EverBee

everbee

Frank Gresham's Early Loves

Black Friday is nearly here, which means customers will be swarming stores to snag the best deals — and retailers will be bracing for the corresponding boost in thefts. But even aside from the Black Friday bump, theft is a growing problem for many retailers. How could AI reduce the risk? 1. Enabling Automatic Cart Audits Some retailers have employees standing near store exits to check shoppers’ receipts as they leave, verifying that the list of items matches their cart contents. However, this process often becomes cumbersome during busy periods, requiring people to wait in lines. Leaders at Sam’s Club believe AI can do the task faster. As of April 2024, more than 120 locations used AI exit scanning technology, and the overall figure matched executives’ goal of adding AI to 20% of its stores by the end of the first quarter. Sam’s Club represents the largest deployment of such customer-facing technology in the retail industry. Customers who engage with it can leave stores 23% faster, and internal data shows more than 50% of shoppers use it. Notably, before rolling out this solution, Sam’s Club employees got feedback from customers about current pain points and what they wanted from their experiences. Participants mentioned they’d like faster and more convenient shopping trips and consistently brought up the waiting times associated with the previous cart audits as a primary downside.  Now, computer-vision cameras and digital technologies work in the background to check that cart contents match a customer’s payment records. This high-tech approach aligns with the company’s other improvements, such as its Scan & Go offering, which allows people to bypass the traditional checkout process when buying their items. The market value for AI products in retail was approximately $5 billion in 2023, and it’s expected to grow. Decision-makers are even more likely to reap the benefits if they do as Sam’s Club leaders did and gather customer feedback. 2. Curbing Potentially Harmful Employee Preferentiality Most people think of customers as the main people behind retail theft, but workers can exacerbate the problem, too. Sometimes, they might slip small items into their pockets during slow periods, believing no one will notice and they will never get caught. The circumstances can also become more complicated. One example is what some in the retail industry call “sweethearting.” It happens when employees give discounts or free items to friends or relatives. One tech company, Corsight AI, began offering AI technology to detect such interactions. More specifically, it spots unusual behavior by analyzing how close customers stand to employees. Because the tool tracks engagements over time, it can also determine if specific shoppers keep going to the same employee’s cash register or otherwise show a preference. The system flags unusual behaviors to the relevant store decision-makers, letting them decide whether to act. Critics have pointed out that regularly engaging with the same employees when shopping at a store doesn’t necessarily mean anything suspicious. Perhaps a customer appreciates a worker’s friendliness, efficiency or product knowledge, causing them to naturally interact when opportunities arise. However, increasing theft problems have caused some retail leaders to scrutinize things they might have previously ignored. That is particularly true for retailers selling high-value items. For example, jewelry companies’ crime-related losses exceeded $129 million in 2022. These retailers usually have high-tech security systems, but those defenses probably won’t catch occasional instances of store workers offering unusually generous discounts. AI tools might. 3. Providing Better Awareness Although circumstances vary, some potential shoplifters target locations before attempting to steal things. During each visit, they gather information such as the number of workers in the store at particular times, whether certain departments or products have dedicated security measures and the locations of entrances and exits. Someone who goes to a well-staffed store, notices numerous security cameras and sees how employees seem continually aware of their surroundings may decide against proceeding with theft attempt plans. Conversely, stores that seem virtually deserted and feature few or no visible security cameras are much more appealing to would-be thieves. Because AI products can work in the background and detect unusual occurrences, they help loss prevention officers and others become more aware of what happens in individual stores. For example, Everseen creates AI tech that can be used to help reduce self-checkout theft. Part of its approach involves processing footage from ceiling-mounted cameras, often gathering tens of millions of customer interactions daily. Another helpful aspect of the technology is that it can scan shelves to determine when specific products are almost out of stock. Additionally, retail leaders can use this product to get near-real-time analytics about what’s happening in a store and receive prompts about handling certain situations. For example, if the AI spots a frustrated customer, it might prompt a worker to engage with them to learn what’s wrong. Many retailers already use artificial intelligence creatively by incorporating it into their demand-planning processes. For example, automating supply chain activities could reduce costs by as much as 10%, making that goal a worthy pursuit for cost-conscious parties. In any case, improved awareness provided by specialty tech products could help retailers manage theft. 4. Analyzing Shoppers’ Gestures Although many retailers use facial recognition technologies, some consumers dislike the perceived lack of privacy. An AI alternative is potentially less invasive because it does not analyze people’s appearance, but rather whether they make suspicious movements commonly linked to theft. Wild Duck Wine & Spirits in Boston uses an AI product from company Veesion on all 24 of its security camera feeds. The technology checks shoppers’ gestures to see if they match those frequently used during shoplifting. For example, someone might try to conceal something in a clothing pocket. Another “red flag” occurs when people hide items in baby strollers. Finally, people may eat or drink while shopping, potentially consuming what they have not paid for yet. If the AI spots something specific, it alerts workers approximately 15 seconds later, providing a video clip of the event. Those employees can then choose whether to confront the person or see if they try to skip the checkout counter. A representative from the AI company explained that this solution is about more than stopping people from stealing single items. It sends them a message that they should not try to repeat their actions because they’ll get caught. Minimizing Theft in Retail These fascinating examples show how AI can help store managers, loss prevention officers and other responsible parties reduce the frequency of theft in their locations. Choosing the appropriate tools and learning how to use them properly is crucial for success. Black Friday is nearly here, which means customers will be swarming stores to snag the best deals — and retailers will be bracing for the corresponding boost in thefts. But even aside from the Black Friday bump, theft is a growing problem for many retailers. How could AI reduce the risk? Black Friday is nearly here, which means customers will be swarming stores to snag the best deals — and retailers will be bracing for the corresponding boost in thefts. But even aside from the Black Friday bump, theft is a growing problem for many retailers. How could AI reduce the risk? 1. Enabling Automatic Cart Audits 1. Enabling Automatic Cart Audits Some retailers have employees standing near store exits to check shoppers’ receipts as they leave, verifying that the list of items matches their cart contents. However, this process often becomes cumbersome during busy periods, requiring people to wait in lines. Leaders at Sam’s Club believe AI can do the task faster. As of April 2024, more than 120 locations used AI exit scanning technology, and the overall figure matched executives’ goal of adding AI to 20% of its stores by the end of the first quarter. Sam’s Club represents the largest deployment of such customer-facing technology in the retail industry. Customers who engage with it can leave stores 23% faster , and internal data shows more than 50% of shoppers use it. Notably, before rolling out this solution, Sam’s Club employees got feedback from customers about current pain points and what they wanted from their experiences. leave stores 23% faster leave stores 23% faster Participants mentioned they’d like faster and more convenient shopping trips and consistently brought up the waiting times associated with the previous cart audits as a primary downside.  Now, computer-vision cameras and digital technologies work in the background to check that cart contents match a customer’s payment records. This high-tech approach aligns with the company’s other improvements, such as its Scan & Go offering, which allows people to bypass the traditional checkout process when buying their items. The market value for AI products in retail was approximately $5 billion in 2023 , and it’s expected to grow. Decision-makers are even more likely to reap the benefits if they do as Sam’s Club leaders did and gather customer feedback. approximately $5 billion in 2023 approximately $5 billion in 2023 2. Curbing Potentially Harmful Employee Preferentiality Most people think of customers as the main people behind retail theft, but workers can exacerbate the problem, too. Sometimes, they might slip small items into their pockets during slow periods, believing no one will notice and they will never get caught. The circumstances can also become more complicated. One example is what some in the retail industry call “sweethearting.” It happens when employees give discounts or free items to friends or relatives. One tech company, Corsight AI, began offering AI technology to detect such interactions. More specifically, it spots unusual behavior by analyzing how close customers stand to employees. Because the tool tracks engagements over time, it can also determine if specific shoppers keep going to the same employee’s cash register or otherwise show a preference. The system flags unusual behaviors to the relevant store decision-makers, letting them decide whether to act. spots unusual behavior spots unusual behavior Critics have pointed out that regularly engaging with the same employees when shopping at a store doesn’t necessarily mean anything suspicious. Perhaps a customer appreciates a worker’s friendliness, efficiency or product knowledge, causing them to naturally interact when opportunities arise. However, increasing theft problems have caused some retail leaders to scrutinize things they might have previously ignored. That is particularly true for retailers selling high-value items. For example, jewelry companies’ crime-related losses exceeded $129 million in 2022. These retailers usually have high-tech security systems, but those defenses probably won’t catch occasional instances of store workers offering unusually generous discounts. AI tools might. 3. Providing Better Awareness Although circumstances vary, some potential shoplifters target locations before attempting to steal things. During each visit, they gather information such as the number of workers in the store at particular times, whether certain departments or products have dedicated security measures and the locations of entrances and exits. Someone who goes to a well-staffed store, notices numerous security cameras and sees how employees seem continually aware of their surroundings may decide against proceeding with theft attempt plans. Conversely, stores that seem virtually deserted and feature few or no visible security cameras are much more appealing to would-be thieves. Because AI products can work in the background and detect unusual occurrences, they help loss prevention officers and others become more aware of what happens in individual stores. For example, Everseen creates AI tech that can be used to help reduce self-checkout theft. Part of its approach involves processing footage from ceiling-mounted cameras, often gathering tens of millions of customer interactions daily. Another helpful aspect of the technology is that it can scan shelves to determine when specific products are almost out of stock. Additionally, retail leaders can use this product to get near-real-time analytics about what’s happening in a store and receive prompts about handling certain situations. For example, if the AI spots a frustrated customer, it might prompt a worker to engage with them to learn what’s wrong. Many retailers already use artificial intelligence creatively by incorporating it into their demand-planning processes. For example, automating supply chain activities could reduce costs by as much as 10% , making that goal a worthy pursuit for cost-conscious parties. In any case, improved awareness provided by specialty tech products could help retailers manage theft. by as much as 10% by as much as 10% 4. Analyzing Shoppers’ Gestures Although many retailers use facial recognition technologies, some consumers dislike the perceived lack of privacy. An AI alternative is potentially less invasive because it does not analyze people’s appearance, but rather whether they make suspicious movements commonly linked to theft. Wild Duck Wine & Spirits in Boston uses an AI product from company Veesion on all 24 of its security camera feeds. The technology checks shoppers’ gestures to see if they match those frequently used during shoplifting. For example, someone might try to conceal something in a clothing pocket. Another “red flag” occurs when people hide items in baby strollers. Finally, people may eat or drink while shopping, potentially consuming what they have not paid for yet. If the AI spots something specific, it alerts workers approximately 15 seconds later , providing a video clip of the event. Those employees can then choose whether to confront the person or see if they try to skip the checkout counter. approximately 15 seconds later approximately 15 seconds later A representative from the AI company explained that this solution is about more than stopping people from stealing single items. It sends them a message that they should not try to repeat their actions because they’ll get caught. Minimizing Theft in Retail These fascinating examples show how AI can help store managers, loss prevention officers and other responsible parties reduce the frequency of theft in their locations. Choosing the appropriate tools and learning how to use them properly is crucial for success.

