as sales and marketing agencies.

This is what these smaller businesses need to know about image recognition for retail:

It is within their reach
Retail audits through mobile merchandising software are already a reality for smaller retail-focused businesses. Some state-of-the-art merchandising software solutions are already offering image recognition technology.

It is cost-effective
One might think that such a high-end technology would be prohibitive in terms of cost for smaller businesses. However, image recognition for retail - as part of a mobile merchandising solution - is very cost-effective since adopting it might lead to time and personnel savings in addition to increased sales as a result of improved monitoring and reporting.

It is easy to implement
Cloud-based technology means there is no need for small businesses to have high-tech installations or personnel when it comes to mobile merchandising software. In order to implement image recognition for retail, businesses only need to provide some pictures to their software provider so its neural network can be trained in recognizing products and brands. This process normally takes a few weeks.

BrandML means image recognition for retail from VisitBasis, the developers of the mobile merchandising software chosen by many CPG companies, store chains, agencies, and other retail-focused businesses. Learn more about BrandML and VisitBasis at www.visitbasis.com.

Retail Audit Software Can Help Prevent Shortages During Social Distancing

Social distancing measures have generated disruptions in retail inventory and replenishment so it has become increasingly difficult for CPG merchandising and category managers to know whether their products are being properly stocked.

On top of that, store personnel is overwhelmed and under stress, so empty shelves tend to go unnoticed for longer periods of time.

Retail audit software can make a significant difference in reducing out-of-stocks at stores: By implementing a retail audit software solution, managers at CPG companies can schedule frequent recurring store visits and keep a close eye on stock levels. This would be unthinkable with traditional pen-and-paper audits since the volume of data to be transcribed would create a time lag between data collection and reporting that potentially delays any effective action.

Another advantage of implementing retail audit software during social distancing times is that one rep or merchandiser can cover a larger number of stores. After all, retail audit software reduces the duration of visits as it runs as an app on mobile devices and offers productivity features such as filtering and searching through the sometimes hundreds of SKUs when answering questionnaires.

In addition to that, mobile location services allow not only for route optimization but also for GPS verification of visits, assuring management that the audits were performed at the correct store.

Would you like to learn more about VisitBasis retail audit software and how it can benefit your business? Go to www.visitbasis.com and sign up for a free trial and then schedule an online demo at http://meetme.so/visitbasis.