Reviewing Retails Biggest Highlights from CES 2024
The Consumer Electronics Show wrapped last week in Las Vegas and brought the latest and greatest in the world of technology, innovation and thought leadership to the dessert. The 4 day event is billed as the “Most Powerful Tech Event in the World” and brings over 130K attendees representing 300+ of the Fortune 500 and some of the most powerful and forward-thinking minds in the tech world. This event usually kickstarts the year and sets the technical direction for the year ahead. The National Retail Federation’s Big Show follows days after and between the two, CES has traditionally been more consumer focused. This year, AI, VR, and commerce are leading the keynotes with the primary focus on leveraging technology to enhance and revolutionize the retail experience.
In no particular order….Here’s what I believe to be the biggest takeaways for retail from CES.
AI-powered insert product here is driving the majority of conversations at CES. While CES is primarily focused on consumer tech, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find non-connected appliances, gadgets and other items we use in our everyday life.
AI is making it’s way into vehicles - Mercedes-Benz unveiled an AI-powered virtual assistant that will be rolling out to its vehicles soon. While the everyday consumer benefits, I think this has the potential to reshape the final mile for organizations like Amazon, FedEX and UPS. Not much has changed in the computing capacity of the traditional delivery vehicle, but I expect the expansion of computing power to the van will better optimize fuel consumption, routing and delivery flexibility. The German automaker’s boasts their new cloud-connected AI-assistant is “natural, predictive, empathetic and personal” as it works to personalize interactions between drivers and their cars.
More automakers are also partnering with Google to offer vehicles with pre-install apps such as Google Maps and Assistant. The apps will come to select models from Ford, Nissan and Lincoln this year, with Porsche following suit in 2025.
AI (not surprisingly) was by far and large the thought leader - Those investing in AI are staying relative - those who aren’t will fall by the wayside.
OpenAI’s GPT Store, where users can share their custom chatbots, finally launched Wednesday after a months-long delay. The store brings more potential use cases to ChatGPT and expands OpenAI’s ecosystem beyond what the company builds for customers. Since announcing the GPT Builder program in November, OpenAI said more than 3 million bots — called GPTs — have been created by users.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon delivered a keynote on Day 1 highlighting the company’s vision for the future. Walmart will introduce cutting-edge technologies to revolutionize its retail experience, aiming for customer-centric, interconnected, and frictionless commerce that consistently surpasses expectations. The company emphasizes ongoing innovation, highlighting how its technology initiatives will benefit customers, associates, and society at large. Walmart showcased how technologies like AI, GenAI, and AR will reimagine Walmart’s role as a shopping destination to serving as a customer’s concierge, acting as their partner in achieving broader missions. Specifically, Walmart revealed:
GenAI-powered search experience now available to iOS customers. The enhanced search experience allows customers to now search by specific use cases (think Thanksgiving Dinner spread)
Walmart InHome replenishment - a service designed to automatically order necessary items at optimal times. This service, part of the $20 monthly InHome membership, aims to streamline the delivery process by utilizing customer habits and Walmart's extensive knowledge of purchasing patterns to create personalized grocery lists. While members already benefit from convenient drop-offs, this enhancement eliminates the need for users to manually select items, making the shopping experience more automated and tailored to individual needs.
Shop with Friends - a social commerce platform enabling customers to utilize AR to share the virtual outfits they create with friends and get feedback on their fashion finds.
Walmart also unveiled technology focused around improving the receipt verification process through the application of AI and computer vision technology, shoppers are delivered their receipt as they exit the store, very similar to the experience seen in Just Walk Out environments.
Instacart debuted some new technology on it’s smart carts focused around using AI to curate personalized advertisements as you shop. Recommendations will be seasonal, relevant to promotions in store, and will adapt to your personal preferences.
Customer loyalty was also on the forefront of conversation. Representatives from Target, Microsoft and Adobe addressed how technology is driving brand loyalty through curated shopping experiences. While the technology landscape is dynamically changing the panel also highlighted the importance in authenticity in creating positive brand experiences. L’Oreal discussed how it is using data and machine learning to better analyze skincare requirements and make data-driven recommendations. Their new platform is driving customer loyalt through 3 main pillars: Personalized Diagnostics, Personalized Recommendations, Personalized Education. L’Oreal’s keynote can be viewed here. L’Oreal also had many innovation items on the CES Innovation Award Honoree list.
While there is no shortage of consumer gadgets at CES, this year showed a dedicated focus on health. While the current wearable tech market has focused primarily on sleep, stress, and “readiness” factors, this year displayed more specific use cases for target audiences. Thee Evie Ring is the first women-focused smart ring that uses the health data it tracks to offer up a holistic view of overall health and wellness. It pairs with an AI engine to offer predictive insights into a women's menstrual health, mood, sleep, physical activity, and more. The Pison Ready wristband measures metrics of mental focus, reaction time and agility through tests taken on your wrist. Pison Technology says it can zone in on your mental alertness by detecting neurological signals from the brain that suggest mental acuity. BeamO released a 4-in-1 thermometer that takes your temperature, checks your heart rate and blood oxygen levels, and works as a stethoscope. In 2024 I expect the health/wearable tech market to merge with grocery and shopping outlets to provide a more connected health and retail experience.
CES announces it’s Innovation Award Nominees. The full list can be found here but I wanted to dive into a few that I believe could have an impact to shape retail
mAsh uses cutting-edge software based on intelligent algorithms and machine learning and takes data from our CCTV to create business insights. This allows visitor data to provide a 360 degree understanding of a visitor’s journey.
Focus AI provides a platform that can reliably forecast the technological future using advanced AI technologies. Focus AI extracts measurable patterns from patent data and make them available in a SaaS tool so businesses can make strategic investments in the right emerging technologies.
Twinit uses generative AI to makes 3D digital humans by the image from a mobile device within a minute. I expect this to be a future component of virtual try-on and AI generated sizing recommendations.
D-ID Creative Reality Studio and Mobile App allows for the creation of highly personalized, AI-generated media for marketing, customer experience, corporate training, AI assistants, and more. While digital assistants are still limited in their broader adoption, technologies like this can be used to drive a more personalized shopping experience digitally.
Samsung Food leverages advanced AI technology to optimize the benefits you get from your Samsung apps and smart home appliances and devices to created a connected and seamless experience. I am interested to see where they partner in the grocery and delivery marketplace.