With Black Friday Coming Up, Retailers Are Better Off Using AI to Combat Theft

Mathilda by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . CHAPTER XII here CHAPTER XII As I was perpetually haunted by these ideas, you may imagine that the influence of Woodville’s words was very temporary; and that although I did not again accuse him of unkindness, yet I soon became as unhappy as before. Soon after this incident we parted. He heard that his mother was ill, and he hastened to her. He came to take leave of me, and we walked together on the heath for the last time. He promised that he would come and see me again; and bade me take cheer, and to encourage what happy thoughts I could, untill time and fortitude should overcome my misery, and I could again mingle in society. “Above all other admonition on my part,” he said, “cherish and follow this one: do not despair. That is the most dangerous gulph on which you perpetually totter; but you must reassure your steps, and take hope to guide you. Hope, and your wounds will be already half healed: but if you obstinately despair, there never more will be comfort for you. Believe me, my dearest friend, that there is a joy that the sun and earth and all its beauties can bestow that you will one day feel. The refreshing bliss of Love will again visit your heart, and undo the spell that binds you to woe, untill you wonder how your eyes could be closed in the long night that burthens you. I dare not hope that I have inspired you with sufficient interest that the thought of me, and the affection that I shall ever bear you, will soften your melancholy and decrease the bitterness of your tears. But if my friendship can make you look on life with less disgust, beware how you injure it with suspicion. Love is a delicate sprite and easily hurt by rough jealousy. Guard, I entreat you, a firm persuasion of my sincerity in the inmost recesses of your heart out of the reach of the casual winds that may disturb its surface. Your temper is made unequal by suffering, and the tenor of your mind is, I fear, sometimes shaken by unworthy causes; but let your confidence in my sympathy and love be deeper far, and incapable of being reached by these agitations that come and go, and if they touch not your affections leave you uninjured.” These were some of Woodville’s last lessons. I wept as I listened to him; and after we had taken an affectionate farewell, I followed him far with my eyes until they saw the last of my earthly comforter. I had insisted on accompanying him across the heath towards the town where he dwelt: the sun was yet high when he left me, and I turned my steps towards my cottage. It was at the latter end of the month of September when the nights have become chill. But the weather was serene, and as I walked on I fell into no unpleasing reveries. I thought of Woodville with gratitude and kindness and did not, I know not why, regret his departure with any bitterness. It seemed that after one great shock all other change was trivial to me; and I walked on wondering when the time would come when we should all four, my dearest father restored to me, meet in some sweet Paradise. I pictured to myself a lovely river such as that on whose banks Dante describes Mathilda gathering flowers, which ever flows —— bruna, bruna,Sotto l’ombra perpetua, che maiRaggiar non lascia sole ivi, nè Luna. And then I repeated to myself all that lovely passage that relates the entrance of Dante into the terrestrial Paradise; and thought it would be sweet when I wandered on those lovely banks to see the car of light descend with my long lost parent to be restored to me. As I waited there in expectation of that moment, I thought how, of the lovely flowers that grew there, I would wind myself a chaplet and crown myself for joy: I would sing , my father’s favourite song, and that my voice gliding through the windless air would announce to him in whatever bower he sat expecting the moment of our union, that his daughter was come. Then the mark of misery would have faded from my brow, and I should raise my eyes fearlessly to meet his, which ever beamed with the soft lustre of innocent love. When I reflected on the magic look of those deep eyes I wept, but gently, lest my sobs should disturb the fairy scene. sul margine d’un rio I was so entirely wrapt in this reverie that I wandered on, taking no heed of my steps until I actually stooped down to gather a flower for my wreath on that bleak plain where no flower grew, when I awoke from my day dream and found myself I knew not where. The sun had set and the roseate hue which the clouds had caught from him in his descent had nearly died away. A wind swept across the plain, I looked around me and saw no object that told me where I was; I had lost myself, and in vain attempted to find my path. I wandered on, and the coming darkness made every trace indistinct by which I might be guided. At length all was veiled in the deep obscurity of blackest night; I became weary and knowing that my servant was to sleep that night at the neighbouring village, so that my absence would alarm no one; and that I was safe in this wild spot from every intruder, I resolved to spend the night where I was. Indeed I was too weary to walk further: the air was chill but I was careless of bodily inconvenience, and I thought that I was well inured to the weather during my two years of solitude, when no change of seasons prevented my perpetual wanderings. I lay upon the grass surrounded by a darkness which not the slightest beam of light penetrated—There was no sound for the deep night had laid to sleep the insects, the only creatures that lived on the lone spot where no tree or shrub could afford shelter to aught else—There was a wondrous silence in the air that calmed my senses yet which enlivened my soul, my mind hurried from image to image and seemed to grasp an eternity. All in my heart was shadowy yet calm, untill my ideas became confused and at length died away in sleep. When I awoke it rained: I was already quite wet, and my limbs were stiff and my head giddy with the chill of night. It was a drizzling, penetrating shower; as my dank hair clung to my neck and partly covered my face, I had hardly strength to part with my fingers, the long strait locks that fell before my eyes. The darkness was much dissipated and in the east where the clouds were least dense the moon was visible behind the thin grey cloud— The moon is behind, and at the fullAnd yet she looks both small and dull. Its presence gave me a hope that by its means I might find my home. But I was languid and many hours passed before I could reach the cottage, dragging as I did my slow steps, and often resting on the wet earth unable to proceed. I particularly mark this night, for it was that which has hurried on the last scene of my tragedy, which else might have dwindled on through long years of listless sorrow. I was very ill when I arrived and quite incapable of taking off my wet clothes that clung about me. In the morning, on her return, my servant found me almost lifeless, while possessed by a high fever I was lying on the floor of my room. I was very ill for a long time, and when I recovered from the immediate danger of fever, every symptom of a rapid consumption declared itself. I was for some time ignorant of this and thought that my excessive weakness was the consequence of the fever; But my strength became less and less; as winter came on I had a cough; and my sunken cheek, before pale, burned with a hectic fever. One by one these symptoms struck me; & I became convinced that the moment I had so much desired was about to arrive and that I was dying. I was sitting by my fire, the physician who had attended me ever since my fever had just left me, and I looked over his prescription in which digitalis was the prominent medecine. “Yes,” I said, “I see how this is, and it is strange that I should have deceived myself so long; I am about to die an innocent death, and it will be sweeter even than that which the opium promised.” sic I rose and walked slowly to the window; the wide heath was covered by snow which sparkled under the beams of the sun that shone brightly thro’ the pure, frosty air: a few birds were pecking some crumbs under my window. I smiled with quiet joy; and in my thoughts, which through long habit would for ever connect themselves into one train, as if I shaped them into words, I thus addressed the scene before me: “I salute thee, beautiful Sun, and thou, white Earth, fair and cold! Perhaps I shall never see thee again covered with green, and the sweet flowers of the coming spring will blossom on my grave. I am about to leave thee; soon this living spirit which is ever busy among strange shapes and ideas, which belong not to thee, soon it will have flown to other regions and this emaciated body will rest insensate on thy bosom “Rolled round in earth’s diurnal courseWith rocks, and stones, and trees. “For it will be the same with thee, who art called our Universal Mother, when I am gone. I have loved thee; and in my days both of happiness and sorrow I have peopled your solitudes with wild fancies of my own creation. The woods, and lakes, and mountains which I have loved, have for me a thousand associations; and thou, oh, Sun! hast smiled upon, and borne your part in many imaginations that sprung to life in my soul alone, and which will die with me. Your solitudes, sweet land, your trees and waters will still exist, moved by your winds, or still beneath the eye of noon, though what I have felt about ye, and all my dreams which have often strangely deformed thee, will die with me. You will exist to reflect other images in other minds, and ever will remain the same, although your reflected semblance vary in a thousand ways, changeable as the hearts of those who view thee. One of these fragile mirrors, that ever doted on thine image, is about to be broken, crumbled to dust. But everteeming Nature will create another and another, and thou wilt loose nought by my destruction. “Thou wilt ever be the same. Recieve then the grateful farewell of a fleeting shadow who is about to disappear, who joyfully leaves thee, yet with a last look of affectionate thankfulness. Farewell! Sky, and fields and woods; the lovely flowers that grow on thee; thy mountains & thy rivers; to the balmy air and the strong wind of the north, to all, a last farewell. I shall shed no more tears for my task is almost fulfilled, and I am about to be rewarded for long and most burthensome suffering. Bless thy child even even in death, as I bless thee; and let me sleep at peace in my quiet grave.” sic I feel death to be near at hand and I am calm. I no longer despair, but look on all around me with placid affection. I find it sweet to watch the progressive decay of my strength, and to repeat to myself, another day and yet another, but again I shall not see the red leaves of autumn; before that time I shall be with my father. I am glad Woodville is not with me for perhaps he would grieve, and I desire to see smiles alone during the last scene of my life; when I last wrote to him I told him of my ill health but not of its mortal tendency, lest he should conceive it to be his duty to come to me for I fear lest the tears of friendship should destroy the blessed calm of my mind. I take pleasure in arranging all the little details which will occur when I shall no longer be. In truth I am in love with death; no maiden ever took more pleasure in the contemplation of her bridal attire than I in fancying my limbs already enwrapt in their shroud: is it not my marriage dress? Alone it will unite me to my father when in an eternal mental union we shall never part. I will not dwell on the last changes that I feel in the final decay of nature. It is rapid but without pain: I feel a strange pleasure in it. For long years these are the first days of peace that have visited me. I no longer exhaust my miserable heart by bitter tears and frantic complaints; I no longer the reproach the sun, the earth, the air, for pain and wretchedness. I wait in quiet expectation for the closing hours of a life which has been to me most sweet & bitter. I do not die not having enjoyed life; for sixteen years I was happy: during the first months of my father’s return I had enjoyed ages of pleasure: now indeed I am grown old in grief; my steps are feeble like those of age; I have become peevish and unfit for life; so having passed little more than twenty years upon the earth I am more fit for my narrow grave than many are when they reach the natural term of their lives. sic Again and again I have passed over in my remembrance the different scenes of my short life: if the world is a stage and I merely an actor on it my part has been strange, and, alas! tragical. Almost from infancy I was deprived of all the testimonies of affection which children generally receive; I was thrown entirely upon my own resources, and I enjoyed what I may almost call unnatural pleasures, for they were dreams and not realities. The earth was to me a magic lantern and I a gazer, and a listener but no actor; but then came the transporting and soul-reviving era of my existence: my father returned and I could pour my warm affections on a human heart; there was a new sun and a new earth created to me; the waters of existence sparkled: joy! joy! but, alas! what grief! My bliss was more rapid than the progress of a sunbeam on a mountain, which discloses its glades & woods, and then leaves it dark & blank; to my happiness followed madness and agony, closed by despair. This was the drama of my life which I have now depicted upon paper. During three months I have been employed in this task. The memory of sorrow has brought tears; the memory of happiness a warm glow the lively shadow of that joy. Now my tears are dried; the glow has faded from my cheeks, and with a few words of farewell to you, Woodville, I close my work: the last that I shall perform. Farewell, my only living friend; you are the sole tie that binds me to existence, and now I break it. It gives me no pain to leave you; nor can our seperation give you much. You never regarded me as one of this world, but rather as a being, who for some penance was sent from the Kingdom of Shadows; and she passed a few days weeping on the earth and longing to return to her native soil. You will weep but they will be tears of gentleness. I would, if I thought that it would lessen your regret, tell you to smile and congratulate me on my departure from the misery you beheld me endure. I would say; Woodville, rejoice with your friend, I triumph now and am most happy. But I check these expressions; these may not be the consolations of the living; they weep for their own misery, and not for that of the being they have lost. No; shed a few natural tears due to my memory: and if you ever visit my grave, pluck from thence a flower, and lay it to your heart; for your heart is the only tomb in which my memory will be enterred. My death is rapidly approaching and you are not near to watch the flitting and vanishing of my spirit. Do not regret this; for death is a too terrible an object for the living. It is one of those adversities which hurt instead of purifying the heart; for it is so intense a misery that it hardens & dulls the feelings. Dreadful as the time was when I pursued my father towards the ocean, & found their only his lifeless corpse; yet for my own sake I should prefer that to the watching one by one his senses fade; his pulse weaken—and sleeplessly as it were devour his life in gazing. To see life in his limbs & to know that soon life would no longer be there; to see the warm breath issue from his lips and to know they would soon be chill—I will not continue to trace this frightful picture; you suffered this torture once; I never did. And the remembrance fills your heart sometimes with bitter despair when otherwise your feelings would have melted into soft sorrow. sic sic So day by day I become weaker, and life flickers in my wasting form, as a lamp about to loose it vivifying oil. I now behold the glad sun of May. It was May, four years ago, that I first saw my beloved father; it was in May, three years ago that my folly destroyed the only being I was doomed to love. May is returned, and I die. Three days ago, the anniversary of our meeting; and, alas! of our eternal seperation, after a day of killing emotion, I caused myself to be led once more to behold the face of nature. I caused myself to be carried to some meadows some miles distant from my cottage; the grass was being mowed, and there was the scent of hay in the fields; all the earth looked fresh and its inhabitants happy. Evening approached and I beheld the sun set. Three years ago and on that day and hour it shone through the branches and leaves of the beech wood and its beams flickered upon the countenance of him whom I then beheld for the last time. I now saw that divine orb, gilding all the clouds with unwonted splendour, sink behind the horizon; it disappeared from a world where he whom I would seek exists not; it approached a world where he exists not. Why do I weep so bitterly? Why my does my heart heave with vain endeavour to cast aside the bitter anguish that covers it “as the waters cover the sea.” I go from this world where he is no longer and soon I shall meet him in another. sic Farewell, Woodville, the turf will soon be green on my grave; and the violets will bloom on it. is my hope and my expectation; your’s are in this world; may they be fulfilled. There About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (2005). Mathilda. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15238/pg15238-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

