Watch How Retailers Should Start Their AI Automation Journey
Video Summary
In this clip from Breaking Down Retail Silos: Building the AI-Ready Enterprise, Lori Schafer, CEO of Digital Wave Technology, shares practical guidance on where retailers should begin their automation journey. She explains how to focus on business outcomes, apply a prioritization framework, and target quick wins like product onboarding and pricing updates to build momentum.
Key Takeaways
Start automation by aligning with clear business outcomes such as cost savings, revenue lift, or improved customer experience
Use a two-by-two prioritization framework: focus on tasks that are both high impact and easy to automate
Begin with small, manageable processes that deliver measurable value quickly.
Building confidence through quick wins paves the way for scaling automation across the enterprise.
Common starting points include product onboarding, attribution, pricing and promotion updates, invoice reconciliation, and customer data cleanup.
Video Transcript
Gary Hawkins: What’s your perspective on how retailers should identify where to begin their automation journey?
Lori Schafer: Thanks, Gary. The way to get started is to focus first on business outcomes. Look across the company and target goals like cost savings, revenue lift, or customer experience improvements. I like to recommend using a two-by-two framework, which means prioritizing processes that are both high impact and easy to automate.
Start small with something manageable, but that still delivers strong results. Examples include product onboarding, product attribution, pricing and promotion updates, invoice reconciliation, or customer data de-duplication—areas that teams can quickly get their arms around.