Photo by Faith Ninivaggi for Amazon
Amazon has announced a raft of new artificial intelligence (AI) features and technologies to speed up deliveries and reduce costs across its business.
The logistics giant plans to deploy a fleet of 1,000 electric delivery vans with a new AI-powered ‘vision-assisted package retrieval’ (VAPR) technology that allows drivers to find packages faster and more easily.
VAPR works by beaming down lights from cameras and LED projectors in the van’s ceiling, with a green circle highlighting where the right parcels are and red crosses to signal the ones to ignore.
It means drivers no longer have to organise parcels by stops, read labels and manually check the customer’s address. Amazon said initial tests show it saves over 30 minutes per journey and a 67 per cent decrease in perceived physical and mental effort for drivers.
“When we speed up deliveries, customers shop more”, said Doug Herrington, chief executive of Worldwide Amazon Stores at an event hosted by the tech company in Nashville on Wednesday.
Herrington also announced the launch of new generative AI ‘shopping guides’ to help customers research and choose products.
The AI tool creates guides for product categories, such as TVs and headphones, that are “easy to digest”, and point customers towards top brands and popular products.
However, it comes after Amazon recently reported slowing online sales growth and said cautious consumers were seeking out cheaper options for purchases. The news sent shares down even as it posted profit and cloud computing sales that beat analyst estimates.
Amazon’s online retail business is battling increasing competition from budget Chinese e-retailers, Temu and Shein, which sell their products at rock-bottom prices.
“This is a remarkable transformation we’re going through”, Herrington said on Wednesday, commenting on the firm’s transition to using generative AI. “We’re also able to invent new experiences that we thought were like science fiction before.”
He added that Amazon has previously tried a similar product but it failed due to being too labour intensive and a rapid expiry date as prices and products change.
However, “AI is going to allow us to scale these [category guides] and keep them fresh” Herrington said.
Earlier this year, Amazon rolled out a similar AI product called Rufus, its conversational shopping assistant to engage with customers.