The influence of Woodville’s words was very temporary

COVID-19 is ruthlessly shaping ordinary stores into supermarkets of the future. They must accommodate all the new grocery shopping trends from panic-buying to delivery and pickup options, all with disrupted supply chains. Grocery retailers are responding differently. Some are cutting back on the number of products they sell, some are skipping distributors and contacting product manufacturers directly, and some are giving their brick-and-mortar stores a complete digital overhaul. No matter which line of action your company has selected, will enhance your operations significantly. Stephen Hawking predicted that artificial intelligence will transform every aspect of our lives. Grocery stores are no exception. The global AI in retail market is expected to reach rising from $3 billion in 2020 and displaying a year-over-year growth rate of 29.7%. According to Statista, the consumer goods and retail sectors have been using AI throughout 2020 for various purposes: AI retail solutions $24 billion by 2027, Statista If you want to follow the supermarket industry trends and take your existing to the next level with AI, this article will show you some compelling use cases, warn you of possible implementation challenges, and share five tips to help you through deployment. retail software solutions Physical stores adopting AI to enhance the shopping experience and become more efficient McKinsey & Company found that even during the pandemic still occurred in physical stores. It appears that brick-and-mortar stores are part of the future of grocery shopping. People still like to see, touch, and smell goods. Remember how you feel when you look at colorful packages of sweets or smell freshly baked pastries. Fabio Parasecoli, a professor at NYU’s Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, says that this kind of experience “gives you an idea of choice, abundance, quality, and pleasure.” 85% of the US grocery sales Contrary to popular assumptions, physical stores will not be replaced by their online alternatives. But they will rely on AI to tackle the pandemic-induced challenges.However, this doesn’t mean that grocers are expected to go all in with technology and leave their less technical clients behind. Walmart is an excellent example of a grocery store that does not aim for tech-savvy buyers only but is willing to improve the shopping experience of the average customer. The chain experimented with different technologies to find what matches customer comfort levels. With this learning approach, Walmart discovered that using cameras and real-time data helped them and sales in the meat aisle by 90% and 30%, respectively. increase overall shelf-stocking efficiency 5 ways AI is shaping the future of supermarkets and grocery stores 1. Sparking consumer interest through personalization A few years ago, promotions were advertised in catalogs or through broadcasts. Both options were rather expensive and displayed the same information for all consumers coming to the store. In supermarkets of the future, AI and advanced analytics offer plenty of information on every individual buyer, such as their meal preferences, food allergies, and motives behind their purchases. By employing AI in grocery personalization, retailers gain extensive knowledge of who is walking down their aisles. This approach enables retailers to craft customized promotions to attract buyers and increase sales. Attesting to the capabilities of AI is Gary Hawkins, the CEO of the Center for Advanced Retail and Technology based in Los Angeles: “AI technology can go incredibly deep and continues to learn over time, so it gets better at knowing which items to promote at what price. This will likely lead to different prices for different people, thanks to offers they are sent.” For example, Woolworth in Australia employs supermarket technology of the future to customize its marketing emails considering not only consumers’ taste but also their past shopping behavior. The chain can predict which items every shopper is likely to run out of based on their previous purchases and suggests these items as well. Another example of customization comes from Kroger, an American retail company. When consumers activate the store’s mobile app while inside, sensors detect them and send a personalized selection of items together with the prices via their preferred communication channel (e.g., video, voice, text). Effortless, time-saving navigation is a part of supermarkets of the future — especially if we’re talking about spacious retail facilities like the Mall of America, which incorporates over 520 stores and 60 restaurants. It can be daunting to move around such a space. To relieve its customers, the Mall of America deploys location-based AI chatbots, which operate through Facebook or a mobile app and assist customers in finding products and services. The dynamic pricing concept revolves around using machine learning and artificial intelligence in shopping to determine the best pricing strategy for different products. For this, algorithms analyze data from different sources, such as historical sales, competitor prices, stock levels, and special occasions. Personalized promotions In-store navigation Dynamic pricing One of the tactics of dynamic pricing is cross-selling a discounted item (e.g., buns) with a complimentary product (hot dogs) at a full price. This strategy helps reduce food waste by lowering the prices of goods nearing their expiration date. 2. Improving inventory management Grocery store robots Supermarkets of the future increasingly adopt robots to tackle inventory-related problems, such as preventing out-of-stock items, incorrect labeling, and pricing. California-based Fellow Robots developed an autonomous retail robot, which can scan your store shelves as high as 2.4 m above the floor daily taking high-definition pictures of products and their prices. Machine learning algorithms examine these pictures, searching for misplaced products and price discrepancies. Store employees can view the results through dedicated dashboards and take immediate action. Additionally, robots can help futuristic grocery store employees cope with the increasing demand for deliveries. Ocado, a UK-based online supermarket, in demand since the lockdown in March 2020. The company is using robots to scan the inventory and pick the right items for each delivery. Another grocery shopping trend is using AI-powered forecasting systems. AI algorithms do not purely depend on the historical data available at stores. They can self-learn and create forecasts even when the data is limited — for example when introducing a new product or testing a new promotion technique. reported a ten times increase AI-based forecasting in grocery stores Some older forecasting techniques work on products as clusters and can’t take the local dynamics into account. A good AI model can make predictions about products at a granular level considering local and regional trends. 3. Reducing theft According to a National Retail Federation survey, retailers due to theft, which is almost $10 billion increase from 2018. AI-powered supermarket technology can detect inappropriate behavior among both buyers and cashiers. Incorporating computer vision in shopping can help store security managers identify theft attempts. Sainsbury’s, a UK-based supermarket chain, employed ThirdEye’s concealment detector, which uses computer vision to detect shoppers who take an item and place it in their pocket. The system records suspicious activities and notifies security personnel. Thanks to this technology, Sainsbury’s stopped almost between September 2019 and March 2020. Sweethearting is another form of theft when cashiers fake the act of scanning items at checkout in favor of consumers. Smart store technology can help spot such behavior. Computer vision systems, such as ScanItAll, use ceiling-mounted video cameras to “watch” cashiers and detect sweethearting events, like covering barcodes and stacking items on top of each other. The US-based supermarket chain Piggly Wiggly reported a loss of almost $10,000 per month due to checkout shrinkage at one of its locations. After installing ScanItAll and retraining cashiers, shrinkage lost $62 billion in 2019 Shoplifting 6,000 theft attempts Sweethearting costs declined to $1,000. 