AI and big data are a powerful force together. Companies are no longer claiming they don’t have enough data; in fact, the opposite is true.
In a recent survey, Salesforce identified a conundrum for companies seeking to use data to enhance the customer experience: they have too much data, and don’t really know how to use it.
More information to make better decisions may seem like a high-class problem. Yet the survey found that while 8 in 10 business leaders say data is critical for decision-making, more than 40 percent don’t even understand the data they have.
“Companies aren’t tapping their data’s potential,” concluded the report, which documented how a majority of business leaders are still not using data for decisions as basic as pricing.
AI Helps Sift Through All That Big Data
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help. With data pouring in faster than ever, AI algorithms sift through masses of information using predictive analysis to understand and anticipate consumer behavior. This helps businesses personalize marketing in ways that can be highly visible, such as with chatbots that virtually assist customers.
Yet AI brings another benefit that may not be as obvious but is increasingly important as data analysis grows more sophisticated. It can also unearth so-called “hidden data” – information that customers didn’t necessarily know they needed yet. This data can prove enormously helpful for customer decision making.
How AI-Driven Hidden Data Can Change The Game
Can AI help makes us safer drivers?
Many drivers probably don’t realize when they turn down a random road that it is “crash prone,” unless someone warns them.
That’s exactly what map app Waze began doing recently, combining AI and its well-known reports from drivers to send an alert before a vehicle ventures down a crash-prone thoroughfare.
“Crash injuries are estimated to be the eighth leading cause of death globally – and Wazers around the globe report accidents about every two seconds,” the company said in announcing the new safety feature. “But, what would happen if you knew in advance that you were approaching a road that had a history of crashes?”
Does Spotify Really Read Your Mind?
If Waze can read your crash probabilities, Spotify “reads your mind.” The audio streaming services uses machine learning (ML), a subset of AI, to predict what data indicates will likely be your perfect playlist.
Machine learning algorithms do this by analyzing your listening habits and creating a profile of your musical preferences.
The result: “It feels like Spotify just gets your music taste, magically picking out songs that fit your mood or groove. But there’s no magic involved, just the power of machine learning.”
Customers are Thirsty for More
While Waze and Spotify embody the digital economy, AI’s ability to find and use hidden data also extends to perhaps the most classic U.S. brand of all: Coca-Cola.
For vending machines, the iconic drink-maker uses an AI tool that helps provide drinks that customers are likely to want – before they formally make that decision. The tool, for example, recognized that visitors at a sports and entertainment stadium tended to drink a lot of lemonade, so the company allocated extra lemonade beverages for those vending machines.
The hidden data allows Coke to fine-tune customer experience to an extraordinary degree – the company even offers discounts and special deals on sought-after drinks, specific to certain machines.
Rival PepsiCo is also a big user of data and analytics, including for the Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch. Users upload their workout data after exercising while wearing the patch and receive personalized recommendations for hydration and nutrition. Data from the patch is captured and processed using image-recognition technology trained with machine learning.
“Data and analytics enable everyone at the company to do things better,” one PepsiCo executive said. “We’re uncovering insights that can provide breakthroughs that ultimately allow us to bring more value to the consumer and make our associates’ work easier.”
AI and Big Data Enhance Personalization
Other brands utilizing AI and big data to unearth hidden data to enrich customer experience include:
- At Stitch Fix, a personalized wardrobe styling service, “AI and ML models underpin our operations,” says the company. Stitch Fix uses generative AI to determine client preferences and offer personalized outfits “that work just for them.”
- “Smart home” appliances send customers usage summaries and efficiency recommendations. Samsung’s SmartThings Energy, for example, uses AI to track usage pattern for appliances – and recommend ways to reduce costs and energy. My own refrigerator sends me monthly emails detailing how many times the doors were opened, and what the average temperature was.
- Some retailers let customers know their sizes “run large” or “run small” to help pick the correct size – such as online retailer ASOS, which utilizes machine learning for a “fit assistant” that makes personalized size recommendations based on order history and other data.
- Amazon takes its data a step further. The e-commerce giant recently begunincluding messages with certain products such as “Most customers keep this item” to increase confidence in the purchase decision.
- Starbucks is growing its AI-powered personalized rewards program – based on each customer’s order history – increasing sales and developing a longer-term relationship with the brand.
- Netflix is another high-profile user of hidden data, deploying AI/ML and data science to analyze “massive amounts” of customer data – and come up with the familiar personalized recommendations that dot every customer’s screen. Even the thumbnail images of a particular movie or TV show are selected based on each user’s preferences.
- Delta Airlines offers “personalized digital experiences across the customer journey,” including the use of GenAI for insights about customers’ travel that result in “a differentiated travel experience that builds customer trust, brand loyalty, and lifetime value through personalized connections.”
Hidden Data Reinforces AI’s Value For Customer Experience
AI and big data together can power endless personalization, which is a growing game-changer for customer experience.
AI greatly impacts companies by helping them sift through the flood of incoming data, avoid getting overwhelmed, identify important data points, and crunch numbers faster than a human.
Then the company’s employees ensure they repackage the data for the customer’s benefit, which ultimately increases sales and fosters long-term brand loyalty.
For more on AI and customer experience, check out Dan’s keynote presentation on the topic. Image credit: DALL·E, using AI.
