How Data Annotation is Important to Retail’s AI Adoption?

What if - you could invest less, experience error-free & faster processes, and gain more traction?

Seems impossible right?

Well, with annotated data you can train your machine learning algorithms to function properly - which will ultimately make these cutting-edge processes, a reality of your retail biz.

AI-driven processes are automating mundane tasks, enabling retailers to focus on providing more personalized customer experiences and improving operational efficiency.

From virtual assistants to inventory management and predictive analytics, AI is making retail more efficient, personalized, and profitable.

Importance of data annotation in retail’s AI adoption

• Customer sentiment analysis - Customer sentiment analysis helps retailers better understand their customers, their preferences, and their overall sentiment toward the products and services they offer. By analyzing customer sentiment, retailers can gain insights into what their customers care about, what they are looking for, and how they feel about particular products and services. With this retailers can customize better strategies, create more engaging and personalized experiences, and ultimately increase customer loyalty and sales.
• In-store traffic analysis - In-store traffic analysis helps retailers understand customer behaviors and preferences, identify areas of improvement, and optimize store operations. It helps them identify popular products and areas of the store, identify peak shopping hours, allocate resources to key locations, and maximize sales opportunities. Retailers can use in-store traffic analysis to understand shopping patterns and customer flow to ensure their store layout is optimized, employees are properly allocated, and the right products are in the right locations. Also, retailers can use the data to help determine the effectiveness of promotional campaigns, identify bottlenecks, and develop targeted marketing strategies.
• Real-time in-store performance monitoring - Real-time in-store performance monitoring helps retailers to get a better understanding of their customers and their preferences. This can help them to provide better customer service and make more informed decisions about what products and services to offer. With it, retailers can identify potential inefficiencies in their operations and identify areas for improvement.
• Facial expression recognition - Facial expression recognition can be used to help retailers better understand customers' emotional states and reactions to their products and services. This can help retailers to determine which products and services are most successful in engaging customers and to better tailor their marketing and service strategies to customers' needs. Moreover, facial expression recognition can be used to detect customer dissatisfaction, allowing retailers to address the issue quickly and improve their customer service.
• Checkout monitoring for theft - Checkout monitoring for theft helps retailers by providing real-time data on the number of items being checked out, the speed at which they are being checked out, and the accuracy of the cashier's work. This data can help retailers identify potential theft quickly, allowing them to take action and prevent further losses. The data gathered by checkout monitoring can be used to help retailers improve their process in order to cut down on the amount of time customers spend in the checkout line and reduce operational costs.

Role of Data Annotation in Retail AI’s Applications

Self-service checkouts

Data annotation is a key component of self-service checkouts that allows machines to accurately read and process customer purchases. With it, machines can properly identify items and understand relevant information such as product type, size, and price.

For example, when a customer is scanning items at a self-service checkout, the machine needs to be able to accurately identify each item and its price in order to properly process the transaction.

By using data annotation, businesses can easily create accurate and up-to-date records of the items purchased at their self-service checkouts, which can be used to track customer purchases, identify trends, and inform future decisions. With it, it also becomes easy to detect when items are not being scanned correctly, or if items are not being purchased.

It helps to improve efficiency and accuracy of the checkout process, as well as identify any potential theft. Without data annotation, the machine would be unable to process the transaction, as it would not be able to recognize the items or understand their prices.

Types of self-checkout systems:

Grab and Scan Self-Checkout Systems

Grab and Scan self-checkout systems are a type of automated checkout system that allows customers to shop without the need for a cashier. This type of system is often found in retail stores, grocery stores, and pharmacies.

In this type of self-checkout system, customers are given a scanner which they use to scan the barcode of the items they are purchasing. The scanner will then display the item’s price and the customer can pay for the items using a credit/debit card or cash.

Grab and Smart Cart Self-Checkout Systems

Grab and Smart Cart system requires customers to use a computerized shopping cart which is equipped with a scanner and barcode reader. The cart is designed to recognize the items the customer is purchasing and will display the price of the items on the cart’s screen.

