Tag: Aaron Crowe

Southeast Asia is a hot market for AI adoption. With competition among major players heating up and technology providers increasingly integrating AI into their offerings, AI is now more accessible to mid-market retailers as well as major enterprises. The region is also well-suited to AI integration, as this market typically moves quickly to implement new technologies once they are proven.

While affordable AI technologies and the appetite to harness them exist among retailers, there is a key challenge that is often absent from the frantic discourse found online or in the press: determining specific use cases that add value. 

From chatbots to retrieval augmented generation systems (RAG) and autonomous AI agents, organisations are still working out how to implement AI effectively and efficiently. The excitement around AI’s potential is clear, but businesses need to ensure any implementation delivers tangible value, rather than just being there for the sake of it.

This leaves retailers in a challenging position. The pressure to adopt AI is significant and technologies are maturing fast. Companies must balance that pressure and identify practical applications that create real value for their business and customers.

What AI Adoption Looks Like in Retail Marketing

There are many ways a retailer could potentially integrate AI applications into its operations, depending on its size and needs. 

For example, a retailer might sign up for one of the many generative AI platforms available to produce promotional images and graphics for marketing purposes.

If the company operates an online presence, another entry point might be an LLM-driven chatbot that can handle customer inquiries around things like opening hours, item availability, specials and return policies.  

One increasingly popular and proven way that retailers in Southeast Asia can integrate AI into their operations is through solutions that leverage customer data to improve the shopping experience. We’re talking about authentic personalisation. 

Personalisation makes a retail store so much more. It allows brands to provide a shopping experience that is tailored to each customer’s individual preferences. 

Consider the following example. In the future, before setting foot in the store, customers of Cold Storage in Singapore might receive completely personalised product recommendations that consider not only their past purchases, dietary preferences and lifestyle, but also real-time contextual factors like the weather or local festivals.

These recommendations could be delivered through an app, via email, or even social media. The app could also create shopping lists based on weekly patterns and trends or upcoming holidays, helping customers save time while ensuring they don’t forget any regular staples. 

Another key pre-shopping AI opportunity is in personalised offers and promotions, including challenge offers. Challenge offers provide a gamified experience where customers are increasingly rewarded for meeting specific targets, such as spending a certain amount over a set period. These challenges can again be tailored to a customer’s preferences, presenting goals or targets for product groups they like or buy often.

Personalisation also extends to the in-store experience, where recommendations might pop up in the app based on where customers are in the store. Customers might also be scanning products with their phones to receive reviews and recipes that they might like. Taking this a step further, supplier-funded personalised ads for attractive items could also be generated on a customer-by-customer basis.

A Proven Way to Bring AI to Retailers in Southeast Asia

Personalisation and gamification solutions for retail can help retail brands increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Retailers don’t even need to have an existing loyalty program to get started.

In the case of Eagle Eye’s offering, for example, a retailer in Southeast Asia could get started delivering personalised challenge promotions, powered by AI, in as little as five weeks. This represents a speed to market that matches the region’s hunger to roll out technology solutions quickly.

Such solutions have already been delivered in other markets to great effect. For example, in the United Kingdom, major grocery brand Tesco has adopted AI and is using it to bring benefits to its customers.

Tesco launched Clubcard Challenges in May 2024. This is a loyalty-integrated gamification initiative that utilises AI to create customised, shopper-specific challenges. 

Loyalty members are invited to participate in the game, and they are then served 20 distinct challenges, like spending £20 on summer BBQ supplies, for the chance to collect up to £50 in Clubcard points. Once all tasks are completed, they can win additional rewards.

In other markets, major coffee chain Starbucks is leveraging its Deep Brew technology to analyse customer preferences and contextual data, enabling personalised recommendations like suggesting cold drinks to specific customers during warm weather. 

Similarly, French supermarket chain Carrefour has partnered with Eagle Eye to gamify its MyClub loyalty program, creating customised challenges and goals based on individual shopping patterns and purchase history data.

Make it Happen with AI

The examples and real-world case studies presented above demonstrate how retailers in the region can create powerful customer experiences, drive loyalty and increase profitability, all without extensive lead times or long implementation timelines. 

Rollouts can be done quickly and cautiously. Pilot programs can be run to test effectiveness before moving to full-scale adoption. 

Taking the first steps in AI-driven personalisation with a partner like Eagle Eye means retailers in Southeast Asia can get started with innovative solutions like challenge offers quickly and easily, taking the anxiety out of being left behind in the AI race and joining other early adopting global brands in reaping the benefits. 

This thought leadership piece is written by Aaron Crowe, Regional Director, Eagle Eye, Asia

One of the biggest misconceptions customers have when it comes to building a solution in house is that it will be cheaper. The prospect of saving on licensing costs is attractive to businesses and this is often reflected by technology decision makers when they look to deploy.

However, going down the in-house route often means months—sometimes even years—of development time. As teams undertake a solution build, it’s not uncommon for companies to need to invest heavily to shore up their resources: hiring additional developers, training existing staff, and paying for costly software tools and development environments. 