4. Improving social distancing As social distancing is here to stay, supermarkets of the future are looking for ways to control the number of people indoors. In-store customer tracking is a grocery store technology of the future that can prevent overcrowding inside your store. A German supermarket company Aldi is using AI in shopping through an automated traffic light system, which controls people flow to its stores. When the number of shoppers in a particular location is below a predefined threshold, the light is green, and the door is open for others to come in. After the threshold is reached, the light turns red and the door closes. COVID-19 speeds up grocery store robots’ deployment. Big supermarkets see robots as an opportunity to reduce the number of human workers, which makes consumers perceive the store as a safer place. For example, Walmart uses robots to wipe the floor so that buyers will not be surprised by a human worker disregarding social distancing to clean up a stain under consumers’ feet. A common complaint among warehouse workers is that they cannot maintain distancing given their job conditions. AI-enabled supermarkets can incorporate robots in such an environment to reduce the friction among human employees. Trackers monitoring social distancing Robots replacing human employees in grocery stores 5. Improving the checkout process Statistically, people spend about 60 hours annually waiting in checkout lines. “In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for autonomous checkout technology is driving grocers and retailers to innovate and adopt new technologies that keep shoppers safe and streamline checkout.” - Lindon Gao, Co-founder and CEO of Caper AI, a software company specializing in AI-powered solutions for retail and grocers. Grocery stores equipped with AI have the tools to correctly identify all the items collected by a particular consumer and charge that person’s bank card upon exit without any intervention from store employees. If you don’t want to let go of your staff or deprive your customers of human interaction, you can mirror what Walmart is doing. Cashiers at this AI store assume a new role of a “Host”. The host’s responsibility is to make sure all consumers are treated in their preferred way. If they favor self-checkout, a host will guide them to an open register. If they like the traditional checkout method, a host will pack their items and process the payment. Caper AI produced a shopping cart that uses artificial intelligence to instantly recognize items and measure their weight (if relevant). The cart contains a built-in navigation and product location system, helping customers to traverse the store. It displays available promotions and can compose a list of recommendations. Caper cart also incorporates a credit card reader, enabling consumers to checkout without cashiers. Caper AI has already partnered with the US-based Kroger and Foodcellar & Co, and Canadian Sobeys Inc. AI for smart shopping carts AI-powered cameras for self-checkout Supermarkets of the future use cameras and sensors to support . For example, Amazon Go has 26 cashier-free locations equipped with hundreds of cameras and computer vision algorithms to monitor which products every shopper picks to charge the total amount off their credit card immediately after they leave the store. Additionally, store owners can use AI and video to facilitate grocery checkout. Ireland-based Everseen developed a visual platform where AI watches videos of customers performing self-checkout in real time. The program can identify errors and correct users immediately. For instance, if a customer encounters an item that doesn’t scan properly at the self-checkout AI kiosk, Everseen’s system will register this incident and notify one of the employees to assist the troubled client. Kroger began deploying this system at its stores in 2020. An intelligent shelf is another application of AI in shopping that facilitates the checkout process. Such a system typically includes computer vision and sensors mounted on shelves. This technology can identify shoppers picking items from a shelf or returning them. It correctly matches buyers and products and charges consumers for their purchase at the end of the shopping journey. checkout-free shopping Smart shelves technology This grocery shopping technology has additional applications. It can display relevant promotions as consumers pass by, monitor stock levels, and notify employees when the store runs out of some items, and detect the presence of ethylene gas, which is released when fresh items start to spoil. The idea of self-checkout was appealing before the pandemic. A retail startup Wheelys designed a prototype of another grocery technology — a self-driving grocery store with no employees. The store would move autonomously from one location to another. Consumers would enter the shop through a sliding glass door using the Wheelys’ app. They would pick their items, scan them through the app, pack, and exit the store. Their bank card would be charged automatically. Autonomous self-driving stores Barriers to adopting AI in grocery shopping Independent of the industry, . According to IDC’s 2019 Global AI Survey of 161 retailers, the major barriers to adopting AI in retail include: implementing AI is a challenge 1. High cost of AI solutions: vary greatly depending on the software type, its intelligence level, the quality and quantity of data that you want your program to process, and the accuracy of algorithmic predictions. To implement an AI application from scratch, you can easily spend $50,000 on a basic version. costs of developing AI systems 2. Lack of skilled personnel: The IDC’s authors interpret it in two ways: there is either a general lack of credible AI talent on the labor market, or the retail sector (including grocers) is struggling to attract AI talent. 3. Data-related trust issues: Artificial intelligence in shopping applications heavily depends on data, while grocers need to show transparency in data usage to win consumer loyalty. If AI algorithms abuse client data, the relationship will be damaged beyond repair. According to a recent survey by Deloitte, agreed to share their data with grocery stores. This survey demonstrates that the grocery sector comes third after hospitals and governmental institutions if we look at people’s willingness to share their private data. This shows that consumers trust grocers, but there will be dire consequences if this trust is breached. 70% of responding consumers 4. Unclear business objectives: AI demands a considerable investment upfront, while it is difficult to find compelling use cases to present to investors. Udai Chilamkurthi, the Chief Architect of Technology Strategy & Architecture at Sainsbury’s confirmed this challenge at the AI Summit London saying: “I haven’t seen a sensible business case that makes sense yet. The technology itself isn’t mature and comes with its own problems.” How supermarkets of the future can succeed in AI adoption Despite numerous challenges, the future of AI in grocery shopping looks bright. Here are the five steps that will help you painlessly employ AI at your store and reap the benefits faster. Define your vision for the role you expect this technology to play in your organization and the returns on investment. Deloitte recommends adopting the following paradigm: Start small, scale fast, and build iteratively. Find the right talent to fill different expert roles. Throwing data scientists in a data lake and expecting them to present new strategies will not yield results. You will need to recruit diverse internal and external talent who can derive, transform, and sustain value in the long term. Adapt the organization’s culture to develop the right attitude towards AI. Many employees still view AI as an intimidating black box, which they fear and cannot understand. Make it clear that AI is there mainly to support humans and help them make informed decisions. Clean up your data. The amount of data that AI can use is constantly increasing as grocers gain access to information coming in video format, from social media, and via geo-location apps and devices. Despite the data growing in complexity, many retailers overlook the need for a clear . data strategy Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner at Retail Systems Research emphasizes the importance of data in a successful AI adoption by saying: "The top challenge is dirty data (it's the elephant in the room). Models are only as good as the data that creates them. One recent study estimated that over 80% of the effort of implementing AI relates to data cleansing.” Gain an ecosystem advantage. Artificial intelligence capabilities for grocery stores are evolving fast, and working with an ecosystem partner will give you access to the right team to get the job done. For example, a grocery retailer can join forces with predictive analytics and demand-sensing company. Final thoughts Supermarkets of the future are not necessarily online stores. Implementing AI in grocery shopping enables you to overcome all the pandemic-related hurdles while still letting your customers enjoy the sight, smell, and feel of products. However, incorporating AI is not a one-time task. It is a long process that requires changes of a store’s internal processes and culture. As Sanjeev Sularia, the CEO of Intelligence Node, puts it: “Retail organizations often get deterred by the costs of building the infrastructure and data processing capabilities needed for AI adoption. However, flexible businesses have successfully integrated AI across all business functions and upskilled their people to efficiently reorient to a data-driven mindset without trying to build everything from scratch.” Thinking to enhance your grocery store with AI capabilities? Feel free to ITRex retail and AI experts, and they will make sure your supermarket is well-equipped to face challenges of the future. contact