The customer then proceeds to the checkout area where they can pay for the items using a credit/debit card or cash. This type of system eliminates the need for a cashier, as all of the items are scanned and paid for at the same time.

Grab and Go Self-Checkout Systems

Grab and Go self-checkout systems are designed to speed up the checkout process for customers. This type of system requires customers to scan their items using a scanner or smartphone app. Once the items have been scanned, the customer can pay for the items using a credit/debit card or cash.

The advantage of this type of system is that it eliminates the need for a cashier, as the customer can scan the items and pay for them without the need for any assistance.

How Computer Vision helps Autonomous Checkouts?

Computer vision enables machines to recognize and process images, just like the human eye. Through the use of computer vision, autonomous checkout systems are now able to recognize and identify objects, track individual items and process transactions quickly and accurately. This technology has enabled retailers to provide customers with a smoother, more efficient shopping experience.

One example of autonomous checkout is Amazon Go, a retail store which uses advanced computer vision technology to enable customers to shop without waiting in line or using a cashier. Amazon Go’s system is made up of an array of cameras, sensors and computer vision algorithms that detect when items are picked up and removed from the shelves. The system then tallies up the items and charges from the customer’s Amazon account.

Another example of an autonomous checkout system is Walmart’s Scan & Go. This system uses computer vision to enable customers to scan their items as they shop and then pay for them directly through the Walmart app. The computer vision technology identifies each item and adds it to the customer’s virtual cart. When the customer is ready to checkout, they simply pay through the app and walk out of the store with their items. This system eliminates long checkout lines and provides customers with a faster and more efficient shopping experience.

Computer vision has revolutionized the retail industry and enabled retailers to provide customers with a smoother, more efficient shopping experience. Through the use of computer vision, autonomous checkout systems are now able to recognize and identify objects, track individual items and process transactions quickly and accurately. This technology has allowed retailers to streamline their checkout processes and give customers a more enjoyable shopping experience.

Automated warehouses

By labeling data, automated systems are able to quickly and accurately locate and identify items in the warehouse, which helps to speed up the process of finding and retrieving the items. Also, labels can be used to store additional information about the product, such as its name, price, and expiration date, which helps to ensure that the customer receives the correct product.

In retail, automated warehouses are used to streamline the entire supply chain process. By using data annotation, retailers can ensure that their automated warehouse systems are able to accurately identify and track products, optimize their inventory management and pick and pack processes, and improve overall efficiency.

For example, a retailer could use data annotation to label items with attributes such as temperature, humidity, and barcode information. This data can then be used to optimize the warehouse environment, ensuring that items are stored in the correct conditions. By providing accurate information, automated warehouse systems can be more efficient and accurate in their operations.

1. Barcode Labeling
2. RFID Labeling
3. Color Coding Labeling
4. Image Annotation

Virtual fitting rooms

Data labeling for virtual fitting rooms typically involves labeling measurements such as height, weight, waist, inseam, arm length, shoulder width, and more. Labels may also be applied to clothing items to accurately represent their size and fit, such as measurements for bust, sleeve length, and hip circumference. For example, a shirt may be labeled as “Small,” “Medium,” or “Large” based on the measurements provided.

In addition to labels, data for virtual fitting rooms may also include information about the fabric and color of the clothing, as well as other details that may vary from item to item. For example, a shirt may be labeled as “Cotton/Polyester,” “Navy,” and “Short Sleeve.”

The data is then used to create a 3D model of the customer’s body that can be used in a virtual fitting room, and the model is then used to accurately represent the customer’s size and shape, and the clothing items can be accurately sized and fitted to the customer’s body. This allows customers to get an accurate representation of how the clothing will fit on their body before they purchase it.

Data annotation is also used by retailers to improve the accuracy of their product recommendations. By collecting data on customer measurements and clothing items, retailers can use this data to make more accurate predictions about which items customers are likely to buy. This helps to reduce the amount of time and money spent on marketing campaigns, as retailers can target customers more effectively with their product recommendations.

