The Impact of AI And Iot in E-Commerce

Violeta Olar Ardeljan, Vice President, Marketing Strategy And Planning, Global Industrial Company

Violeta Olar Ardeljan, Vice President, Marketing Strategy And Planning, Global Industrial Company

What are your roles and responsibilities within the company you are working for?

I moved from Europe to the United States 20 years ago and started my career at Canon in Long Island, New York. During my 15- year journey with Canon, I held various positions, starting in administration and quickly moving into sales and supply chain initiatives.

Following my tenure at Canon, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Global Industrial Company reached out to me about my current position. The opportunity allowed me to apply my B2C experience to the business-to-business (B2B) world, particularly as the company was undergoing a digital transformation.

As Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Creative Services at Global Industrial, I oversee the go-to-market strategy for all of our products and solutions. I lead a team that collaborates with our merchandising team to introduce new products and solutions to the market, as well as a team that supports our sales force and market experts. Additionally, my team is responsible for content marketing, developing all the content for our knowledge center, and managing a team of copywriters, graphic designers, and art directors who create assets to support our marketing campaigns, corporate communications, and HR initiatives.

What are the latest challenges you see in the marketplace?

The rapid pace of digital technologies and innovations presents both challenges and opportunities for businesses, particularly in e-commerce. While technology is disrupting traditional models, it also boosts the retail industry and enhances the customer experience. Adapting to these changes requires businesses to prioritize the customer journey and place the customer at the center of everything they do.

At Global Industrial, we follow an ACE strategy - Accelerating the Customer Experience - that reflects our mission and values and guides our associates' goals and priorities. We listen carefully to customer feedback through surveys, focus groups, and social media to understand their needs and preferences and create effective campaigns that meet their requirements. Our campaigns, such as the operational efficiency campaign and the e-commerce peak preparedness campaign, provide solutions to businesses from various industries and guide them toward effective operations. In today's world, customers begin their purchasing journey with website research and seek personalized content and easy checkout processes.

Therefore, all businesses must embrace technology and personalize their content and techniques to meet customers' expectations. Embracing technology is crucial for all companies and leaders to remain competitive and succeed in the current market.

What are some of the new trends that are emerging to tackle the various challenges in the e-commerce space?

Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) have brought about a transformational change in various industries. IoT has enabled retailers to monitor their

inventory, optimize supply chain operations, and track customer behavior in real-time. It has also been utilized in implementing smart stores and efficient checkout systems.

The rise of AI has led to the expectation that robots will become an integral part of our daily lives by 2025. This technology has been employed to automate various operations, such as inventory management and order fulfillment. In the manufacturing industry, context-aware robots or "cobots" have been developed to perform repetitive tasks and heavy lifting, allowing human workers to focus on more complex and judgmental duties. The application of AI in empowering these robots has led to significant advancements in decisionmaking and awareness.

In the manufacturing industry, contextaware robots or "cobots" have been developed to perform repetitive tasks and heavy lifting, allowing human workers to focus on more complex and judgmental duties

In our business, we are exploring the implementation of autonomous floor scrubbers as part of our janitorial and sanitation services, utilizing various technological innovations in the market, including garbage cans equipped with sensors to detect when they are full. We are actively exploring all available methods to incorporate such technologies into our business processes as they become an increasingly integral part of our lives.

How do you envision the future of e-commerce in light of the many trends emerging in this field?

From a global industry perspective, our company has always been centered on e-commerce and has experienced significant growth through digital marketplaces. Our long-term roadmap involves ongoing digital transformation, which we consider critical to achieving sustained success. Over the years, we have continually improved our mindset to adapt to changing market conditions. In the summer of 2022, we launched a completely new website that looks and functions like a site of the future but also serves as a solution-based platform for customers to gain knowledge and solve problems.

Content has become increasingly important, not only in the consumer world but also in the B2B space. As such, we have established a Global Industrial Knowledge Center that offers a variety of educational resources to our customers, including buying guides, how-to articles, and project knowledge. We aim to position ourselves as an expert and thought leader in the industry, focusing on distribution and manufacturing trends, material handling best practices, and facility safety. Our goal is to provide technical support and solutions to our customers and to use these resources to build brand awareness among decision-makers in retail and manufacturing organizations.