5 Ways AI is Improving Supermarkets

Remember the time when the genre was taking the world by storm? dystopian triology The writers were churning out these books so fast that one can only wonder what were they even writing. But to be fair, the stories of all of them were pretty similar with different atmosphere. I mean, there is not much difference between Maze Runner triology and when you cut it to bare. Divergent Then there was series, and other triologies  that came and went. Few were amazing, like The Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness, but even the best of the best falls into the trap of the Matrix effect. The Selection Shatter Me The Matrix effect is when the first part of a triology is good, but the last two are mediocre. For right now, fantasy is leading (courtesy of ). Six of Crows However, among all the Dystopia, Hunger Games triology is most popular, and it should be because it is an excellent book. I would like to be bold here and say that the Hunger Games series is the reason for the popularity of the Dystopian Triologies. (When I say Dystopian Fiction, I mean Young Adult Fiction one, not 1984 type of books.) Hunger Games and Revolution The Hunger Games series is about many things, but the thing I want to discuss here is the revolution and the circle of revolution. - Pic When the first time  I read the Hunger Games, I read it as a book, like any other book. Later, like a few months later, I watched the movie, I find a scene in the book that I think of grave importance. After the game was over, the President Coin (self-made) asks the remaining Victors if they would like to begin the Hunger Games again. This time with the kids of the people of the Capitol, as the punishment. The same thing the Capitol was doing with the Districts. However, one could say that Civilians of the Capitol were not responsible for the yearly massacre. But they did not do anything to stop it, so in a way, they were behind the idea of it. When the time comes, District was angry because of the years and years of the oppression, and President Coin was right when she said that people need a way to release their anger. Pic Or else, what could be the alternative? The suffering and miseries of the District people would not let them live peacefully with the Capitol. Sooner or later a Civil War (if you call it a civil War) would begin, and the newly made country would be in flames. As much I do not want to be on anyone's side, but then I admit that people need to release their anger healthily. When people become slaves of technology and form a routine life, their wild side starts to cool down. But it never disappears. Humans are naturally wild animals, however years of modern civilisation may have trained as to be modest and discipline, but there will always remain a barbaric caveman inside of us. has shown that humans are still as violent as before. Studies We can see that in the Hunger Games. People were furious and sick of the ruler class. They wanted to be a ruler, to show that if they can be violent while slaving, they could do much more while ruling. When the Coin does the Voting for the 76th Hunger Games, the result was in support of Hunger Games. Well, we can assume it is all part of the plan of Katniss and Haymitch, but making plan was never the strong game of the Katniss Everdeen. So what her to go with the Hunger Games? May we will never know. We can only speculate her reasoning. The death of her father has impacted her a lot. She volunteered herself for Hunger Game to protect her sister, but she failed to protect her. She might be thinking herself as a failure, and she does not have anything left to loose. May be in that moment the hatred towards the everything was enough to make her such a wrong decision. But one thing was important here, there was supposed to be 76th Hunger Games. Victors said YES to it. The existence of idea is itself a strong suggestion that people wanted the revenge. It is like having a Second World War after the First World War, but, again, the second World War happened. It might be the most stupid and valiant affair of the human history. However, we cannot deny the existence of spiteful behaviour of people, more important, when they are hurting for a long time. As soon as the District came to the Powers, they wanted the revenge, the Hunger Games and massacre of the Capitol. Now rewind to 75 years back. What do we know about how the Hunger Games started?? All we know is the Capitol was oppressing the Districts. District revolted and a Civil War broke. It was the . First Rebellion There is too much history into it, but the basic is that Capitol won, with various means. However, District 13 somehow take the hold of Capitol's nuclear power and got his independence based on power. The other District also surrendered when District 13 left the fight. To teach the lesson to the 12 Districts, Capitol begins the Hunger Games. The idea was to show them that even the strongest of them is nothing in front of Capitol. After 75 years, the District catches fire and Revolution Begins. It all begins from the 74th Hunger Games when Katniss and Peeta try to swallow those berries and go directly against the order of the Capitol in front of the live audience. A light of hope, even the slight one burn brighter than the Dark. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellarc gave them that hope, and they were not alone. A revolution is not an instantaneous event, it is a result of years of progress. It is itself a progress. The district started going against the Capitol one by one. In the Catching Fire, the series comes to the full glory and displays how symbols, tunes, and signals become the pathway to freedom. There is the story in English, . The Berlin forced France to teach the German instead of French in the school. The teacher in the story tells the student that this is the last lesson of the French class and they will not learn the French language anymore. The Last Lesson Until you have your language, you have your freedom. The Languages, words, and symbols united the people against the capitol. I think the biggest mistake of the Capitol was not controlling the language here. Though they try to fight off the tune, and the three-finger salute, but it does not work well when the masses started doing it. Coming back to the point, the first Hunger Games begins to teach the Districts a lesson for their revolution. But there is more to it. If you oppress the people, they will be angry. And you cannot keep a group of angry people together in one place peacefully. They will soon start fighting. The only way is to make them feel helpless and hopeless. Also, give them a distraction to vent out their anger. That was also the reason for the Hunger Games. The district would fight each other, be angry at each other, and then they will kill each other. While the Capitol would sponsor them and show them how tiny and unimportant they are. It will also keep them away from uniting. An excellent plan covering everything. So, what went wrong? The Civilians grew closer to the Victors, and the Capitol have to keep the Civilians happy. In the 74th Hunger Games, people see it live, that a pair from District 12 went against the Capitol and Capitol has to accept the display of live dissent. (Pressure of the Show Fans) It is how a revolution starts. The anger turns to hopelessness, and a little ray of Hope shows that there is a way to get out of it. People begin to gather. I am not declining the help of District 13 here. The district 13 came forward after looking at the Katniss's brave attempt of going against the Capitol. So, all in all, it was the hope of being successful that starts the revolution. As the saying is, the oppressor always digs his own grave. Now, from the hope, the early revolutionary begins to rise. Then the masses, and then even the people of Capitol helps the District. Later after the fight was won, and everything was as normal as possible, President Coin asks for voting for the 76th Hunger Games. At the moment she was thinking the same thing the Capitol thought at the time of first Hunger Games. A foolproof plan to keep everything in control. It is the best way to solve the civil war. A purposeful distraction that also gradually decrease the anger of Districts. This is the circle of revolution. If the Games begin, after the 75 year, the Capitol will revolt. The table will turn. We do not know what happen to the World. Do they have democracy, republic, or what?? But one thing is clear. If anyone has to look for a book that tells the story of a revolution in an amazing manner, Hunger Games is the series you should read. Hunger Games is a fucking case study is what it is.

