In late February 2020, weeks before the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, MIT professor David Simchi-Levi, in an article cowritten with Pierre Haren, predicted the closure of manufacturing plants that would lead to toilet paper shortages and supply chain chaos globally.

Simchi-Levi, who leads the MIT Data Science Lab, made those projections with the help of his “Risk Exposure Index,” a mathematical model that predicts the impact of disruptions (like pandemics or volcanic explosions) on a supply chain.

According to Simchi-Levi, streamlining manufacturing, which is, as the pandemic demonstrated, particularly susceptible to disruption, requires a shift in how companies think about risk: Rather than measuring the likelihood that a disruption will occur, the focus should be on building resilience—which he defines as the ability to respond quickly when and where shocks do occur—and which requires much more flexibility than most manufacturing processes have today.

So, how to implement a flexible, resilient approach and ensure products are on shelves to meet consumer demand, rain or shine? With an immense amount of data and a little help from AI.

Software solutions and simulating risk

“AI is not about automation, it’s about bringing intelligence to automation,” explained Azita Martin, VP and GM of retail AI at accelerated computing company Nvidia.

Martin pointed to Omniverse, Nvidia’s simulation software, which creates a “digital twin” of a factory—an accurate digital representation of the physical environment.

Then, in what Nvidia calls the “industrial metaverse,” companies can test out different factory layouts and make optimization decisions aided by real-time updates on the physical space, she said. That’s a solution that can double throughput at pilot distribution centers, Martin added.

Keep reading here.—MA

The retail landscape is more competitive than ever, meaning shoppers can take their business anywhere. How do you differentiate your brand? It’s all about the customer experience—with a little help from AI.

Check out the Zendesk x AWS webinar to find out how conversational AI can transform CX for the better.

With today’s fast-moving trends and economic uncertainty, retailers need to deliver on CX in the most cost-effective way possible. And with AI, retailers can provide conversational service at scale, freeing up service agents’ time and improving efficiency.

In the webinar, you’ll learn from Zendesk and AWS experts about how AI can help retailers:

• use conversational service at scale
• boost agent productivity
• make operations more efficient

Get the full webinar on demand here.

The 1-800-Flowers moniker derives from a telephone number the company acquired in 1986, but the company has evolved way beyond that technology since then.

Ahead of Mother’s Day, the company’s second-biggest shopping period behind the December holidays, 1-800-Flowers debuted a new ChatGPT feature called “MomVerse,” which creates unique poems and songs for a recipient. Additionally, on April 27, the company hosted its first livestream shopping event where four moms shared curated selections from four of 1-800-Flowers’s brands, including Personalization Mall, Cheryl’s Cookies, and Harry & David.

Artificial intelligence and live shopping are the latest examples of how 1-800-Flowers is embracing new technology that CEO Chris McCann said will better engage its customers and lead to increased purchases and higher retention.

• “The more innovation we can bring, the more we can keep them engaged. And the more we can keep them engaged, the longer they’ll stick around,” McCann told Retail Brew.

Front and center: Because of the user-friendly nature of ChatGPT, 1-800-Flowers has opted to promote it at several touchpoints, including its homepage, emails, and social channels, McCann said. The company has also introduced an offering in some of its stores that lets customers copy a song or poem onto a greeting card to be accompanied by a gift bundle or just sent as a standalone digital product.

Keep reading here.—KM

We hope everyone had a good Mother’s Day brunch. Just a little tidbit before we get into this week’s events: Tuesday is Supply Chain Professionals day. So…take a moment to thank your supply-chain managers tomorrow?

In openings: The famed NYC department store Century 21 will reopen on Tuesday after closing up shop during the pandemic in 2020. The flagship store situated across from the World Trade Center will carry Fendi, Hugo Boss, and Michael Kors, among other brands.

In events: Commerce Week starts today, and retail executives will dig into strategies and best practices for reaching customers through online advertising, email campaigns, and social shopping.

In earnings: Target and Walmart will host their quarterly earnings on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, and are coming off generally positive annual reports disclosed earlier this year. Both chains, however, have been part of a trend of retailers closing physical stores.

Keep reading here.—KM

Today’s top retail reads.

Get cracking: Why the price of eggs is down and is expected to keep dropping. (Marketplace)

Net gain: Pickleball courts are being installed in former mall locations of stores including Bed Bath & Beyond and Old Navy. (CNN)

Been there, done rat: Scabby the Rat, the inflatable rodent that’s become a common sight at picket lines, struggles to stay relevant. “One person thought that we were protesting a building that needed an exterminator,” said James Smith, union activity administrator for the NYC District Council of Carpenters. (Associated Press)

Putting the AI in retail: That’s right, y’all—retail CX is going smart. Learn how Wayfair looks to use natural language processing to get real-time insights at scale, sponsored by Square.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

At the mall, it’s where band tees are the only tees. In Retail Brew, it’s where we invite readers to weigh in on a trending retail topic.

Consumers in self-checkout in airport shops and elsewhere increasingly are being prompted to add a 10%–20% tip, even for something like a bottle of water that they grabbed themselves without any assistance.

You tell us: Would you leave a tip in a self-checkout line for an item no one assisted you with? Cast your vote here.

Circling back: Last week, we told you about Tennessee waiving grocery taxes for three months, and asked how that would affect your grocery shopping behavior.

Most of you (58.3%) said you’d shop exactly as you did before, and enjoy those sweet, sweet savings. Another 29.2% of you said you’d want to stock up before the grocery tax returned, so you’d end up buying significantly more items or fancier brands and spending more than before the tax was waived. And 6.9% said you’d buy only a few more things or switch to fancier brands to spend about the same amount as before the tax was waived. Talk of taxes can be triggering, which is maybe why 5.6% of you didn’t know or weren’t sure.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• This is what a cannabis ‘lifestyle concept store’ looks like
• David’s Bridal may have lost to the experiential economy
• Etsy’s new wedding registry business