French home improvement chain Castorama, part of UK-based group Kingfisher, has developed a voice assistant for DIY customers, using a combination of artificial intelligence and speech recognition technology. The AI-powered tool, called Hello Casto, is integrated into the retailer's mobile app and offers customers 53 tutorial videos that can be found and controlled entirely by voice while working.

Romain Roulleau, marketing, digital and customer director at Castorama, said: “A true innovation of use, the Hello Casto app, was developed with the aim of democratising DIY and improving the customer experience. Simplicity is the best word to use to describe this tool. With Hello Casto, we are once again demonstrating the innovative capabilities of the brand and our teams, who are committed to supporting our customers through all the changes in their lives.”

To power the assistant and support other future applications of AI, Kingfisher’s data team has developed a proprietary AI orchestration framework, named Athena. This will manage prompting and interaction with a range of large language models, as well as other AI tools developed in-house. It incorporates a range of controls to ensure security and protect against sensitive or inappropriate content.

Kingfisher has also developed a range of other initiatives to harness the power of AI and data. These include AI-powered product recommendation and personalisation engines at B&Q and Screwfix, which are already generating up to 10% of e-commerce sales, AI-driven tools to optimise markdowns and clearance, and an end-to-end supply chain visibility tool to support lower inventory levels and faster replenishment cycles.

The DeliveryX Top1000 Europe 2023 report, which is available to pre-register for now, expands on the RetailX operations value chain section of the Top1000 report and delves further, starting with the supply chain, logistics, and the delivery experience. It also covers how retailers are minimising returns and deploying data and technology to succeed in what has been another challenging year.

Castorama's AI-powered DIY assistant is the latest example of how retailers are using artificial intelligence and data to improve the customer experience and increase efficiency. The tool is designed to make DIY projects easier and more accessible for customers, while Kingfisher's other initiatives are helping to reduce inventory levels and optimise markdowns and clearance.

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Sources: https://internetretailing.net/case-study-castorama-launches-ai-powered-diy-assistant/