The Hunger Games As A Roadmap For Revolution

Qwest predicted Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO in 1999. By Micah Rosenbloom , Partner urging people to temper the hype surrounding the Amazon/Whole Foods acquisition, essentially arguing that Amazon will be a disruptive player in the food industry, but don’t expect them to scarf down market share immediately. It’s an important point. Food represents 13% of US GDP and many of the deal’s boosters are underplaying the sheer volume of innovation in the food category at the moment. Erin Griffith wrote a great post QSRs like SweetGreen and Chipotle have redefined fast food while supermarkets like Whole Foods and Wegmans are increasingly doubling as cafeterias/restaurants with huge takeaway selections. Recent entrants in food delivery — Seamless Grubhub, Postmates, Uber Eats, etc. dramatically changed the ease and frequency of food delivery. We invested in Plated, Gobble, and SkipTheDishes (Acquired by JustEat), and with the exception of Uber, I’ve never seen companies grow revenues so quickly. In retrospect it makes sense, most of us eat every day, multiple times, but still, it’s astonishing that a group of companies that are less than ten years old now account for $10B in consumer spending. As Erin notes, many armchair analysts are beginning to write off the packaged meal category, as well as grocery stores more generally, based on the current Blue Apron share price, but let’s remember that this stuff takes awhile. The force of change in food has only just started. Change in Tech Takes Time. Lots of it. As a reminder, this commercial which premiered in 1999 at the height of the first dot-com boom. At the time, the promise of “every movie, ever made, in any language, day or night” was as fantastical as a flying car to most people. This was a time when Blockbuster, a store-sized version of Redbox popular in the last century, still issued fines to people who returned videotapes that weren’t rewound. Techies and VCs of course saw the potential and started building it, but nearly 20 years later, we’re still a ways away from enjoying that enticing value proposition. Sure, I can watch on any device that has an internet connection, but if I want to stream I need to sign into my Prime account. adds a third app, and yet another subscription fee to the mix. There is a cottage industry of websites , or , a given streaming service at any given time. A great many of our cultural treasures — and to name but two — remain in inaccessible IP vaults. Orange is the New Black The Americans Game of Thrones explaining which shows are coming to leaving ER The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air From a technologist’s point of view, video on demand is one of the simpler products to be built. It’s just packets over the internet, after all. But even in today’s world of widespread broadband, DRM, and omnipresent smart TVs and set top boxes, we’re still managing multiple services and remotes. How to think about self-driving cars, AI, and ecommerce Now imagine how long it may take one of today’s hot technologies, like self-driving cars, to take hold. If you read some pundits, they believe truck drivers will soon be as obsolete as fur trappers. Let’s examine this hypothesis critically. If it’s taken us 20 years to stream reruns, do you really think we’ll have technical solutions to route through Boston or SF’s backward traffic patterns, unexpected detours caused by exploding water mains, falling cranes, drunk drivers, and distracted pedestrians in short order? How quickly will the business case for fleet ownership be hammered out? Will 50 states be able to coalesce on laws governing the design of autonomous vehicles and licensure for the operators or coders in a timely fashion? Do we need new infrastructure, like sensors embedded in streets, to make fully autonomous driving work? Will progress be slowed the first time an AV clips a kindly grandmother crossing the road? Will the drivers of these trucks, who often pull double duty stocking shelves at their destinations, be replaced with robots? These are not problems that are going to be solved in the next year. It’ll probably take a decade or more. That’s why smart companies, who are able to play the long game, are investing in companies like Cruise today. Self-driving will only be a reality if companies are willing to do the hard work to make them a reality. Three’s Company For those panicking that AI will put most workers out of jobs, remember that Amazon’s vaunted machine learning recommendation engine is regularly a punchline in tweets because it advertises products that we’ve already purchased. Amazon has been grinding for over 20 years and ecommerce still only accounts for 10% of retail sales. Ebooks should have replaced dead trees by now, but paper has proven to be as resilient as Katniss Everdeen and their electronic counterparts have plateaued at 50% market share. Customers are weird and unpredictable. Regulation often routes technology in suboptimal directions. Established players can be surprisingly durable and loathe to adopt new technology. Food is not videos and is not AI and each will follow its own path, probably slower than you think. It’s fun to make bold proclamations about the future, but the perspective of history tells us we should be more circumspect. As Bill Gates said “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.”

