How a Leading Office Supply Retailer Answered 35% More Store Associate Questions with Generative AI

In an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming various industries, the retail sector is no exception. One leading national office supply retailer has taken a bold step forward, harnessing the power of generative AI to revolutionize their in-store experience and empower their associates.

This innovative approach has not only enhanced customer satisfaction but has also led to remarkable improvements in employee efficiency. In fact, the company has experienced a 35% increase in containment rates (with a 6-month average containment rate of 65%) vs. its legacy solution.

We’re excited to share the details of this groundbreaking initiative. Keep reading as we examine the company’s vision, their strategic approach to implementation, and the key objectives that drove their AI adoption. We’ll also discuss their GenAI assistant’s primary capabilities and how it’s improving both customer experiences and employee satisfaction. By the end, you’ll see how much potential lies in applying this use case to additional employees—not just in-store associates—as well as customers. There’s so much to unlock. Ready? Let’s dive in.

The Vision: Empowering Associates with GenAI

This company is dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes become more productive, connected, and inspired. Their team recognized the immense potential of GenAI early on. The vision? To create a GenAI-powered assistant that could enhance the capabilities of their store associates, leading to improved customer service, increased productivity, and higher job satisfaction.

Key objectives of the GenAI initiative:

• Simplify store associate experience
• Streamline access to information for associates
• Improve customer service efficiency
• Boost associate confidence and job satisfaction
• Increase overall store associate productivity

Charting the Course to Building a GenAI-Powered Assistant

By partnering with Quiq, the national office supply retailer launched its employee-facing GenAI assistant in just 6 weeks. Here’s what the launch process looked like in 9 primary steps:

1. Discovery of AI enhancements
2. Pulling content from current systems
3. Run a Proof of Concept with Quiq team
4. Run testing through all categories of content
5. Approval to Pilot with Top Associate Group
6. Refine content based on associate feedback for chain rollout
7. Run additional testing through all categories
8. Starting chain deployment to larger district of stores
9. Maintain content accuracy and refine based on updates

Examining the Office Supplier’s Phased Approach to Adoption

Pre-launch, the teams worked together to ensure all content was updated and accurate. Then they launched a phased testing approach, going through several rounds of iterative testing. After that, the retailer shared the GenAI assistant with a top internal associate team to test and try and break it. Finally, the internal team utilized a top associate group to share excitement before launch.

At launch, the office supplier created a standalone page dedicated to the assistant and launched a SharePoint site to share updates for the internal team. They also facilitated internal learning sessions and quickly adapted to low feedback numbers. Last but not least, the team made it fun by branding the assistant with a fun, on-brand name and personality.

Post-launch, the retailer includes the AI assistant in all communications to associates, with tips on what to search for in the assistant. They also leverage the assistant’s proactive messaging capabilities to build excitement for new launches, promotions, and best practices.

Primary Capabilities and Focus

Launching the GenAI assistant has been transformative because it is trained on all things related to the office supply retailer, which has simplified and accelerated access to information. That means associates can help customers faster, answering questions accurately the first time and every time, regardless of tenure. Ultimately, AI is empowering associates to do even better work—including enhanced cross and upselling with proactive messages.

Proactive messaging to associates helps keep rotating sales goals top of mind so they can weave additional revenue opportunities into customer interactions. For example, if the design services team has unexpected bandwidth, the AI assistant can send a message letting associates know, inspiring them to highlight design and print services to customers who may be interested. It also provides a fun countdown to important launches, like back-to-school season, and “fun facts” that help build up useful knowledge over time. It’s like bite-size bits of training.

GenAI Transforms the In-Store Experience in 4 Critical Ways

Implementing the GenAI assistant has had a profound impact on in-store operations. By providing associates with instant access to accurate information, it has:

1. Enhanced Customer Service: Associates can now provide faster, more accurate responses to customer questions.
2. Increased Efficiency: The time it takes to find information has been significantly reduced, allowing associates to serve more customers.
3. Boosted Confidence: With a reliable AI assistant at their fingertips, associates feel more empowered in their roles. Plus, new associates can be as effective as experienced ones with the assistant by their side.
4. Improved Job Satisfaction: The reduced stress of information retrieval has led to higher job satisfaction among associates. Not to mention, the GenAI assistant is there to converse and empathize with employees who experience stressful situations with customers.

Results + What’s Next?

As a result of launching its GenAI assistant with Quiq, our national office supply retailer customer has realized a:

• 68% self service rate resolution rate, allowing associates to get immediate answers to questions 2 out of 3 times
• Associate satisfaction with AI 4.82 out of 5

And as for next steps, the team is excited to:

• Launch a selling assisted path
• Expand to additional departments within stores
• Add more devices in store for easier accessibility
• Integrate with internal systems to be able to answer even more types of questions with real-time access to orders and other information

The Lesson: Humans and AI Can Work Together to Play Their Strongest Roles

The office supply retailer’s successful implementation of GenAI serves as a powerful example of how the technology can transform retail operations by helping human employees work more efficiently. By focusing on empowering associates with AI, the company has not only improved customer service but also enhanced employee satisfaction and productivity.

Interested in Diving Deeper into GenAI?

Download Two Truths and a Lie: Breaking Down the Major GenAI Misconceptions Holding CX Leaders Back. This comprehensive guide illuminates the path through the intricate landscape of generative AI in CX. We cut through the fog of misconceptions, offering crystal-clear, practical advice to empower your decision-making.