The CEO of disruptive Google shopping platform Dream Agility has said technology could stave off “Armageddon” in the retail world.
Elizabeth Clark is the co-founder of the Ramsbottom-based firm which has built a presence in Australia, Atlanta and France in less than two years.
With Brexit negotiations now underway and the political situation more unstable than it has been in years, there are fears that UK businesses could suffer amid the uncertainty.
“I was at the European TMA (Turnaround Management Association) conference on Friday and they were all getting very excited about the prospect of an upturn in business as retailers start to suffer, with customers spending their spare cash on experiential things rather than physical things,” she said of the non-profit body dedicated to corporate restructuring.
“Retail reported the worst figures for May in years. The chairman of Furniture Village says that Armageddon is coming.
“We’re not seeing that with our retailers, many of whom have offline and online presences. We’re using optimised data, smarter, for more applications throughout the business.
“Incremental changes across the board are safer and more effective for retailers to protect themselves from the forthcoming doom and gloom as Brexit sets in.”
Dream Agility’s cloud-based software sits between a retailer and Google and matches up the website’s feed to Google search terms without changing anything on the site itself.
Clark, who replaced her sales staff with robots when they underperformed, said the latest advancements in technology make it easier to implement in the retail space.
“Newer tech requires minimal integration, so it’s less risky, fewer stakeholders are involved in the decision making process, less resource is required from the retailers’ perspective and it is faster to implement to evaluate,” she continued.
Of the upcoming event, to be held in conjunction with ProManchester at Seventy7, she said: “I hope to share the tech love, break down some misconceptions about AI and machine learning and offer some quick wins hidden in existing data.”