From March 13th to 15th, the 24th China Retail Expo was held at Shanghai's National Convention and Exhibition Center. Under the theme "Green Digitalization and GenAI for Sustainable Retail," Hanshow debuted its pioneering GenAI product strategy, marking a significant leap forward in retail's AI era. The showcase included the upgraded Hanshow Polaris Pro series electronic shelf labels (ESL) and a new green digital store solution, reaffirming Hanshow's dedication to providing retailers with cutting-edge technologies for enhanced efficiency, improved shopper experiences, and sustainable practices.
The breakthrough of Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) technology, represented by represented by ChatGPT, has expanded the boundaries of all industries. Hanshow is Microsoft’s global strategy partner in the retail industry since 2023 and is one of the first to incorporate GenAI technology in retail scenarios using Azure OpenAI (AOAI).
At the event, Eason Tong, Dean of the Hanshow Retail Research Institute, announced Hanshow's first GenAI solution for retail business operations based on strategic cooperation with Microsoft. For retailers, Hanshow uses OpenAI's large model capabilities integrated with massive digital retail data to create the industry's first automated content (copy + image) generation intelligent application solution - the Hanshow Store Marketing Assistant.
The GenAI solution released by Hanshow relies on open-source GPT-4 text output and Dall-E3 image output and can generate commodity POP posters, marketing atmosphere posters, and product copy through dialogue interaction. The internal integration of Hanshow's product ecosystem allows the generated materials to be uploaded and shown on the Hanshow Lumina Screen and upcoming large-sized colorful electronic paper posters with one click.
With the Hanshow Store Marketing Assistant, stores can easily generate a variety of creatively designed marketing materials to vividly portray product selling points while controlling marketing costs and improving sales. Whether it is a store operator or a brand owner, retailers can use the solution to reduce creative work from several hours to a few minutes.
"Hanshow is dedicated to offering retailers a retail media network solution that diversifies income streams. Leveraging generative AI for content, personalization, and impact assessment, we support future store media networks comprehensively," said Tong.
Microsoft and its ecosystem have supported Hanshow in building a digital store solution based on Azure OpenAI capabilities, and the two parties are deepening their cooperation and accelerating the landing of generative AI in global physical retail scenarios.
Microsoft and Hanshow jointly held a high-level roundtable forum to explore revolutionary omnichannel GenAI retail applications and trends and the green development and digital transformation of the retail industry.
"GenAI's remarkable capabilities are revolutionizing various industries. We're delighted to see Hanshow, Microsoft's global strategic partner, leveraging Azure OpenAI technology to introduce generative AI into physical retail. As a pioneer in retail digitalization, Hanshow combines industry insights with GenAI to present innovative digital store solutions," stated Frank Kong, Microsoft China's General Manager of Retail Consumer Goods.
Coming up, Hanshow and Microsoft’s GenAI marketing solutions for consumers will also be unveiled at the NRF exhibition in Singapore in June 2024, covering the four areas of store operations, consumer experience, store media, and green energy.