Macy's 4.75X Shopping Jump Proves AI Can Move The Top Line
SMRTR summary
Shoppers using Macy's new AI assistant are spending nearly five times more than those who don't, while OpenAI recently shuttered its shopping feature after Walmart reported conversion rates at just one-third of their website's performance. The stark difference isn't about the technology itself - both use comparable AI models. Instead, it's about solving the right problem.
OpenAI tried to eliminate the friction of clicking through to checkout, but that was never the real barrier. Macy's targeted something much more valuable: the moment of hesitation before purchase.
Their AI assistant addresses the age-old retail problem that physical stores solve with good salespeople - answering questions like "Does this go with what I own?" or "Will this fit right?" These doubt-killing conversations happen naturally in stores but rarely online, where uncertainty quietly destroys potential sales.
The lesson extends beyond retail. Companies deploying AI often obsess over model quality and capabilities, but Macy's success suggests the crucial factor is identifying where human judgment stalls in workflows. A sophisticated model solving the wrong problem will always underperform a simpler one targeting the right friction point.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Forbes.
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