How is AI Benefiting Retail?
In this EXCLUSIVE, Noam Ben-Zvi, CEO and co-founder of Placer.ai, recently shared insights into the firm’s launch and its benefits, the future of technology and what’s next.
SAN FRANCISCO—In stealth development since 2016, Placer.ai has been working to perfect retail foot traffic data collection, modeling and application to solve numerous business challenges. This analytics platform applies artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analytics to generate accurate insights and behavioral predictions for any location, store or geographic area.
And, the new Placer.ai analytics dashboard equips the brick and mortar industry with tools previously only available in the digital world. In this exclusive, Noam Ben-Zvi, CEO and co-founder of Placer.ai, recently shared insights into the launch and its benefits, the future of technology and what’s next.
GlobeSt.com: Why was now a good time to launch this tool?
Ben-Zvi: We’re launching at a transformational time for the retail industry. While many retailers are struggling to find new tools to engage average consumers, the economy continues to grow, consumer confidence is at an all-time high and physical in-store transactions still account for over 90% of all sales. We’ve all learned that the customer experience is more important than ever as retailers are striving to differentiate themselves. Access to the latest in AI, big data and advanced analytics is key to understanding what’s resonating with consumers and making the right changes to thrive in the new economy.
GlobeSt.com: What benefit does it have for retail landlords?
Ben-Zvi: For the first time, retail landlords have visibility into customers’ journeys for their shopping centers, tenants and competitors. They can understand where they live, work and spend their time outside of the property. Additionally, they can benchmark their properties versus competitors to gauge a center’s and tenant’s health and potential. Ultimately, these insights help create compelling stories to drive leasing interest and keep vacancies low, analyze new acquisitions, add property management value to tenants and focus marketing efforts.
GlobeSt.com: Real estate professionals have been slow to adapt to technology. How has the industry responded thus far?
Ben-Zvi: The industry understands it is in the midst of rapid change, and there is now consensus that it’s time to evolve or die. Many companies are learning from their e-commerce counterparts, and hiring innovation, GIS and marketing analytics personnel. Our early adopters are already seeing valuable results and together, we’re all learning how to apply this new technology to everyday challenges and questions.
GlobeSt.com: What is next for this platform?
Ben-Zvi: We believe that with unprecedented visibility into consumer foot traffic and consumer behavior, everyone in the retail industry can be brilliant at running their business. Soon we will be extending our free tier to allow anyone to benefit from data-driven decision making. We will also be adding additional data into our platform including online browsing data, psychographics, purchase data and other valuable types of information to deeply understand the consumers. Finally, we will continue to apply AI and machine learning to solve real problems and make the data actionable.
Placer.ai is backed by more than 40 investors including Array Ventures, IrishAngels Ventures and Stage Venture Partners, as well as angel investors such as Ran Makavy of Lyft and Craig Abrahams of Playtika. Current customers include CBRE, Caesars Entertainment, Oath, Bain & Company and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.