Outdoor sportswear brand, The North Face, showcased an online shopping tool incorporating IBM's artificial intelligence technology, Watson. Named after the company's first CEO, Watson is the most prominent tool behind different AI retail solutions, with The North Face showcasing its new development at the NRF Big Show in New York.
“We jumped at the chance to try and harness IBM’s Watson technology to see what we could do to change online shopping. And the key word in there is change,” said Cal Bouchard, senior director of e-commerce, The North Face.
Users browsing the jacket section of the website were prompted with a question and encouraged to respond in full sentences to narrow down and change the selection of garments until they find something they want. When surveyed, The North Face reported 75 percent of customers who used the service would like to use it again.
“I think what this tells you is consumers are ready for some kind of AI online shopping experience,” said Bouchard.
