Supermarket chain Morrisons teams up with Google Cloud to develop an AI-driven shopping app for locating products.
Morrisons, the UK's fourth-largest supermarket chain, is making waves in the retail industry by introducing an innovative in-app Product Finder. This groundbreaking tool, built using Google Cloud's advanced platforms and Gemini AI models, is set to redefine shopping experiences for the brand's ten million weekly customers.
The Product Finder is designed to help shoppers locate products within Morrisons stores, even during busy periods and seasonal rearrangements. By entering a product name, customers can instantly receive the exact aisle and shelf location within their selected store. This feature is particularly useful during peak shopping times, when store layouts are temporarily altered for events like the recent Easter period.
At the heart of the Product Finder is Google Cloud's BigQuery, which serves as the central data warehouse for Morrisons' extensive product data. This includes product availability and precise location within each supermarket. BigQuery's real-time capabilities ensure that the information provided to customers is always up-to-date.
The Gemini AI models interpret and understand customer search queries, matching them intelligently to Morrisons' product codes. This AI-powered interpretation improves the accuracy and relevance of search results. Meanwhile, the Cloud Run functions process these search terms in real time, ensuring fast and scalable handling of up to 50,000 daily searches.
Peter Laflin, Morrisons’ Chief Data Officer, highlighted that the integration of Google Cloud's technologies allowed the company to create novel customer solutions like the Product Finder. He emphasised that this demonstrates how technology is improving convenience and efficiency for customers.
Mauren Costello, Vice President of Google Cloud, praised the Product Finder for placing the customer at the heart of Morrisons' operations. She stated that the product is a prime example of how supermarkets are using AI to improve customer experiences.
With the Product Finder, Morrisons is removing friction from the shopping journey and providing real-time guidance, improving efficiency and customer satisfaction. This innovative tool directly answers the question "Where is this item?" in a simple and intuitive way, making shopping at Morrisons a more enjoyable experience for all.
- The success of Morrisons' Product Finder is significantly attributed to its integration with Google Cloud's BigQuery, serving as the central data warehouse for Morrisons' product data in data-and-cloud-computing.
- The Gemini AI models, integrated within the Product Finder, work to interpret and understand customer search queries, enhancing the accuracy and relevance of search results through artificial-intelligence.
- As the UK's fourth-largest supermarket chain ventures into new territories with groundbreaking technologies like the Product Finder, the market for ICT continues to expand with retailers leveraging cloud-based solutions.
- By providing real-time guidance and instantly locating products within Morrisons' stores, the Product Finder demonstrates the potential of AI and technology to vastly improve shopping experiences for customers, as highlighted by Mauren Costello, Vice President of Google Cloud.
- As more retailers adopt advanced cloud and AI technologies, such as the Product Finder, the bar for customer expectations in terms of convenience, efficiency, and personalized experiences will undoubtedly rise, driving growth in the technology market.
