‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات AI in Retail. إظهار كافة الرسائل
‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات AI in Retail. إظهار كافة الرسائل

Speedioo Raises ₹10 Crore Seed Round Led by Atomic Capital to Build AI‑Native Platform and Scale India’s Used Two‑Wheeler Market

Speedioo Raises ₹10 Crore Seed Round Led by Atomic Capital to Build AI‑Native Platform and Scale India’s Used Two‑Wheeler Market

Consumer-Tech platform Speedioo has raised ₹10 crore in a seed round led by Atomic Capital. This marks the company's first institutional fundraise, with the capital set to be used towards building its AI-native technology stack, expanding distribution across key demand centres in India, deepening its partnerships with OEMs as a key growth driver, and scaling its dealer partner and retail network.

As a part of its expansion strategy, Speedioo also plans to grow its retail footprint across cities through a scalable franchise model aimed at strengthening its supply & operational Infrastructure, along with expanding its senior leadership team.

The company plans to integrate its value chain end to end with the AI enabled platform to transform core processes including procurement, price discovery, vehicle assessment and selling price by leveraging new age AI capabilities. Speedioo aims to expand its distribution network into top 3 – 4 cities and deepen its retail footprint through a scalable franchise-led model.

Co-founded by Sagar Potphode and Ajit Deshmukh, both former senior operators at CredR and Rentomojo, Speedioo has grown more than 5X in topline over the last 12 months while staying EBITDA and cash flow positive, a rare combination in a category that has historically been built on heavy capital burn.

Commenting on the fundraise, Sagar Potphode, Co-Founder & CEO, Speedioo says, “At Speedioo, we are building much more than a used two-wheeler company. We are building a trusted and sustainable consumer brand for the next billion Indians aspiring to own personal mobility. For a large part of India, a two-wheeler is not just a vehicle. It is access to livelihood, independence and opportunity. Yet the category continues to suffer from low trust, poor transparency and inconsistent customer experiences. Our vision is to build India's most trusted omnichannel and technology-driven platform in this category by combining deep operational execution with innovative product and technology infrastructure. While Tier 1 markets remain important, we strongly believe the real long-term opportunity lies across Tier 2, 3 and 4 India, where accessibility and affordability matter even more. We believe sustainable businesses are built by solving real problems at scale, and this fundraise gives us the foundation to accelerate that journey responsibly."

Speedioo has crossed Rs 30 crore in GMV and has sold over 4000 vehicles in the last year with a sharpening focus on high-end models reflecting the premiumization tailwinds among aspirational customers within the second-hand category. With strategic partnerships with leading EV brands for exclusive exchange programs, 200+ active dealers across Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune, Speedioo aims to grow this by 10X in the coming year.

Apoorv Gautam, Founder & Managing Partner, Atomic Capital says, “We are excited about the megatrends shaping India's used two-wheeler category. The used market is roughly 1.5X the size of the new two-wheeler market, and as Indian consumers grow more aspirational, premiumization within the second-hand category is becoming a defining theme. Despite the scale of the opportunity, there is no clear winner today, no 'Spinny for bikes', and the rapid electrification of two-wheelers opens up an entirely new whitespace for organised, tech-led players. We have deep respect for the way Sagar and Ajit have built Speedioo: bootstrapped, capital-efficient, with strong unit economics and overall profitability from very early on. Their DNA aligns closely with our playbook of not throwing capital at the problem, but building sustainable businesses that scale exponentially. We also have a sharp point of view on value creation in this category, across technology platform building, distribution expansion, and a deliberate focus on the most lucrative segments. We are excited to partner with the Speedioo team on this journey."

As a part of its growth phase, Speedioo aims to cross ₹100 crore ARR while expanding its presence in new markets where demand for trusted mobility solutions continues to rise.This includes diversifying sourcing channels across interstate and intracity markets, strengthening OEM relationships, expanding dealer penetration, introducing financing and warranty products, opening additional retail stores, and entering new Tier 1, 2, 3, and 4 markets.

Speedioo's expansion strategy is anchored on three pillars: supply, demand, and channel expansion. The Company plans to diversify its acquisition channels, aggressively go behind the rapidly emerging EV resale ecosystem, where significant whitespace opportunity exists and doubling down on dealer partner penetration in existing cities, where current penetration remains limited.

As part of its channel expansion, Speedioo plans to open new retail stores across existing markets and enter 2 – 3 new cities in this financial year. The Company will also invest in building large-scale customer experience and fulfilment capabilities, which will be backed by technology-led operational infrastructure.

India's used two-wheeler market is estimated at approximately $28 billion in size and is roughly 1.5X the volume of the new two-wheeler market. Despite this scale, the category remains over 95% unorganised, with no clear consumer brand winner. Recent exits and consolidation among well-funded predecessors have left a wide-open lane for a capital-efficient, operator-led player to define the category.

