CX Innovators Podcast

Wayfair VP talks retail AI trends, challenges

Wayfair isn't limiting AI technology to customer-facing initiatives such as Decorify. The retailer is going well beyond that strategy.

Image: Networld Media Group

October 30, 2023

Wayfair has long been a leader when it comes to AI, from using the technology internally to enhance from customer support to the supply chain.

The online retailer's latest AI innovation is a tool called Decorify that lets consumers upload an image of their home space and use the tool to reimagine in different styles.

But as Sanjeev Singh Sahni, a VP and global head of Wayfair Professional and B2C sales, shares in a podcast, moderated by Retail Customer Experience editor Judy Mottl, the tool is just one of many AI innovations at Wayfair.

That's because Wayfair isn't limiting AI technology to customer-facing initiatives such as Decorify. The retailer is going well beyond that strategy — which is exactly what retailers should be doing as noted in a recent blog at Retail Customer Experience.

"AI is used in multiple areas across retail, from consumer product suggestions to merchandise demand forecasting and inventory allocation," wrote Allison McCabe and Julie Cheney. "The purpose of this AI is to enable better decision-making through gleaning faster and more accurate pictures from your data and other signals. To optimize AI, it is imperative that your organization be ready to use it, trust its output and act upon the insight it provides."

Wayfair, as Sahni shares in the podcast, is the doing all that and more. As he states, "it's a very exciting time for AI and AI in retail."

Tune in to hear all his insight on AI in retail and about Wayfair's AI strategy.