For retailers, AI should power, not replace, the human touch

Retailers at the Las Vegas Market learned how to effectively utilize AI to enhance operations and customer engagement from Dovr Media CEO Jake Freedman.
Freedman emphasized the importance of personalization, smart search capabilities, and predictive analytics for revenue growth in the furniture retail sector.
He asserted that intentional, data-driven personalization, rather than mere automation, is key to winning in furniture retail.
Freedman advised auditing existing technology use, identifying customer journey friction points, prioritizing impactful automation, and training teams alongside technology rollouts.
He highlighted the need to avoid common mistakes like “chasing shiny tools without a plan” and over-automating customer interactions, emphasizing that AI should be part of a holistic strategy.
Successful retailers, according to Freedman, gradually adopt new technology while unifying online and showroom experiences, and consistently measure outcomes.
He suggested measuring online conversion rates and investing in automation to preserve relationship-driven selling and improve customer context.
Freedman stressed AI’s role in suggesting new products, sending personalized offers, and generating consistent website content, but urged balancing automation with human creativity.