Ready for A(I)nything: Taking Stock of Retailers’ Readiness in AA/AI in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Advanced analytics and artificial intelligence will be key for companies in the coming years and decades. Yet, a 2018 BCG study showed that DACH as a region and retail as an industry fall behind. To understand possible reasons, BCG and Google conducted a joint study to examine the readiness of retailers and fashion brands in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to exploit the benefits of AA/AI.

Our survey findings indicate that most retailers and fashion brands in DACH are making some progress, but more than 70% of the companies we surveyed are less than halfway ready to deploy AA/AI at scale. True “Readiness” requires a certain set of capabilities; starting with the right mindset and a business led approach to building up AA/AI is pivotal to achieve full readiness. We provide a path for retailers and fashion brands to move up the ladder from active to ready for a future in which AA/AI powers success and drives competitive advantage.