Artificial Intelligence - Transforming the face of Retail experience

Artificial Intelligence: 

Artificial intelligence technology takes some huge data set as an input, processes it through AI algorithms (say neural networks) and then produces a model as an output which can provide answers like a real human. So in layman term it is like a human brain knowing some behavior/ trait about someone and then acting accordingly at proper time and location. 

Artificial Intelligence in Retail: 

Think as a Retailer? Wouldn’t it be great if you know Demographics, Shopping behavior/Trend and need of a customer who has just walked in your retail outlet or on online site on a fly? It would be easier to showcase the customized best possible products and offers for the customer in order to encash the opportunity. Even as a Customer, I would be very happy if I am presented with everything which I am in need for as that would save my time in decision making and shopping enhancing my shopping experience. 

This is exactly what Artificial Intelligence does for your Retail. 

Below shows some of the recent example in Retail Industry where Artificial Intelligence is used: 

Amazon Go: 

Technology behind the concept of Amazon Go includes “computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning.” Using a mobile application, customers will scan their smartphones at a kiosk when they walk into the store. The store’s technology, which the online retailer calls “Just Walk Out,” automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When customers finish shopping they will simply leave. Shortly thereafter the company will charge each customer's Amazon account and send a receipt. 

AI can also be supportive in many other retail units likes: 

• Store Location Selection 
• Optimization of Product Mix 
• Optimizing Supply Chain 
• Virtual Mirrors, Gesture Recognition, 
• Visual Listening 

Conclusion: 

Any information and knowledge is always helpful and if received during correct time and place can turn out into an opportunity. AI helps in providing Accurate and on the fly information. Considering this AI is surely to stay and positively transform the face of Retail.

About Author:

Saurabh Kane is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, he actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. He can be contacted at: saurabh.k@spluspl.com

Need for Business Analyst and activities involved

Why do we need Business Analysts?

In today’s IT sector Business analyst play an important role. Business analysts play key roles in the project lifecycle, and ensure that the final solution meets business objectives. Business analyst are those who will always be working on artefacts which is deliverable of a part of the SDLC. The role changes as the SDLC goes through the cycle.

For any Business Analyst the biggest challenge after getting a project is, how to start and from where to start or what should be created and how to complete the project successfully. 

To help with all questions, here are some of the key techniques for a successful business process analysis.

Roles and responsibilities of BA –

Requirements are core of developing IT solutions. Defining, analyzing and documenting requirements evolve from business analyst’s creative process. Some roles are as follows-

Extract requirements –Requirements play a key part in IT. Incomplete /improper requirements usually lead to project failure. A business analyst needs to determine a project’s requirements by extracting them.

Organize requirements –The business analyst must organize requirements into related categories to manage and communicate them. Requirements are sorted according to their source and applicability. Proper organization prevents project requirements from becoming overlooked, and leads to optimum use of time and budgets.

Simplify requirements – The business analyst emphasizes simplicity and ease of use but especially during implementation. Business analysts identify and avoid extraneous activities that do not solve the problem. 

Verify requirements –The business analyst is most knowledgeable about use cases and other diagrams, therefore they continually verify the requirements and reject implementations that do not advance business objectives. Verifying requirements is done through analysis, test and inspection.

Managing requirements – A formal requirements presentation, review and approval session occurs, where project schedules, costs and duration estimates are updated and the business objectives are revisited. Upon approval, the business analyst transitions into requirements management activities for the rest of the IT solution life cycle.

Documenting- Business analysts spend a fair amount of time documenting what they learn and observe, and the results of their analyses. She/he takes the time to consider the best ways to document specific types of information, whether as text or visual form (charts, graphs, illustrations, etc.).

Diagrammatic way of presenting BA role-

Conclusion:

Whether you currently work in IT or a related field, if you’re a leader in your organization and want the chance to pursue the opportunities presented by the business analyst career path, it is a great time to start planning. With business analysis training, one can obtain the core skills that businesses need to advance.

About Author:

Ayushi Guda is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, she actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. She can be contacted at: Ayushi.Guda@spluspl.com 

Mr. Perfect Support

Customer support service and it’s proficiency in delivering excellence requires high competency measures. High customer satisfaction, long term customer loyalty are few measurable parameters that are taken into consideration by the organizations that are playing in the service sector.

