Black Friday: Online stores rely on artificial intelligence to speed up product delivery | Globo newspaper

With the shopping marathon over, the race to deliver products now begins. And use artificial intelligence In retail logistics will be crucial in meeting deadlines.

Sometimes it seems like the Internet is second guessing our thoughts. A few keystrokes and suddenly the desired product appears directly on your screen. But don’t worry, it’s not supernatural. It’s the artificial intelligence in the picture.

“In fact, you have this impression that the intelligence is listening to what you say, but in practice, what it is trying to do is, based on your experience, and based on your purchasing history, try to give you an increasingly personal experience,” highlights Vinicius Almeida, Artificial Intelligence Specialist – IPNET Growth Partner.

After completing the purchase, artificial intelligence comes in to speed up the delivery process. In a series of shelves, the most efficient way to collect the sold items is delineated. On conveyor belts, technology calculates the weight, size, and even color of the box to separate items. The human hand wraps the product, but it is artificial intelligence that chooses the appropriate packaging for each type of material.

“The structure and foundation of logistics operations is supported by technology and people. So the two things coexist to ensure that the package reaches the consumer’s home very quickly,” explains Luiz Augusto Vergero, Senior Director of Logistics at Mercado Livre.

And it has to be really fast. Only one company made 45 online sales per second during the third quarter of the year. According to the Brazilian E-Commerce Association, it could exceed this year’s Black Friday revenue, from online purchases alone 7.1 billion Brazilian reals.

In the final stage, all products go to an intelligent system that reads the label and final segregation of items by destination. So, until the vicious circle stops. It is a strategy based on which packages fall onto the final conveyor belt in the right place at the right time, so that seconds later each item slides down the slide in the area of ​​the country where it will be delivered. After the products arrive, they go directly to the truck.

Technology is also in the process of delivery.

“First, to set up this delivery guy’s route, so it’s more efficient. And then, as he’s making the delivery, I sometimes need to refresh that route. So it’s also used there, because if I reach a consumer who’s not there, I need to come back later,” I need to trace this path. So there is a feedback process about the route of the vehicle and the route in which the deliveries will take place,” explains Luiz Augusto Vergero, Senior Logistics Manager at Mercado Livre.

If you don’t like the product or it has a defect, customer service will be provided by the robot. It is true that the experience is not always good, but it is a road of no return, and of course it is always evolving.

“So, it’s a very important period for the economy, but at the same time it’s a very big period, especially on the technology part, to be able to put AI back in, not only to help with the quality of service, but also to help with that.” While fully monitoring the necessary structure to be able to provide support for this period we are going through,” highlights Vinicius Almeida, AI specialist at IPNET Growth Partner.

Black Friday drives online shopping in Brazil

Black Friday boosted online shopping across the country. Sales on private label sites were up sixty-seven percent on Friday compared to yesterday. The peak of online shopping occurred between 10 a.m. and noon, according to a company specializing in retail technology.

Compared to last November, digital commerce sales increased by approximately sixteen percent. The most used payment method by Brazilians was card, followed by PIX and bank voucher.

Among the most searched items: sunscreen and air conditioning came out on top. Then came televisions and refrigerators.