Accenture ai.RETAIL Platform Now Integrates Google Cloud’s Technologies for Retailers as Companies Expand Strategic Partnership

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By STS News Desk On Feb 16, 2023

Accenture and Google Cloud Expand Partnership to Accelerate Cybersecurity Resilience

The companies will bring the best of Google Cloud technology to ai.RETAIL and collaborate on a new initiative to help retailers modernize stores

Google Cloud announced new initiatives with Accenture to help retailers modernize their businesses and benefit from cloud technology, including updates to Accenture’s widely-adopted ai.RETAIL platform that deeply integrates Google Cloud’s leading capabilities in data analytics, AI, and product discovery. The two companies also committed to go-to-market initiatives to provide retailers with the technology and resources needed to transform store operations, expanding on joint customer successes.

ai.RETAIL for Google Cloud

Accenture’s ai.RETAIL is an integrated solution that helps retailers better utilize data and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize common systems and programs, such as customer acquisition, pricing and promotions, assortment, and supply chains. Starting today, retailers can deploy the ai.RETAIL platform on Google Cloud, meaning it is now extended to Google Cloud’s trusted infrastructure, and is integrated with multiple Google Cloud products and capabilities.

The new features and benefits of the solution include:

Centralized supply chain analysis: ai.RETAIL includes a supply chain control tower powered by Accenture’s Intelligent Supply Chain Platform. With deeper integration across Google Cloud’s popular products, such as Looker and BigQuery, customers can now better organize data and provide a real-time view of their most critical supply chain metrics, including procurement, logistics, inventory, and sales. Retailers can then run “what if” simulations, calibrate demand forecasting, improve inventory planning, formulate strategies for supply chain segmentation, and more.
Personalized customer experiences: ai.RETAIL now leverages Google Cloud’s Discovery AI solutions for retail, which can reduce search abandonment through Google-quality search capabilities, deliver personalized recommendations at scale, and help shoppers find products with images. Additional integrations with Accenture’s Customer Data Architecture and Google Cloud’s Customer Data Platform will let retailers break data silos and drive predictive marketing engagements with AI or machine learning.
Assortment optimization: Using BigQuery, Looker, and Vertex AI, ai.RETAIL now features new store clustering capabilities that will help retailers identify, group, and optimize stores with similar characteristics, enhancing strategies for assortment, space management, and inventory. This includes recommendations for whether to maintain, reduce, or drop specific products, which can be filtered by individual stores or store clusters, and ultimately improve overall sales performance.

“Retailers require solutions that enable them to holistically analyze their businesses and create value across their functional boundaries, but they are often limited by siloed data and legacy infrastructure,” said Carrie Tharp, vice president of retail and consumer, Google Cloud. “Through our work with Accenture, retailers can quickly adopt integrated solutions that apply the best of Google Cloud technology and deliver the true benefits of AI and ML, with tools and capabilities that allow them to continuously optimize their business for today’s complex retail environment.”

“With shifting consumer buying habits, now more than ever, retailers need to invest in building a digital core—which includes a solid data foundation, machine learning, and AI. Powered by cloud, these technologies can help our clients spot trends, make decisions faster, and repeatedly reset the business as the market changes,” said Jill Standish, a senior managing director at Accenture who leads its retail industry practice. “With the best of Accenture’s integrated ai.RETAIL platform and Google Cloud technology, companies can now access products and capabilities to help improve consumer engagement and conversions, and make their supply chain more sustainable.”

“Albertsons Cos. continues to invest in technology to modernize operations and provide even more customer-friendly shopping experiences,” said Anuj Dhanda, EVP and Chief Information Officer for Albertsons Companies. “With Google Cloud and Accenture, we are integrating technology that enhances our supply chain operations by significantly increasing visibility into our inventory levels, helping us with forecasting and improving on-shelf availability so that customers have greater access to the products they want, wherever they shop.”

Helping Retailers Modernize Stores

Google Cloud and Accenture are also collaborating on a broad, new initiative to address complex challenges facing retailers today, including applying intelligence from ai.RETAIL to help businesses optimize their customer, workforce, and storefront experiences, and utilizing other technologies and offerings from both companies. With improved knowledge of end-to-end operations, retailers will be able to apply Accenture and Google Cloud technology to modernize fundamental components of their business. For example, using Google Distributed Cloud Edge technology, organizations will be able to seamlessly integrate and scale cloud infrastructure to their stores, factory floors, and more. Additional use cases will help retailers improve product discovery, strengthen brand loyalty, and increase customer trust through regulatory compliance.

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