Macy’s Leverages Rokt’s AI & Machine Learning to Enhance the Shopping Experience

Macy’s has announced plans to enhance its retail media capabilities through a partnership with ecommerce specialist Rokt.

The collaboration will see Macy’s Media Network deploy Rokt’s AI and machine learning solutions to provide a more personalized and relevant experience to each customer.

As the in-house media platform for the prominent American retail store, Macy’s Media Network is responsible for forging relationships between the company’s advertising partners and customers.

Having launched the program last summer, Rokt’s technology has been integral to Macy’s mission. By enabling the company to deliver targeted, “high-quality, premium” offers post-purchase to its customers, the retailer has been able to improve its relevancy and engagement.

The benefits of the partnership were discussed by Michael Krans, Vice President of Macy’s Media Network, who commented:

Macy’s Media Network has seen increased customer engagement since launching our partnership with Rokt.

“Rokt’s unique AI-powered technology enables us to use our first-party data to provide our customers with high quality, premium offers from non-endemic advertisers post purchase, communicating the right message at the right time, ultimately leading to increased customer engagement.”

The non-endemic ads mentioned by Krans are another key aspect of the partnership.

The company explained that while endemic ads are most effective before a customer chooses a product on an e-commerce site, the non-endemic ads that Rokt is helping to deploy perform better during the transaction phase, when customers are more receptive to new and relevant offers.

In addition, Macy’s believes that Rokt’s extensive ecommerce network is ideally suited to assist the company in developing and enhancing other advertising strategies and future initiatives, such as Macy’s credit card enrollment and its Star Rewards loyalty program.

In discussing the news, Elizabeth Buchanan, Chief Commercial Officer at Rokt, was full of praise for Macy’s and excited about what the two organizations could achieve together:

Macy’s is an iconic American retailer, and we are extremely proud to partner with the incredible Macy’s Media Network team to drive increased value for its customers.

“This partnership is empowering Macy’s to connect more closely with its online customers by delivering highly relevant messages from our non-endemic advertising partners at the end of the purchase when they are still in a transaction mindset, making the shopping experience more memorable, personal, and impactful.”

More Ecommerce Announcements

Earlier this summer, Amazon announced that Rufus, its new AI chatbot, was now accessible to all US customers.

Powered by generative AI (GenAI), Rufus aims to assist with shopping inquiries, product details, and comparisons to help users save time and make better purchasing choices.

Integrated into Amazon’s customer portals, the AI assistant offers access to the full product catalog, reviews, and community Q&As.

Although initially unveiled in February, Rufus is currently available only in beta for US app users and is not yet available on the web.

Rufus is designed to improve the shopping experience by integrating research and purchasing into a single platform.

It helps users easily find the best products for various needs – like hobbies or ethical considerations – by allowing them to ask specific questions directly in the app, such as “What are clean beauty products?” or “What do I need for cold weather golf?”

Elsewhere, back in June, Target also revealed plans to deploy a new GenAI solution called the Store Companion, to “hundreds of thousands” of team members across nearly 2,000 stores by August.

This AI-powered chatbot will assist staff by answering job-related questions, training new employees, and supporting store operations. Target claims this will make it the first major US retailer to use a GenAI chatbot for its team.

The Store Companion, available via an app, will provide instant answers on processes and procedures, act as a process expert, and help with on-the-job training.

Moreover, the tool will also be informed by real FAQs and process documents from stores nationwide.