Huawei Launches Smart Retail Solution to Boost Industry Growth

[Shanghai, China, September 19, 2024] During HUAWEI CONNECT 2024, Huawei unveiled its Smart Retail Solution at the session themed AI Unlocks New Retail Growth. Over 500 experts, partners, and leading companies from retail and logistics discussed how intelligent innovation can boost value growth and shared how they applied AI to business scenarios. Huawei's Smart Retail Solution is designed to promote AI-based lean operations throughout the R&D, production, supply, sales, and service processes. It aims to boost continued growth in the retail industry through digital and intelligent transformation.

The retail industry is experiencing significant changes amidst global digital transformation. Consumers are demanding better shopping experiences and service quality, with their preferences constantly evolving. Moreover, retailers are increasingly integrating their online and offline channels, which means they need to come up with omnichannel marketing strategies to keep their customers engaged and attract new ones. To tackle these challenges, the retail industry is proactively leveraging technology to upgrade and transform.

Wang Zhiya, COO of the Manufacturing and Large Enterprise BU, Huawei, summarized major changes in the retail industry in her opening speech. As AI continues to mature, retail services will be defined by personalization and customization. Wang also predicted that intelligent retail based on this foundation will gain popularity. Retail competition in the future will not only be about products and services, but also about data and algorithms. However, handling massive amounts of data on top of balancing precision marketing with privacy protection, efficiency improvement, and inclusivity, are challenges that retailers have to take on as they go smart.

At the session, several industry leaders shared their insights on the current changes in the retail industry. Michael Deng, Consumer Products and Retail Industry Lead Partner of Deloitte China Consulting Business, highlighted that generative AI will speed up product and marketing innovation in retail, while also enhancing process efficiency and customer experience.

Lingna Xu, Assistant General Manager of Rainbow Digital Commercial and General Manager of Ling Zhi Digital Technology, emphasized the power of AI in upgrading brick-and-mortar retail stores and the importance of finding the right approach. She mentioned that their collaboration with Huawei resulted in a powerful and user-friendly AI model dedicated to the retail vertical, known as Bailingniao (direct translation: Lark). Supported by a robust computing backbone, this model has helped Rainbow implement AI the right way for them.

Kevin Kong, General Manager of the Enterprise Logistics & Retail Account Dept, Huawei, unveiled the latest Smart Retail Solution for the global retail industry to address emerging trends and challenges. He said that as Huawei assists in the retail industry's digital and intelligent transformation, the company has been working with partners to create comprehensive smart solutions that leverage digital infrastructure, AI platforms and models, and scenario-specific applications. Huawei will remain committed to constructing digital foundations to support the industry's vast range of models and innovative applications.

Customer representatives also shared their practices during digital and intelligent transformation. Marcus Spurrel, CEO of DMALL EMEA, explained that while DMALL previously focused on cloud transformation for retail companies, they are now partnering with Huawei to explore the application of AI in the retail industry.

Dai Huaying, Director of Smart Supply Chain for the Retail Industry, SF Technology, showcased the company's innovative practices in supply chain optimization. She demonstrated how AI can help retailers improve efficiency and reduce costs in crucial aspects like properly managing inventory, controlling warehousing expenses, optimizing logistics paths, and cutting packaging costs.

In addition, Jonathan Kang, CEO of CACloud Services (Shanghai), pointed out that in the entire industry ecosystem, peers, partners, and customers are all exploring how to use AI effectively. However, simply purchasing compute resources or servers is far from enough. The key is to build a network support system that comes with intelligent control policies and delivers high bandwidth, concurrency, and availability while keeping the latency low.

Facing the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation and consumption upgrade, the retail industry has shown enormous potential for value growth in areas like store operations, supply chain management, and service experience innovation. Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to invest in the retail industry and collaborate with industry partners to create smart solutions that cover all scenarios. This will help the retail industry unlock the power of AI and other cutting-edge technologies and move towards a more intelligent, efficient, and personalized future.