Stephen Hawking recognized AI’s potential benefits years ago when he stated, “I am an optimist and I believe that we can create AI for the good of the world. That it can work in harmony with us.”
Artificial intelligence is a transformative force with the potential to reshape industries and improve various aspects of our daily lives. When developed with insights from market research, companies can develop cutting-edge AI-enabled solutions that improve products and services and address specific user needs.
Understanding Customer Needs
Whether conducting surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, or other research methods, market research allows companies to gain valuable insights into audience preferences, pain points, and behaviors. This information serves as a foundation for developing AI models that cater to specific customer needs. Sam’s Club demonstrates an exceptional ability to cater to customer needs.
Sam’s Club prioritizes member satisfaction and experience by using market research to understand challenges their customers face. Focus groups, interviews, and surveys among club members revealed that customers were inconvenienced by having to wait in line to exit the store after checking out. To exit the store, club members had to verify their receipt, which added more time to their shopping experience. Based on insights from the market research, Sam’s Club saw an opportunity to be the first retailer to leverage and deploy AI-enabled computer vision technology. This digital technology has streamlined a faster and more positive shopping experience.
Identifying Market Opportunities
Market research also helps identify unmet needs and emerging trends. By analyzing market data, companies can discover potential opportunities for AI-powered solutions. This knowledge inspired companies such as L’Oréal to create AI models that address specific market gaps and create competitive advantages.
L’Oréal designed a system called TrendSpotter that uses AI to analyze online comments, images, and videos. The algorithm gathers 25 million bits of data annually, which L’Oréal then interprets to spot trends and respond to consumer preferences before their competitors can. TrendSpotter has already spotted nearly 800 trends that merit more research and will allow L’Oréal to maintain a competitive advantage.
As AI continues to revolutionize various industries, market research will play an increasingly important role in shaping its direction and ensuring its alignment with real-world needs. Leveraging AI in market research provides opportunities for organizations to make data-driven decisions with greater efficiency. The synergy between AI and market research opens the door to unprecedented insights, and by embracing this collaboration, businesses will carve a path toward growth, adaptability, and a competitive advantage.
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