Types of annotation:

Polygon annotation
Semantic Segmentation
Instance Segmentation

Shopping assistants

By leveraging AI, predictive analytics and Natural Language Processing, retailers can develop robots and touch panels to assist customers inside the stores. These robotic assistants can help customers find what they are looking for, answer their queries and give info on the product.

It involves assigning labels to customer data such as purchase history, store visits, and interactions with employees to identify patterns in customer behavior that can be used to identify customers who are more likely to purchase certain items or visit certain parts of the store or who are more likely to respond to certain promotions or discounts..

Labels can be used to identify customers who are more likely to experience long wait times, customers who are more likely to leave without making a purchase, or customers who are more likely to experience poor customer service. By identifying these areas, retailers can make improvements to their store to better serve their customers.

For example, AI-enabled shopping assistants can help customers find what they are looking for by using personalized recommendations. AI-powered algorithms can analyze customer data such as purchase history and store visits to recommend products that are tailored to the individual’s preferences. This helps customers find what they need quickly and accurately, saving them time and money.

These assistants can also be used to answer customer queries and provide product-related information. By leveraging NLP, retailers can develop robots and touch panels that can understand customer queries and provide accurate answers. This eliminates the need for customers to wait for a salesperson to answer their questions and provides a more seamless and efficient shopping experience.

For example, Walmart has developed an AI-powered robot called ‘Jetpack’ that can help customers locate items in the store. The robot uses NLP to understand customer requests and then searches the store for the requested items. This type of technology is becoming increasingly popular in retail stores as a way to improve customer service and increase sales.

Retailers are also using predictive analytics to identify patterns in customer behavior and identify customers who are more likely to purchase certain items or visit certain parts of the store. This technology can help retailers understand customer needs and develop targeted promotions or discounts to better serve their customers.

For example, Walmart uses predictive analytics to identify customers who are more likely to experience long wait times, customers who are more likely to leave without making a purchase, or customers who are more likely to experience poor customer service. By understanding customer needs, retailers can make improvements to their store to better serve their customers.

• Text annotation
• Image annotation
• NLP & Speech Recognition

Demand Forecasting

In the retail sector, data annotation can be used to help with demand forecasting by labeling data points with tags or labels that reflect the customer's purchasing habits and preferences. This allows the machine to learn the patterns of customer behavior and use them to make predictions about future demand.

For example, a retail store can use data annotation to label customer purchase data with tags such as “seasonal” or “discount” to help the machine learn how customers respond to different promotions over the course of the year. This information can then be used to make predictions about future demand for certain products or services. Additionally, the data can be used to identify trends and patterns in customer buying behavior that can be used to inform future marketing and promotional strategies.

Data annotation can also be used to improve demand forecasting in the retail sector by labeling data points with tags such as “popular” or “trending”. It allows the machine to learn which products are popular and in demand at any given time. This information can then be used to make predictions about future demand for those products. Also, the data can be used to identify potential new products or services that may become popular in the near future.

Future of Retail AI - AI-enabled Smart Stores

AI-enabled Smart Stores are set to become the future of retail because they offer a more personalized, efficient, and cost-effective shopping experience than traditional stores. These stores are equipped with advanced technologies such as facial recognition, computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning that allow for automated customer service and recommendations.

By leveraging data gathered through advanced analytics, AI-enabled Smart Stores can provide retailers with valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. This data can then be used to optimize store layouts and product placements, as well as recommend products to customers based on their interests and past purchases, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction, increased sales, and improved customer loyalty.

The Taskmonk Advantage

No matter how much you want these retail technologies to scale, without the accurately annotated data, everything can fall apart. To ensure you have the annotated data you need, having a process in place is a must.

At Taskmonk, we offer you & your team a platform where labeling large datasets becomes a no-brainer because here, you can set up customized workflows, break down each complicated task into different smaller tasks, and collaborate with other team members. We provide you with an array of tools, such as image categorization, text tagging, and custom labeling, to help teams categorize and classify retail data, which helps store owners, managers, and other stakeholders make data-driven decisions that can improve sales and customer engagement.