LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Sainsbury’s said on Friday it has agreed a five-year strategic partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ:) that will leverage the technology company’s artificial intelligence capabilities and the supermarket group’s rich data.
In an effort to increase revenue and save costs, more retailers are using generative artificial intelligence to enhance personalized shopping experiences for consumers and improve staff efficiency.
Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second-largest grocery store after Tesco (OTC:), said it will use artificial intelligence to create a more interactive shopping experience for online shoppers, as well as improve search functions.
In stores, employees will have real-time data and information on key processes such as replenishing shelves.
Time to market for new services and innovative products will also be reduced, Sainsbury’s said.
Financial details of the partnership have not been disclosed.
Sainsbury’s updated its strategy to the market in February, setting a new cost savings target of 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) over three years and promising to boost shareholder returns.
Last month the company forecast profit growth of up to 10% for the current fiscal year, which began March 3, confident it could continue to lure more customers away from rivals.
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