Computer Vision: Accelerating Data Insights in an Increasingly Digitized Retail Ecosystem

This IDC Perspective investigates the current and future role of computer vision within the retail industry. This includes a deep dive into computer vision - what it is, how it works, and the approaches for developing, validating, and deploying it within retail organizations. IDC also identifies and analyzes key experimental, emerging, and established computer vision-enabled use cases for retailers. IDC's research and ecosystem discussions reiterate the long-term role that computer vision will play in improving customer experience, increasing operational efficiencies in stores, and finding opportunities for innovation. Although the journey to fully realize computer vision's potential remains long, retailers and their technology partners should remain committed to future development and adoption."The potential value of computer vision to help retail organizations is crystal clear, yet the primary hurdle for retailers remains determining which use case should be prioritized and pursued first," said Matt Arcaro, research director of IDC's Computer Vision AI Tools and Technology Research Program. "The broad applicability of computer vision and its strong alignment and fit with a retailer's current and future operational goals create a high-value use case pipeline to be unlocked.""We see computer vision solutions adding value across operational domains," said Leslie Hand, GVP, IDC Retail and Financial Insights. "Combined with emerging AI tools and technologies, computer vision will help retailers capture and operationalize data that has previously been hidden, making brick and mortar stores function more like online shopping environments with the same insights into customer behavior, preference, and engagement."