Google Cloud has unveiled new generative AI products aimed at transforming the retail industry. The announcement was made at the National Retailer Association’s annual conference in New York City. These new tools are designed to enhance personalization in online shopping experiences and streamline back-office operations for retailers. Although TechCrunch wasn’t able to test the tools before launch, the range of announcements highlights Google’s determined effort to attract gen AI customers.
One of the key products introduced is called Conversational Commerce Solution. This allows retailers to embed gen AI-powered agents on their websites and mobile apps. These agents engage in natural language conversations with customers and provide personalized product recommendations based on individual preferences. While branded chatbots are not new, Google claims that its agents are powered by sophisticated models, like PaLM, that can be fine-tuned and customized using retailers’ own data.
To complement this, Google Cloud unveiled a new Catalog and Content Enrichment toolset. This toolset utilizes gen AI models, including PaLM and Imagen, to automatically generate product descriptions, metadata, and categorization suggestions from a single product photo. Additionally, it enables retailers to generate new product images from existing ones or use AI-generated photos based on product descriptions.
In a conversation with Amy Eschliman, managing director of retail at Google Cloud, the issue of potential misleading and inaccurate AI-generated content was addressed. While Eschliman did not provide specific measures, she emphasized that Google is continuously improving its tools and that human review is an integral part of the Catalog and Content Enrichment workflows. This ensures high-quality results, mitigates bias-related risks, and improves trust and transparency.
Google also introduced a retail-specific Distributed Cloud Edge device. This self-contained hardware kit, available in various sizes, aims to reduce IT costs and resource investments related to retail gen AI. The device enables non-stop operations even when a store is disconnected from the internet for short periods. This fully managed hardware and software allows retailers to run existing software with distributed AI, enabling critical operations at all times.
While Google claims that 81% of retail decision makers feel an urgency to adopt gen AI in their businesses, there have been concerns about the rocky rollouts of gen AI in retail. Despite this, Google remains determined to transform the retail industry with its innovative AI products. The pricing and availability of these new products will be announced in Q1. It remains to be seen how quickly retailers will adopt gen AI on a large scale, but the potential for revolutionizing the industry is promising.