Furthermore, the initial build is just the beginning. What follows is the ongoing costs of refining and updating the solution as new technologies and threats emerge. Off-the-shelf solutions come out of the box ready to go with the latest features and updates. Let’s take a look at other added benefits of buying a ready made solution.

Maintenance and Security

Maintaining a homegrown solution is like trying to hit a moving target. It’s not just about keeping things running smoothly; it’s about adapting to a constantly changing landscape of security threats and technological advancements. Companies often underestimated the sheer volume of work involved in keeping their solution up-to-date and secure. 

And it’s not just the work; it’s the specialised knowledge needed to understand and implement the latest security protocols. Established and trusted solution providers will have this already.

For example, digital marketing platform Eagle Eye AIR invests 5% of its revenues back into security every year. This investment delivers a return on security up to five times higher than the same investment made by an enterprise retailer running a single program on their own homegrown solution. 

Opportunity Costs and Time to Market

The concept of opportunity cost in another conversation that regularly comes up among teams contemplating building their own tools. Building a solution in-house doesn’t just tie up financial resources—it also ties up the time and energy of skilled staff. 

Every hour that a team spends on development is an hour not spent on strategic initiatives that could be driving a business forward.

Extended development cycles can be a big trap that cause organisations to miss crucial market opportunities. Technology moves quickly, and the market could potentially move on before the build is complete, blunting an organisation’s competitive edge. 

With an out-of-the-box product, organisations get a ready-to-deploy solution that gets them to market faster. That speed translates into immediate benefits, whether it’s staying ahead of competitors or quickly responding to customer needs.

Indirect Cost Add Up

When organisations build in-house, they are not just paying for development and maintenance. They are also absorbing the costs of project management, internal meetings, testing, and troubleshooting. 

There’s also the morale and productivity impact on teams. Nothing drains energy faster than endless debugging sessions or feature roadmaps that never seem to get shorter. It’s easy for teams to get bogged down in the minutiae of development, losing sight of their core competencies and what truly drives value for their customers.

All these indirect costs are minimised when choosing a turnkey solution. Robust, supported platforms allow teams to focus on what they do best—serving customers and growing the business. This not only saves money on development and maintenance; it also preserves team energy and creativity for the tasks that matter most.

Expert Support and Continuous Innovation

The value of having access to expert support and continuous innovation can’t be overstated. When building a solution in house, it falls on the development team to handle every challenge that comes their way. If something breaks or if there’s a need for a new feature, developers are on the hook to figure it out. This often leads to burnout and frustration, especially when resources are stretched thin.

With a professional, prebuilt solution, support teams are there to assist whenever help is needed. Regular updates and new features will also mean the best tools are always available.

Predictable Costs and Budgeting Confidence

Let’s face it: one of the most appealing aspects of deploying a market-ready product is the predictability of costs. With an in-house solution, costs can spiral out of control quickly. Unforeseen challenges, feature creep, and the need for additional resources can blow budgets wide open. 

Starting with a seemingly reasonable development budget, only to arrive in a financial quagmire months down the line as costs blow out, is a very precarious position for solution buyers to be in. 

Commercial products offer clear and predictable pricing structure. This not only makes budgeting easier but also allows organisations to plan finances with confidence, knowing that the investment will yield a strong return without the risk of unexpected costs.

Focus on Core Business Objectives

Ultimately, the most compelling reason to choose an off-the-shelf solution over building an in-house solution is that it allows teams to focus on core business objectives. Every business has a unique mission, and time and resources are best spent pursuing that mission, not getting bogged down in building and maintaining complex solutions.

Freeing up teams to focus on what they do best, whether that’s providing exceptional customer service, innovating new products, or expanding into new markets. Is often far more preferable to organisations than having teams locked up in long development cycles. 

The last 10% takes 90% of the time

According to Melanie Mitchell, computer scientist and Professor of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute argues that “the first 90% of a complex technology project takes 10% of the time and the last 10% takes 90% of the time”.

Just because some teams have exceptional product owners, product managers, engineers and more, all of whom might be capable of building a bespoke solution for loyalty, promotions and personalisation, it may not be the best use of their time. 

However, building that sort of technology is the core focus of the right solution provider. Finding an expert in all the aspects that constitute that last 10% will be a gamechanger.

The Smart Choice for Reducing TCO

The decision to deploy a ready-made solution versus building an in-house solution can often confound technology decision makers, but the benefits of doing the former are clear. 

Considering all the factors—development time, maintenance, security, opportunity cost, indirect costs, and the ability to focus on core business objectives. Choosing the right packaged loyalty, promotions and personalisation solution not only reduces total cost of ownership for an organisations, but also positions them for long-term success.

When it comes to loyalty and personalisation suites, many customers make this choice with such solutions. The peace of mind, the reduced costs, and the ability to stay agile and competitive in a fast-paced market are all powerful advantages to benefit from. 

It’s not just about saving money; it’s about making a strategic investment in a business’ future. 

This thought leadership is written by Aaron Crowe, Regional Director, Eagle Eye, Asia

The insight is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series under What’s NEXT in Marketing 2024-2025, a multi-platform industry initiative which features marketing and industry leaders in APAC sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year.