Overview of Machine Learning in Retail

Abstract

At a data science conference in Bangalore a few years back, I was approached by a prospective client from the retail industry. He had a clear goal for data science to help their company increase their retail business. The current team was not able to get a breakthrough and was looking for someone experienced to guide them. The client informed me that the retail industry was undergoing a change, with e-commerce portals disrupting the way sales used to happen. He explained that his company had lost nearly 25 percent of the market in the last 3 years to online retailers like Flipkart, Amazon, and Bigbasket. The trend did not look healthy and he wanted to know if it was possible to use targeted marketing through machine learning to boost sales.