How AI and big data are reshaping the future of retail

The emergence of e-commerce has made for a revolution in retail. Whenever you make a purchase online, you generate data, and that data allows for a higher degree of personalization. “Back in the day, you didn’t have access to granular data about a consumer, so you had the exact same price and marketing for all consumers, regardless of their preferences,” says Maxime Cohen, Academic Director at the Bensadoun School of Retail Management, in an interview with McGill Alumni’s Mark my Words podcast. “But today, you can offer targeted discounts to specific shoppers based on what they looked for, where they’re from, or any other information available to you.”