Retail giant Target Corporation is rolling out a new generative artificial intelligence tool to assist hundreds of thousands of staff across its nearly 2,000 stores across the United States.
The AI chatbot — called “Store Companion” is set to roll out by August, helping staff answer on-the-job process questions, coach new team members and support store operations, among other things, according to the company’s June 20 statement.
Target said the new generative AI-powered chatbot is “designed to make team members’ jobs easier and enhance the shopping experience.”
It will be available as an app on the handheld devices used by Target staff members, providing immediate answers to their questions about processes and procedures.
“How do I sign a guest up for a Target Circle Card” is one such question that Target employees could ask Store Companion.
“How do I restart the cash register in the event of a power outage,” could be another.
Target’s executive vice president and chief stores officer, Mark Schindele, called generative AI a “game-changing technology,” noting Store Companion will make work tasks easier and improve the customer experience. The company has over 400,000 employees in the United States, according to Macrotrends.
“The tool frees up time and attention for our team to serve guests with care and to create a shopping destination that invites discovery, ease and moments of everyday joy.”
Store Companion was developed by Target’s in-house technology team.
The AI chatbot is currently being piloted at about 400 stores across the country, which are providing feedback on how it can be improved before a chainwide rollout.
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Target is also using generative AI to summarize reviews and make the product descriptions on its site pages even more relevant, helping shoppers make confident purchase decisions.
The firm said it is testing dozens of other generative AI applications that could also be rolled out in the future.
The news didn’t have a material impact on Target’s (TGT) share price on Thursday, which increased 0.59% to $143.38, Google Finance data shows.
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