Have you ever thought that who do you choose to be on your team of customer service awesomeness? How would you streamline the selection process for selecting people who will be interacting with your prized customers, troubleshooting their issues and guiding them through the organizational processes?

Your primary objective to choose the Mr. Perfect should be beyond the boundaries of just hiring the right one but should also not hire the wrong one. Hiring your support team can be a tedious task. But believe me it doesn’t have to be. Here are some pointers to be considered while choosing your support team. Below listed are few points that define an outline for choosing customer support team:

1. Know yourself
2. Know the skill set
3. Formulate precise Interview questions
4. Communication skills (Written and Verbal)
5. Great listening skills
6. Perfect attitude
7. Fit Vs Qualification

Below are the detailed understanding of the points listed above:

1.Know yourself

Before you decide to hire Mr. Support Perfect, it is very important to know your business and what you want should actually form the basis of your hiring decision. Your decision drills down to a billion dollar question as to ‘What type of image do you want to portray to your customers?’ Every domain has its own persona for example, a telecom company may want to display a different persona from a banking and finance company or a FMCG company. Know your business personality, values, and beliefs you need to display as your organizations face so that you can hire people that share these.

2.Know the skill set

What are the skill sets that are necessary for your support staff and that can be inculcated in them by means of training sessions or learned while on the job? In today’s proficient world a support executive must have a little hands-on on computer or be really good at their written and oral communications. These are few skill sets that will increase their good fit criteria for either a chat support or call support. Few IT support organizations also look in for candidates with deep knowledge of computer application or hardware. These can be considered as additional skill sets required. A basic list of skills necessary for your support roles need to created and ensure that your hires have that basic level of skill.

3.Formulate precise Interview questions

A very important aspect of customer support team selection is the interview phase. One is always recommended to conduct a face to face conversion then just judge a candidate basis the resume. The interview questionnaire should be precise enough to gain more visibility of a person’s quality matrix. Seems like a near to impossible task but is being accomplished on a probability basis. Few things that an Interviewer should explore in an interview call:

• Truthful
• Creative
• Empathy
• Inquisitive
• Passionate
• Overall Attitude
• Engagement

4.Communication skills (Written and Verbal)

Among the primary skills for a customer service position is good communication. Candidate with good choice of words and clarity in their voice is suitable for a voice support job, while of course one also should have a string control on good grammar and good typing speed for live chat. It is an added and must have quality for a customer support agent to be able to understand concepts necessary to help the customer and also explain these in an easily understandable and precise way.

5. Great listening skills

A very important value is the need to be able to listen with intent. It is quite often observed, that customers are not accurate in identifying their issues and hence, it is important that the support team carefully listens analysis and present a satisfying resolution to the issues. Some suggestions to pick a good listeners include:

• How many times the representative interrupts the conversation
• Whether or not they respond to all parts of a multi-part question
• What questions are asked by the representative to issue understanding

6.Perfect attitude

How important do you think it is that the customer support executive has appropriate skills? Should be the primary requirement. A more important aspect for a support executive is also to have the right attitude. Your customer support employee should be service minded, and be willing to deliver excellence and go the extra mile to ensure that each and every customer that they interact with has a feeling of satisfaction. It is important that your team comes into the job with the right attitude and mindset already ingrained in their personality, because it is fundamentally difficult to change a person’s attitude and mindset. Few personality traits that a support team should possess are empathy, warmth, passion and righteousness.

7.Fit Vs Qualification

We always have the mindset to hire employees with the sparkling records. That’s where the main point is missed, we should hire people that fit into your company and culture. It is not always mandatory that the best qualified will prove to be the best fit in your organization.

Conclusion:

Considering above listed points, choose an employee who you think will be able to gel with your team and company as opposed to a “model” employee. Last but not the least, once you find the Mr. Perfect Support it is equally important to equip your team with the right tools to provide excellent and efficient customer experience.

About Author:

Mrudula Palyekar is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, she actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. She can be contacted at: mrudula.palyekar@spluspl.com

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