Tech Takes a While

One of the core challenges of participating in DeFi is mitigating risk. For example, losing one's entire principal can happen through Exploits, Economical Hacks, or Protocol Losses. This challenge affects the DeFi ecosystem heavily since it makes big participants hesitant to onboard and creates uncertainty among users regarding the risks they are exposing themselves to. I am speaking with Hendo Verbeek, Head of Risk at Spool DAO, and in this interview, we will discuss the challenges of decentralized finance (DeFi) and how they impact the DeFi ecosystem. We will also discuss how institutional investors can manage their risk effectively when investing in DeFi, and why it is crucial to prioritize risk management. Additionally, we will explore the key factors driving the DeFi investment and trading activity surge and how sustainable this trend is. We will also cover the biggest misconceptions about investing in digital assets and how investors can separate fact from fiction. Lastly, we will talk about how DeFi platforms can help institutions and users build more risk-managed DeFi portfolios and the recent failures in the blockchain industry. Ultimately, we will provide advice to investors looking to enter the DeFi market for the first time and how they can manage their risk effectively. Can you explain decentralized finance's challenges and how they affect the DeFi ecosystem? The core challenge of participating in DeFi is mitigating risk. Whereas normally mitigating risk refers to mitigating drawdown (and the holistic approach of minimizing the potential loss), in DeFi, the core goal becomes minimizing the probability of losing "your entire principal." Losing one's entire principal can happen through Exploits, Hacks, Economical Hacks, or Protocol Losses. This particular challenge affects the DeFi Ecosystem quite heavily since it makes big participants hesitant to onboard and creates a lot of uncertainty among users regarding what kind of risks they are exposing themselves to. What steps can institutional investors take to manage their risk effectively when investing in DeFi? First, it's crucial to carefully investigate the DeFi initiatives and networks before committing any money. This entails investigating the projects' teams, histories, technologies, procedures, and conformance with regulations. Doing your homework can help you avoid unpleasant surprises and make sure the endeavor is a good match for your financial goals and level of risk tolerance. The importance of diversification cannot be overstated. Diversify your DeFi holdings by investing in multiple commodities and procedures. By doing this, you may lessen your vulnerability to market swings and the failure of a single component. Furthermore, risk management instruments can be extremely helpful in assisting with efficient risk management. For example, DeFi systems provide users with various services, such as real-time market tracking and analysis, risk rating and analysis tools, and portfolio adjustment options. These resources can aid traders in spotting and minimizing dangers to their assets. Also, make sure your assets follow any DeFi-related laws by staying abreast of legislative changes. This can lessen the likelihood of future judicial or governmental involvement. Finally, consult with knowledgeable DeFi investors and experts for advice and assistance on risk management. In addition to keeping you abreast of the latest market advancements and trends, they can provide invaluable input and advice on financial strategies and risk management practices. Can you discuss risk management's role in DeFi, and why institutional investors must prioritize it? Retention of assets is almost always more important than generating profits on said assets. Think of the simple example where a 50% loss means you'd have to make 100% profit to get back equal to where you started. The simple mathematical logic behind this ensures that mitigating losses is more important than generating profits, especially on a bigger scale. What are the key factors driving the DeFi investment and trading activity surge, and how sustainable is this trend? During the inception phase of DeFi, most of the driving force was speculation and willingness to take a risk. With what has happened in the banking sector, the activity surge is mostly related to the transparency DeFi offers to the end investor. Therefore, the trend of demanding ultimate transparency regarding your assets is quite sustainable, with an eye on recent global economic developments. What are the biggest misconceptions about investing in digital assets, and how can investors separate fact from fiction? The biggest misconception all-in-all is that crypto itself is just investing for the sake of being able to sell "to the bigger fool." This concept does apply to certain investments / Crypto Projects, but there is a giant wave of legit development in crypto that is worth keeping an eye on. DeFi specifically: AMMs, Decentralized Exchanges, Decentralized Lending Protocols, Decentralized Oracles, Decentralized Derivative Products, and Decentralized Yield Generation. Separating the facts from the fiction is most easily done by asking, "Does what I am investing in create a usable, sustainable, and legit product, or is its core purpose increasing in value." ? How can DeFi platforms help institutions and users build more risk-managed DeFi portfolios By providing clients with a wide variety of tools and services, DeFi platforms can play a pivotal role in assisting organizations and consumers in constructing better risk-managed DeFi portfolios. DeFi platforms play a crucial role by giving users access to numerous DeFi protocols and goods, enabling investors to spread their risk across numerous asset classes and management philosophies. By reducing reliance on any one commodity or procedure, this diversity can help to lower overall risk. The use of data analytics and risk management tools to assist clients in evaluating and controlling risk is another critical component. For example, DeFi systems can provide real-time market tracking and analysis, risk rating, and other measures to aid buyers in making educated financial choices. Can you discuss the recent failures in the blockchain industry and why they were not due to issues with the underlying blockchain or DeFi infrastructure? There are plenty of examples, but let me speak on my favorite: LUNA. I participate in the LUNA craze by shorting UST, their synthetic stablecoin, which, by logic, would never trade above $1: Making it a strong sell-side asset. Why was LUNA unsustainable, you might ask? The simple fact is that LUNA had ballooned to a size much larger than the potential "exit gateway." Whenever you find yourself in a scenario where $100 in assets is being "protected" in value by a gateway the size of only $10: One can safely assume that at the slightest sight of uncertainty, the system collapses. What advice would you give investors looking to enter the DeFi market for the first time, and how can they manage their risk effectively? It is recommended that individuals new to the industry conduct thorough research and acquire extensive knowledge about the field. Comprehending the fundamental principles and concepts of DeFi and its distinctions from conventional finance is of utmost significance. In addition, acquiring knowledge about various DeFi protocols and their respective functionalities is imperative. When it comes to risk management, it is crucial to begin with, modest investments and refrain from committing funds beyond one's capacity to absorb potential losses. In addition, it is crucial to ensure portfolio diversification and avoid concentration risk. The DeFi market is characterized by volatility and rapid changes, necessitating the need to stay abreast of industry news and developments and to be ready to make investment adjustments as necessary. Thoroughly scrutinizing the DeFi projects under consideration for investment is a crucial aspect of risk management. Therefore, it is advisable to seek out undertakings with robust teams, established track records, and a well-defined outlook for the future. In addition, it is imperative to consider variables such as liquidity, security, and regulatory compliance. What are the biggest regulatory challenges facing the DeFi industry, and how can they be addressed to promote more widespread adoption? The first and foremost "challenge" seems to be avoiding the securitization of every "real yield" generating asset, which is less so a challenge that requires addressing and more so a challenge that will be solved through free market competition. Any government that stands against that logic will effectively nullify its ability to become a "Crypto Hub," which, given the growth we have seen in the industry, is more so a problem for said government than it is for us directly. Looking to the future, how do you see the DeFi landscape evolving in the next 5-10 years, and what role will risk management play in this evolution? DeFi will slowly take the role of "unbanking the bank" when I get around to purchasing my first real-life property. I never had to sell a single dollar of my crypto holdings. Instead, I spread out my holdings in various DeFi lending protocols, borrowed stablecoins against my crypto, and off-ramped the stablecoins. A prime example of how DeFi can be used without the interference of a counterparty (the exception being the off-ramp in my example) to hold a certain degree of exposure while still facilitating the ability to 'live your life unbanked.'

Stories, News & Mentions about EVERBEE

Everbee’s Stories on HackerNoon