Byte-Sized AI: Second-Screen Shopping, Amazon’s AI Pivot, Supply Chain AI Grabs Funds
Byte-Sized AI is a bi-weekly column that covers all things artificial intelligence—from startup funding to newly inked partnerships, just-launched, AI-powered capabilities from major retailers, software providers and supply chain players.
Gather AI Closes $17M Series A-1 Round
Pittsburgh-based supply chain AI player Gather AI announced late last month it had secured $17 million in Series A-1 funding, following a $10 million Series A raise it announced in late 2022.
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The company has enabled autonomous drones to fly through warehouses, collecting information about warehouse inventory and pallets by scanning from above. According to the company, its solution can scan 15 times faster than traditional barcode-scanning practices.
Once the drone has scanned inventory, AI helps to infer information from the images taken and compares the findings to the data in the warehouse management system (WMS). From there, humans can view and analyze the data in real time, making adjustments to the WMS as necessary.
Bain Capital Ventures led the A-1 round, with participation also coming from Tribeca Venture Partners, Dundee Venture Capital, Expa and Bling Capital.
Sankalp Arora, co-founder and CEO of Gather AI, said the technology puts the company on the precipice of industry-changing technology.
“We’re already seeing the positive impact of Gather AI on customers spanning third-party logistics, retail, food and beverage, and manufacturing,” said Arora in a statement. “AI-powered cameras will transform supply-chain traceability to have a similar impact that barcodes did in the 1980s, and our technology is at the forefront of this transformation.”
According to the company, it doubled the number of warehouses it served in 2023. With the help of this funding, it expects to triple its operations in 2024. Current clients include NFI, DSV and Barrett Distribution, among others.
Cody Merritt, director of solution design and innovation at NFI, said the system has already shown promising results.
“The Gather AI solution seamlessly integrated into our warehouse operations, delivering swift results,” Merritt said. “Our employees engaged well with the system, leading to a notable 5x productivity increase within five months using a single drone.”
Paramount and Shopsense launch AI-powered, second-screen shopping
Paramount has partnered with Shopsense AI to create second-screen shopping experiences for consumers watching television.
The two debuted the technology during the Country Music Television (CMT) Awards pre-show on Sunday, allowing viewers to use a unique link to shop an AI-curated collection of items based on what hosts and performers donned on the red carpet.
Beginning Tuesday, fans of CBS Sports’ Golazo Network will be able to purchase merchandise from their favorite teams and players via Shopsense, and on Friday, the partners will allow viewers to purchase looks inspired by the hosts of The Talk.
Glenn Fishback, CEO and co-founder of Shopsense AI, said the partnership will enable consumers to make quick, real-time purchases.
“With so many consumers scrolling on their phones while they watch TV on a bigger screen, content publishers like Paramount have been looking for ways to activate a frictionless, personalized and convenient second-screen shopping experience for their viewers,” Fishback said in a statement. “Shopsense AI provides an end-to-end solution that makes it easy for consumers to shop their favorite products on a second device while they watch TV—without having to deal with clunky QR codes or find the missing remote.”
Going forward, Shopsense will launch a tool called Lens that allows consumers to use their smartphone cameras to “snap and shop,” the company noted. That tool will allow viewers to purchase products shown in shows instantly by taking a photo.
Another retailer banks on virtual try-on
Moss, the London-based menswear brand formerly known as Moss Bros, announced it had partnered with virtual try-on platform Zyler.
The move comes just weeks after Anthropics, which created Zyler, announced it had made the technology available for men’s wear. Previously, the technology had been used for women’s wear only.
Alexander Berend, Anthropics’ CEO, said extending the experience to men’s wear should help create stronger value for a number of brands.
“By offering a more convenient and realistic experience for trying on clothes prior to purchasing, we believe Zyler has the potential to redefine the entire landscape of the men’s wear industry,” Berend said in a statement. “Our goal is to empower customers with a seamless, lifelike virtual try-on experience that not only enhances their shopping journey but also increases confidence in their purchasing decisions.”
To use the technology, consumers upload a headshot and share information about their body proportions, in order to create a virtual avatar that can display how certain styles will look and fit.
According to Anthropics, Zyler has, on average, tripled retailers’ click-through rates. Already, John Lewis’ rental service and Marks and Spencer have signed on as clients.
Amazon sunsets Just Walk Out
Amazon has said it will phase out its Just Walk Out stores, which were partly bolstered by AI. The stores used cameras and sensors to track what consumers had left the store with, then charged their credit card or Amazon account accordingly.
But reporting from outlets like TechCrunch and The Information has shown that a significant amount of human intervention was required to make the stores work in the first place. The e-commerce giant employed hundreds of offshore workers in India to make sure the automated technology had effectively captured all products a consumer grabbed off the shelves.
So, while Amazon had removed a number of workers from its stores and Just Walk Out locations, other employees watched the locations in real-time from afar. According to The Information, 70 percent of Just Walk Out purchases required human oversight as of 2022, even though the company had set internal goals that just 5 percent of purchases would require human verification.
As it sunsets its Just Walk Out technology, Amazon will shift its energy to Dash Carts, which, like Instacart’s AI-powered shopping carts, track consumers’ purchases as they shop.