About Speedioo

Speedioo is a full-stack consumer-tech company transforming India's approximately $28.8 billion used two-wheeler market through technology, operational excellence and customer trust. The company is building an integrated omnichannel platform across procurement, pricing, refurbishment, supply chain and customer experience to make used two-wheeler ownership more accessible, reliable and transparent for Indian consumers. Founded with the vision of solving trust, affordability and accessibility challenges in the category, Speedioo is focused on building a scalable, sustainable and trusted mobility brand for Bharat.

About Atomic Capital

Atomic Capital is an early-stage investment firm backing capital-efficient, founder-led businesses building category-defining consumer and consumer-tech brands in India.

AI in Retail: Google Cloud and Accenture to Use Gen AI To Enhance Best Buy's Customer Support Experience

AI in Retail: Google Cloud and Accenture to Use Gen AI To Enhance Best Buy's Customer Support Experience

Best Buy, Google Cloud, and Accenture have joined forces in a new collaboration to enhance customer support services using generative AI (gen AI). This initiative aims to provide more personalized and efficient experiences for Best Buy customers. Best Buy has selected Google Cloud as its AI innovation and strategic partner for several of its key customer care initiatives

Self-Service Support Option

Starting in late summer 2024, Best Buy's U.S. customers will be able to connect with a gen AI-powered virtual assistant for self-service support.

The assistant can help with tasks such as troubleshooting product issues, rescheduling or combining order deliveries, and managing software, Geek Squad subscriptions, and My Best Buy Memberships™.

Customers can access these services while shopping on BestBuy.com, using the Best Buy mobile app, or calling the customer service line directly.

Enhancing Customer Care Agents

Best Buy will launch new gen AI-enabled capabilities for customer care agents.

These tools will assess conversations in real-time, detect sentiment, and provide relevant recommendations.

The goal is to reduce the mental workload for agents and allow them to better connect with customers.

Front-Line Employee Assistance

Best Buy plans to develop a Gen AI-powered assistant specifically for its front-line employees in stores. This assistant will provide solutions like finding internal company resources or pulling up specific product guides to better serve customers.

By leveraging Google Cloud's AI platform, Vertex AI, and Gemini models, Best Buy aims to stay at the forefront of customer support experiences. The future of retail continues to evolve, and Best Buy is committed to serving its customers in innovative ways.

In addition to implementing tools to assist customer care agents, Best Buy will work with Google Cloud and Accenture to develop an AI-driven assistant specifically for its front-line employees serving customers nationwide. This assistant will aim to provide a broad array of solutions to support employees in stores with things like finding internal Best Buy company resources or pulling up specific product guides to help better serve a Best Buy customer.

AI in Retail: Google Cloud and Accenture to Deploy Gen AI To Enhance Best Buy's Customer Support Experience


These new gen AI-powered capabilities further enhance our commitment to deliver better, more personalized experiences to our customers by unlocking the power of people,” said Brian Tilzer, Chief Digital Analytics and Technology Officer at Best Buy. We are excited to leverage and tailor these innovations with great partners like Google and Accenture so we can continue to serve our customers in unique and differentiated ways and make our employees’ jobs easier.

Best Buy will tap into a range of Google Cloud products including their Gemini models and Vertex AI, to create and launch these AI capabilities, as well as Contact Center AI to develop state-of-the-art conversational agents. The selection of Google Cloud’s generative AI technologies builds on how Best Buy uses AI across a number of customer care fronts.

Best Buy and Google have a long-standing relationship with existing collaborations across other Google products and services, including Advertising, Hardware, Google Chrome, and more. Powering some of Best Buy’s upcoming gen AI deployments will be a coordinated effort across Accenture, Google Cloud Consulting, and Best Buy’s internal teams to build, test and scale new capabilities for Best Buy.

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is the world’s largest specialty consumer electronics retailer. Our purpose is to enrich lives through technology, which we do by providing our customers a unique mix of advice, products and services in our stores, online, and in homes. Our expert associates advise customers on our curated assortment of the latest, name-brand technology, while our highly trained services teams help with designs, consultations, delivery, installation, tech support and repair.

Bengaluru-based DaveAI Joins Intel’s Open Retail Initiative to Accelerate the Pace of Innovation in the Retail Sector

DaveAI Joins Intel’s Open Retail Initiative to Accelerate the Pace of Innovation in the Retail Sector

DaveAI; a visual AI platform empowering businesses to leverage AI to augment customer experience & sales, has collaborated with Intel; the founding member of ORI (open retail initiative) to scale innovative digital solutions in the retail sector.

The Open Retail Initiative

Intel has launched an open retail initiative (ORI) in collaboration with various organizations in the industry to initiate digitalization in the processes of retail sector that transcend the existing traditional roles. The open retail initiative is a program that consists of a group of organizations doing work for the retail sector coming together to bring about a successful transformation in retail.

