Retail technology innovation of the week: Kingfisher launches AI powered assistant at Castorama France
Retail Technology Innovation of the Week is a new series brought to you by RTIH and sponsored by 3D Cloud by Marxent, highlighting stand out deployments, launches, and initiatives by retailers and tech suppliers.
Every week, we will showcase forward thinking tech plays that have impressed our Editor and the Retail Technology Innovations Report judging panel, in the run up to the publication of the 2024 report early next year.
So far, we’ve showcased work being done by Ocado Retail, Decathlon, Lacoste, Downtown Spirits, TalkShopLive, Huck’s, Rovertown, Wing, McDonald’s, Nobody’s Child, IKI, Pixevia, Walmart, A.L.C., Archive, Therabody, Outform, Kingfisher, PMC, Żabka Polska, Boots UK, and Ocula Technologies.
And this week, we’re focusing on Kingfisher, which has launched what is pitched as the first AI powered assistant in the home improvement sector, harnessing the capability of generative AI to support customers with their DIY projects.
Launching initially at Castorama France, this answers customers’ DIY queries and provides step-by-step advice on a range of home improvement projects, as well as tailored product recommendations.
Customers can ask the assistant questions in natural language while shopping online – for example “how do I install a worktop in my kitchen” or “which saw should I choose to cut my worktop?”.
It will answer in a friendly and conversational way with relevant advice.
As well as conversing with customers via text chat, the assistant will soon be able analyse photos to perform visual searches and answer visual queries.
By uploading a photo, a customer will able to use the assistant to identify a particular part – for example “I want to replace this broken part of my sink but I don’t know what it’s called” or “I’d like to find another cushion like this one”.
The assistant will initially provide advice in relation to power tools, before being extended to cover Castorama’s full range of products.
It is capable of operating in multiple languages, and if it proves successful, it will ultimately be rolled out to other banners across the Kingfisher Group.
Tom Betts, Group Data Director at Kingfisher, says: “Our new virtual assistant is designed to simplify the world of home improvement, making DIY projects easy and accessible for everyone.”
“Whether you’re a DIY novice looking for advice getting started with a project, or an experienced DIYer in need of a technical answer quickly, our assistant will be on hand to support 24/7. We’re hugely excited by the potential of this technology and look forward to seeing the response from customers.”
To power the assistant and support other future applications of AI, Kingfisher’s data team has developed a proprietary AI orchestration framework, named Athena.
This will manage prompting and interaction with a range of large language models, as well as other AI tools developed in-house. It incorporates a range of controls to ensure security and protect against sensitive or inappropriate content.
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