by In retrospect, Apple’s iPhone revolutionized the way people shop – and looking ahead, the company is about to do it again, this time by putting artificial intelligence at the heart of its mobile technology.
While consumers toy with features like machine-driven proofreading, custom emojis and call transcription in iOS 18, which launched this week, brands are weighing the implications of the new “Apple Intelligence.”
More from WWD
Just in time for the holiday season.
This time may be a sprint, given the fast-approaching start of the holiday season. Then again, app developers have been working with the new tools since Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Now, with the introduction of the iPhone 16 in September, it’s clear that Apple’s most advanced smartphone to date will bring the hardware that can power advanced experiences.
“The iPhone’s new AI chipset is unlocking endless possibilities for how retail customers can leverage new AI search using their phone – now and in the future as technology advances,” said Angie Westbrock, chief executive officer of Standard AI, a Bay. An area-based company that develops data-driven tools to help retailers in areas such as marketing, loss prevention and supply chains.
Westbrock is particularly excited about AI’s capabilities for video-based retail experiences—online and offline.
“In stores, these advances will unleash the next generation of hyper-personalization, combined with image analytics, enabling applications like product recognition and the ability to connect in-store experiences with more traditional app-based e-commerce,” she said.
It’s not that Apple is breaking new ground. Indeed, it is a late thing with AI, a battleground already filled with giants like Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and more. That’s typical of Apple, though. He has earned a reputation for slowly adopting new technologies, refining them and then creating demand that reinvents mainstream behavior.
Take the arrival of the iPhone itself in 2007. It wasn’t the first smartphone, but it was the first to inspire block-long lines in front of Apple Stores, and it started a fierce competition with Google.
These events, which pushed the development of the mobile web and the advent of app stores, marked the beginning of mobile commerce – which, gradually, is still growing.
According to e-commerce data analytics firm ECDB, mobile devices are expected to drive the majority of online sales this holiday season, at 53 percent, with personal care and apparel following groceries as the top categories. Phones account for 68 percent to 77 percent of those collective sales.
It remains to be seen how much of that will be driven by Apple’s AI updates, at least in the coming months. But in terms of long-term impact on beauty or fashion commerce, experts seem to be bullish.
“Siri already does the basics like telling you the time or reminding you of your tasks, but imagine if Siri could tell you it’s time to reorder your favorite beauty products because the New iPhone AI how often you buy items like moisturizer or mascara, based. in terms of usage and frequency,” said Anjee Solanki, national director of retail services and U.S. practice groups for investment management firm Colliers.
“Soon we’ll be relying on our iPhones for everything they can offer in the world of beauty,” she said.
What’s important to understand is that the iPhone 16, and the iOS 18 software that powers it, is only the beginning, not the end of Apple’s AI offering – especially in a highly competitive ring with Google.
Android devices have been feasting on a steady diet of computer vision, AI generation, natural language capabilities and features like circle search, among others. On the contrary, Apple’s continued development seems certain.
This is what Westbrock is excited about, and fashion should be as well. Because the sector could finally see AI delivering on some specific promises.
“Already, I’m illustrating how future APIs for vision capabilities like image segmentation and visual classification will reinvent our personal shopping and e-commerce experiences,” she said. “Imagine applications, like taking an image of a pair of jeans while you’re out and using AI to help you find it online according to your size.”
Other areas on their radar include styling and image-based search, with in-store customers looking at a garment and snapping a photo to see other options. Situations like that would disrupt life online and offline, she said, and not just for shoppers, but for retailers as well.
This is where companies like Standard AI come in. The firm’s AI platform analyzes data and gives retailers precise insight into shopper behavior, product interactions and store dynamics, such as real-time data on low-stock or out-of-stock products.
“[With our] ability to understand shopper behavior and the customer’s journey through the physical store, the iPhone’s AI updates can bring a high level of personalization to recommendations and in-store marketing, while maintaining shopper privacy,” said Westbrock, with Apple’s focus on privacy enhancing. the equation.
So far, it looks like the retailer has a few things to look forward to, whether they add to this holiday season or the next.
The best of WWD
Sign up for the WWD Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