Challenges faced by organizations

With the advancement of AI, the arrival of digital transformation in retail has driven a need to update current working methodologies and enhance the customer experience. Fluctuating customer demands have led the supply chains to re-evaluate the dynamics of the domain. There are many challenges organizations face to bring about this evolution. A unified strategy across all departments is hard to build. Fulfilment of the requirements of technical, operational, and financial feasibility becomes difficult that leads the organizations to slow down their approach.

The partnership solution

To overcome such challenges, the ORI has deployed an open framework for businesses to build scalable solutions on a common platform mitigating the circumstantial need for resources. Seamless integrations are enabling business owners to understand and upgrade all aspects of the retail sector. ORI benefits retailers, SIs, ISVs, OEMs/ODMs, and solution aggregators by making interoperability easily possible to deploy new systems on the go.

About DaveAI

The DaveAI lens projects the ultimate goal of deploying complex AI use cases easily that meets the objectives ORI has. With an understanding of the market and deployment of real time data, DaveAI provides a unique blend of personalization and accuracy with its AI based product solutions. DaveAI's platform enables a seamless customer journey while easing out the process of product discovery.

The chain of improvements seen today, highlights the use of immersive technologies driven by AI when customer satisfaction is seen bubbling with the sales in retail hitting the roof. Speaking about the partnership, Dr. Ananthakrishnan Gopal, Cofounder & CTO - DaveAI said, 'In partnership with Intel, DaveAI will keep contributing to the retail sector by deploying higher value solutions to humanize digital experience and help build meaningful customer relationships.

64% Indians Confident That AI Will Make Lives Easier and Society Smarter - Salesforce Research

Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, today unveiled findings from new research titled, Artificial Intelligence in Asia: Trust, Understanding and the Opportunity to Re-Skill.

Commissioned across seven Asian markets including Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, the study explores consumer trust and understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the opportunities for business and government to grow knowledge, re-skill and prepare consumers for the future.

Amongst the markets surveyed, the results reveal that Indian consumers are well aware of AI (78%) and India emerged as the second market (with Indonesia at 68%) with the highest positive outlook towards AI (65%). The majority also believe that AI has the ability to help make society smarter (60%) in the future. Most Indians surveyed (64%) also feel AI will transform the employee space, by providing freedom to work, creating interesting jobs, and many see AI as a way to make society smarter (60%) and life more convenient (58%).

There is a clear correlation between understanding and outlook. As AI permeates the enterprise, it is undoubtedly altering consumer spaces and preferences where respondents who reported a higher level of understanding of AI (78%) were statistically more likely to have a positive outlook towards AI products and services. 54% think the more they understand and are made aware of AI, the more they will trust it. And, with 65% of respondents feeling positive about AI, it’s now the role of businesses to demystify AI for consumers encouraging adoption and educating customers on its benefits.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming of age. As businesses continue to find new ways to innovate with AI technologies, awareness and education on its benefits for consumers will become increasingly important. By leveraging AI across businesses, we have the opportunity to amplify our human intelligence, connect to our consumers and impact societies like never before,” says Sunil Jose, senior area Vice-President and Country Leader, Salesforce India.

64% of Indians are confident that new jobs will emerge from AI, giving them the opportunity to do better and more interesting jobs. Upskilling will be crucial and 56% of Indians are ready to upskill and make themselves relevant for jobs of the future.

“AI will redefine the skills needed for new jobs, forcing businesses and individuals to re-evaluate what skills are needed to be successful. At Salesforce, we recognise this shift, and are preparing future workers through our online learning platform, Trailhead. Trailhead is empowering everyone to learn the skills needed to be successful in the fourth industrial revolution. The future of businesses is an active partnership between human and machine, and with Trailhead we are ensuring humans are ready for the opportunities to come,” says Sunil Jose, senior area Vice-President and Country Leader, Salesforce India.

In addition to overall AI awareness, the study explores the real-world applications of AI including robo advisors, content recommendations, chatbots, product recommendations, and voice assistants. Consumer trust and awareness vary dramatically across different AI applications, with 86% of Indians opting for AI over humans to recommend them content. The study also reveals that Indians are open to AI managing and optimizing their finances (59%). Additionally, the study found that there is a general openness towards interacting with chatbots (63%) and awareness of voice assistants is the highest amongst all AI applications (83%).

This research was conducted by YouGov, commissioned by Salesforce and covers seven Asian markets: Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines with a sample size of 1000 consumers in each market. The survey measures Asian consumers’ awareness, understanding and usage of AI products and services as well as examines their outlook of AI to understand how they feel about AI impacting their lives and the world at large. The survey also explores trust levels of consumers towards six real-world applications of AI – including smart chatbots, self-driving cars and robo-advisors.

