DALLAS, July 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Symphony RetailAI, the leading global provider of Artificial Intelligence-enabled decision platforms, solutions and customer-centric insights that drive validated growth for retailers and CPG manufacturers, today announced that it was named in EnsembleIQ’s 2018 Retail Technology Innovation Index, including recognition as one of the top four companies for product innovation.
The Retail Technology Innovation Index highlights technology companies with innovative solutions that support the dramatically changing retail landscape. A total of 450 technology companies were evaluated by 12 key performance indicators (KPIs) under four overarching pillars: Product, Performance, Partner Ecosystem and Organization. The 75 companies with the best overall scores and top 30 companies in each category were selected for the final Index.
Symphony RetailAI was among the top four solutions providers in the Product category because its AI, machine learning, virtual and augmented reality solutions deliver significant benefits across marketing, merchandising, supply chain and retail operations. EIQ ranked the company highly in this category based on its forward-looking product strategy and roadmap, and the customer-centric nature of its products. Symphony RetailAI’s focus on the retail industry, the rapid addition of AI and machine learning layers to its existing solution stack, and an organizational culture of innovation and “fast failure” were also recognized with a high ranking in the overall index.
“Customers are demanding more personalized and immersive retail experiences,” said Sahir Anand, Index Architect & Managing VP, Research & Strategy, EnsembleIQ. “To meet these expectations, retailers must embrace innovation and new ways of thinking about the ubiquity of customer touchpoints with their brand. It was with this in mind that we developed the Retail Technology Innovation Index – to celebrate the solution providers that ‘get it,’ and facilitate an opportunity for retailers to learn of solutions that will move business forward.”
Navigating innovative technologies is a tough task for retailers, but the Index identifies the providers that are strategically investing and innovating today where it matters most. EnsembleIQ’s analysis named the top five business drivers for innovation initiatives to be: increasing customer satisfaction (54%); creating new business growth and diversification (43%); reducing the cost of operations (33%); supporting a dynamic store experience (25%); and “future-proofing” the retail business (21%). The technology companies included in the Index offer a variety of retail applications to deliver on these initiatives.
“We know intimately what challenges retailers and CPGs are facing, as retail is, and always has been, the sole focus of our business,” said Graeme Cooksley, CEO & President, Retail Solutions Division, Symphony RetailAI. “Merchandising decisions, marketing and promotions planning, supply chain, retail operations – they’re all connected, and we’re proud that by partnering with Symphony RetailAI, our clients can solve their toughest challenges through comprehensive intelligence for every area of the business.”
Symphony RetailAI has been entirely dedicated to supporting retailers and CPGs for more than three decades. The company’s solutions are used to help manage an estimated nine billion SKUs across more than 250,000 stores, support the dispatch of over 1 million warehouse orders each day, and the creation of more than 50 million planograms every year. Symphony RetailAI’s solutions are built on the Customer 360 platform, with a deep understanding of 175 million households from $160 billion of grocery retail, and provide value to multiple areas of a retailer’s organization, including marketing, merchandising, supply chain and store operations.
“We are proud that Symphony RetailAI’s commitment to innovation is reflected in the Retail Technology Innovation Index,” said Dr. Pallab Chatterjee, Chairman and CEO, Symphony RetailAI. “Our industry-leading end-to-end solutions, combined with ground-breaking innovations, such as our digital assistant CINDE and the recently launched SR Virtual Store Remodeling solution, use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual and augmented reality to improve the efficiency and accuracy of business processes and decision making. The solutions we bring to market allow our retail clients to access customer insights, quickly understand trends and anomalies, and confidently determine the best course of action.”
Symphony RetailAI’s culture of innovation will continue to deliver new opportunities for retailers and CPGs via unique offerings coming to market throughout 2018 and beyond. To read the complete 2018 Retail Technology Innovation Index, download the report today.
Methodology
The 2018 Retail Technology Innovation Index is based on an empirical survey of retailers; industry analyst recommendations; a secondary research data scan of websites and industry databases; and demonstrations, conversations and insights from solution providers (including startups). The index establishes a focus and differentiation of these companies as they relate to the needs of retailers. During the initial process, we identified more than 750 solution providers who help the U.S. retailers drive transformation. The list of companies was then filtered through and examined against survey data of more than 200 retailers across various categories. The companies were also verified using a detailed analysis of secondary research and analyst recommendations, helping to shortlist the top companies. The top companies were further benchmarked against the four main category pillars to weigh their ability to drive innovation in the retail industry. When choosing a solution provider, key consideration went to vendors who possess capabilities in areas of AI, machine learning, AR/VR, cloud computing, Big Data, IoT and cloud across various functions in the retail sector. EnsembleIQ considered several vendors that did not fit into the criteria set above. Those companies were not shortlisted due to their lack of innovative technology solutions and ability to drive retail transformation.
About EnsembleIQ
EnsembleIQ is a premier business intelligence resource that exists to help people and their organizations succeed. It is structured to serve the business-to-business needs of retailers, consumer goods manufacturers, technology vendors, marketing agencies and retail service providers by using its integrated network of media and information resources designed to inform, connect and provide actionable marketplace intelligence. Learn more about EnsembleIQ at www.ensembleiq.com. EnsembleIQ is a portfolio company of RFE Investment Partners, a private equity investor with more than 30 years of experience investing in growth companies in partnership with strong management teams. Information on RFE can be found at www.rfeip.com.
About Symphony RetailAI
Symphony RetailAI is the leading global provider of Artificial Intelligence-enabled decision platforms, solutions and customer-centric insights that drive validated growth for retailers and CPG manufacturers, from customer intelligence to personalized marketing, and merchandising and category management, to supply chain and retail operations. Symphony RetailAI is innovating rapidly to drive faster, more profitable decisions through AI, machine learning and voice technologies. We are trusted by over 1,200 organizations including 15 of the world’s 25 largest grocery retailers, thousands of retail brands, and hundreds of national and regional chains worldwide to help solve their toughest business problems, through AI-powered customer intelligence and retail solutions. Symphony RetailAI was formed in January 2018 incorporating Symphony GOLD and Symphony EYC into the company as the Retail Solutions Division and Customer Intelligence Division respectively. Symphony RetailAI is a SymphonyAI company. More at www.symphonyretailai.com. Follow us on Twitter: @symphonyretail.
About SymphonyAI
SymphonyAI is a group of companies that provide the leading AI-centric solutions for transforming the business enterprise by driving revenue growth and operational excellence, for the retail, CPG, healthcare and industrial verticals, and for finance, IT and other key enterprise horizontal functions. Founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, SymphonyAI is one of the fastest growing companies in the business-to-business AI solutions sector with revenue this year of $275 million and 1,500 employees. More at www.symphonyai.com.
Media Contact
Adrienne Newcomb
Ketner Group Communications (for Symphony RetailAI)
adrienne@ketnergroup.com
512-794-8876