Adapting to the Changing Landscapes: Why Retail Execution is Shifting towards Scene Understanding

In today's rapidly evolving retail landscape, staying ahead requires embracing innovative technologies that provide actionable insights and optimise in-store performance. 

Neurolabs introduces In-Store Scene Understanding (ISSU), reshaping retail strategies and transforming how Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands approach retail execution.

Are you ready to change the way you do things and improve your retail execution strategies? Discover the power of ISSU technology for REX today. 

What Is In-Store Scene Understanding?

Scene understanding is a type of artificial intelligence research that endeavours to impart to computers the capacity to perceive visual situations like humans. In-Store Scene Understanding is Neurolabs’ way of adapting this technology to the CPG industry. 

In-Store Scene Understanding enables you to gain a panoramic view of the in-store environment (scene) around your products to obtain insights into shelf activity, promotional materials, displays, and your competitors strategies.

The ultimate goal of scene understanding technology is to equip machines with the capability to take appropriate actions based on their interpretation of the scenes they encounter. 

This transformative approach aims to bridge the gap between artificial intelligence and the complexities of visual understanding, paving the way for machines to interact with and respond to visual information in a manner that mirrors human cognition.

In an industry marked by fierce competition and ever-evolving consumer expectations, ISSU can become a useful component in how CPG companies form successful retail execution strategies. 

ISSU empowers CPG brands to navigate the dynamic retail landscape, driving success and fostering growth by providing the insights needed to stay ahead of the curve and deliver exceptional experiences to consumers.

Traditional IR & The Catalogue Management Challenge

Effective Image Recognition (IR) relies on well-maintained catalogues, necessitating up-to-date SKUs and POP materials. 

Without a meticulously maintained and accurate catalogue, the endeavour to build IR technology to gather useful REX insights becomes futile. 

Traditional IR tools rely on the catalogue to extract meaningful insights, making accurate catalogue management indispensable for the success and efficacy of any IR system.

There are currently two main approaches to catalogue management:

The use of real data: Traditional Image Recognition tech relies on real images supplied by CPG brands, which can be slow and costly. Alternatively, some providers send agents to gather data, which adds to the overall solution expense.

Scraping catalogue information from online sources: If you or your Image Recognition solution provider can't obtain real data for training, an alternative is to gather catalogue details from online sources like e-commerce websites. However, this approach is always incomplete, making it challenging for solution providers to ensure accurate SKU identification for comprehensive catalogue coverage.

Overall, relying on real-world data or scraping online sources for Image Recognition proves time-consuming, costly, and inaccurate. These methods hinder the effectiveness of IR learning algorithms, limiting the actionable insights crucial for Consumer Packaged Goods companies. 

How ISSU Improves Your Catalogue Management 

ISSU aims to solve issues with catalogue management by providing a solution that utilises synthetic data, as opposed to the real-world data traditional IR vendors rely on. 

CPGs partnering with Neurolabs need only provide SKU artwork, preferably in the form of existing assets like print labels (typically in PDF format). This preferred method streamlines the data-gathering process, saving significant time and effort for the brands. 

In cases where artwork resources are unavailable, Neurolabs offers an alternative solution. The ZIA Capture App, our dedicated tool, empowers users with iPhones to swiftly scan and onboard an SKU in less than 30 seconds. 

This user-friendly application facilitates the representation of products as Digital Twins (3D models), contributing to the training of synthetic IR algorithms. There are numerous benefits to using this approach for your catalogue management, including: 

• Complete Catalogue Coverage: ZIA achieves complete catalogue coverage by leveraging synthetic data and cutting-edge computer vision. It also allows you to onboard competitors' catalogues, giving you unique competitive insights.

• Faster Onboarding: In a typical scenario involving 50-100 SKUs, the entire catalogue can be successfully onboarded in less than two hours. The synthetic IR training model is then ready for deployment within a day.

• Higher Accuracy: Our technology boasts an impressive accuracy rate of +96% or higher from the outset. 

• Competitive Edge: Data capture methods empower CPGs to commence training synthetic IR technology to detect products before they even reach the shelves, providing a substantial competitive edge.

• Improved Scalability: ZIA Capture makes it simple to add new products and scale up your catalogue. 

Furthermore, our technology seamlessly integrates into existing Sales Force Automation (SFA) solutions via API. This effortless integration not only reduces the time required for onboarding synthetic data sets and image recognition technology but also streamlines overall catalogue management processes for enhanced operational efficiency.

Using ISSU to Gather Actionable Insights for REX 

With your catalogue taken care of, it becomes much easier for CPGs to extract useful and reliable actionable insights from the data that our technology gathers. 

ISSU integrates data from SKUs and promotional materials including Point of Purchase (POP) displays, with a focus on Share of Shelf (SOS). This helps CPGs to monitor their competitor's catalogues and find opportunities for the improvement and diversification of their retail execution, in addition to giving a holistic overview of the entire store execution. 

Whilst traditional planogram compliance focuses on internal catalogue limitations, hindering a comprehensive view of the entire retail environment, in-store scene understanding breaks these limitations, offering detailed insights into the entire category, shelf, or store, giving your CPG brand a competitive advantage.

ChatCPG: How To Use Generative AI for Retail Execution 

Our generative AI solution, ChatCPG,  simplifies Perfect Store execution for CPG brands and Field Marketing Agencies. 

Rather than navigating through spreadsheets and dashboards, ChatCPG allows users to pose questions and receive accurate responses within seconds. 

Powered by Synthetic Image Recognition (SIR) technology from ZIA, ChatCPG analyses crucial shelf KPIs such as out-of-stock items, planogram compliance, share of shelf, and shelf availability.

However, this AI assistant goes beyond shelf-level inquiries, enabling exploration of the broader store environment and competitor landscape. With strategic questions, users gain insights into product surroundings, fostering informed strategies without guesswork. 

ChatCPG provides instant insights on various aspects including shelf compliance, product availability, price analysis, competitor analysis, promotional display compliance, quality control, and inventory visibility. 

These detailed responses create strong actionable insights that CPG brands can work from to create a REX strategy and actions that actually work in the competitive marketplace. Find out more about ChatCPG here.

Example conversation with ChatCPG - Neurolabs' AI Retail Assistant

Embrace The Future of Retail Execution Today 

Elevate the accuracy of your catalogue management practices, propelling your business ahead of competitors. To delve deeper into Neurolabs ZIA, download our complimentary ebook. 

Alternatively, for a firsthand experience of the effectiveness of our solution, reach out today to schedule a demo. We’re always happy to talk you through our solution and how it can benefit your business. 

---

At Neurolabs, we are revolutionising in-store retail performance with our advanced image recognition technology, ZIA. Our cutting-edge technology enables retailers, field marketing agencies and CPG brands to optimise store execution, enhance the customer experience, and boost revenue as we build the most comprehensive 3D asset library for product recognition in the CPG industry.