Unedited ~ Business Wire India

[Top Image - Andy Kelly on Unsplash]

AI is the Path To Maximum Profitability for Retail and FMCG Firms - Report

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next big step for retail and FMCG companies following the implementation of advanced big data and analytics (BDA) solutions, which can unlock huge data volumes in an automated way in real-time and ultimately lead to maximum profitability, according to leading data and analytics company GlobalData.

The company’s Disruptor Database revealed that although retailers have grown to their current size by capitalizing on profitable bits of digitalization, they are often challenged in understanding what their customers need at scale. There is a colossal amount of customer data with enterprises, but only a handful are able to generate value deemed from low conversion rates of below 5% overall.

This broadens the scope for retailers and consumer goods companies to use predictive analytics to enhance decisions related to supply chain management, customer behavior, staff allocation and the likelihood of goods being damaged, lost or returned.

Rena Bhattacharyya, Technology Research Director at GlobalData, says: “While most analysis related to understanding market trends, achieving greater customer personalization, and improving operational efficiency can be performed with BDA methods, AI in many cases is less cost intensive and faster - at times even instant.. Intelligent machine learning systems can replace expensive armies of data scientists and provide solutions or product recommendations in an automated way. The timing of the analytics is crucial, since opportunities for cost savings or additional sales are frequently limited to minutes or even seconds.”

AI in Retail and FMCG

What made their way through the experimental phase of AI in FMCG and retail are the use cases related to predictive analytics. For example, thanks to the integration of machine learning, eBay is now able to help sellers on its platform with solutions ranging from delivery time to fraud detection. It can also discover gaps in inventory of a particular product and alert related sellers to stock up on that item, as well as make price recommendations based on trending events automatically.

Procter & Gamble used deep learning technology to create a skin advisor service for its Olay brand. After screening millions of selfies and spotting key age characteristics, Olay’s service can provide women with personalized product recommendations based on skin analysis.

Leading retailers including Amazon, Alibaba, Lowe’s and Tesco are developing their own AI solutions for automation, analytics and robotics use cases. At the same time, many retailers have not implemented any AI solutions yet and are likely to fall behind their competitors.

“AI is the path to maximum profitability. It will be the technology platform that reaps the biggest rewards. Retail and FMCG companies looking to launch AI-based solutions should start by understanding the needs of their target customer base, focus on providing an omnichannel experience, and strive to achieve cost savings through greater efficiency,” concludes Bhattacharyya.

[Top Image - MarketingTunnel.com]

AI is the Path To Maximum Profitability for Retail and FMCG Firms - Report

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next big step for retail and FMCG companies following the implementation of advanced big data and analytics (BDA) solutions, which can unlock huge data volumes in an automated way in real-time and ultimately lead to maximum profitability, according to leading data and analytics company GlobalData.

The company’s Disruptor Database revealed that although retailers have grown to their current size by capitalizing on profitable bits of digitalization, they are often challenged in understanding what their customers need at scale. There is a colossal amount of customer data with enterprises, but only a handful are able to generate value deemed from low conversion rates of below 5% overall.

This broadens the scope for retailers and consumer goods companies to use predictive analytics to enhance decisions related to supply chain management, customer behavior, staff allocation and the likelihood of goods being damaged, lost or returned.

Rena Bhattacharyya, Technology Research Director at GlobalData, says: “While most analysis related to understanding market trends, achieving greater customer personalization, and improving operational efficiency can be performed with BDA methods, AI in many cases is less cost intensive and faster - at times even instant.. Intelligent machine learning systems can replace expensive armies of data scientists and provide solutions or product recommendations in an automated way. The timing of the analytics is crucial, since opportunities for cost savings or additional sales are frequently limited to minutes or even seconds.”

AI in Retail and FMCG

What made their way through the experimental phase of AI in FMCG and retail are the use cases related to predictive analytics. For example, thanks to the integration of machine learning, eBay is now able to help sellers on its platform with solutions ranging from delivery time to fraud detection. It can also discover gaps in inventory of a particular product and alert related sellers to stock up on that item, as well as make price recommendations based on trending events automatically.

Procter & Gamble used deep learning technology to create a skin advisor service for its Olay brand. After screening millions of selfies and spotting key age characteristics, Olay’s service can provide women with personalized product recommendations based on skin analysis.

Leading retailers including Amazon, Alibaba, Lowe’s and Tesco are developing their own AI solutions for automation, analytics and robotics use cases. At the same time, many retailers have not implemented any AI solutions yet and are likely to fall behind their competitors.

“AI is the path to maximum profitability. It will be the technology platform that reaps the biggest rewards. Retail and FMCG companies looking to launch AI-based solutions should start by understanding the needs of their target customer base, focus on providing an omnichannel experience, and strive to achieve cost savings through greater efficiency,” concludes Bhattacharyya.

[Top Image - MarketingTunnel.com]

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