If retailers find that a certain product is not sold as well as normally, there are many potential explanations. Is there a new, similar product on a nearby shelf that is heavily advertised for less or one by the manufacturer? If it is a new product, was it put in the right gear? Is it close enough to eye level so that buyers can find it easy?
The first step of the retailers is to find the matter. The next difficult step is to find out which measures will be most effective. This becomes more complicated because there can be numerous interacting causes of a bad sale. To add another level of complexity, measures to relieve a problem can be issued to sprout others. Finding the right answer can require several tests that need time and money.
The retailer for the home improvement Lowe's Has used AI-powered solutions to create 3D digital twins of all shops, each of which is now updated several times a day to reflect exactly what is going on at the real stationary position. The digital twin offers Merchandisers an interface in video game style with which they can virtually move products, devices and displays so that they can determine optimal product placements and a variety of other decisions at the store level.
However, these digital twins are more than just configured pixels: “A digital twin that uses 'Physics Ai' It understands the weight, the depth and size of these productsWhat is really important, ”said Azita Martin, VP and General Manager, Retail and CPG at Nvidia. This ability is particularly important for Lowe's, which brings products with it that can be as light as a single nail or as difficult as a refrigerator. Lowe's uses an Nvidia/Dell platform in every shop to support its AI-based solutions.
Martin was accompanied by Randy Mangel, General Manager, Computer Vision, KI and Retail at Dell Technologies and Seantini Godbol, EPP, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Lowe's, during a NRF Big Show meeting 2025. How Lowe Ki uses to become an agile digital retailer. (In another NRF meeting, additional AI success in brands including Walmart And L'Oréal The use of Nvidia solutions was also discussed.)
Digital twins born for the entire Lowe shop fleet
Godbole gave an example of the time savings and insights that helped these digital twins at Lowe. Users can “mark the skus that does not sell as well, for example, in the lighting in the lighting,” she said. “Can we just remove them? Replace you with other products? You can visually test this in the digital twin.
“We have a physical space, the design center of the Lowe, and we do we [these types of experiments] There, ”added Godbole. “What if we give our employees the ability to do this Hundreds of experiments before the physical space? You could choose three From these hundreds of simulations you can try out any of them in physical space. “
“The optimization of layouts in the physical world is very capital -intensive and annoying, but but With a physics-based omnive simulation platform you can simulate and see various layouts«, Said Nvidias Martin. “There are also ways to bring [the impact of] Robotics and generative AI in the digital twin. In a simulation environment, you can “train” robots to promote automation for some of the work that people do not want to do, e.g. B. the lifting of large boxes. “
With the digital twin each business several times a day are “for example when people have bought a number of products [that day]«, Said Godbole. “You could sit in Lowe's headquarters and get a shop in the shop without actually being there.”
Give Store Associates Superpowers
Lowe's also accepted generative AI via a chat bot that is available on which zebra Handheld devices used by theirs 300,000+ Store Associates. “If it is a complex product, the employee can ask the chatbot assistant whether it does not have enough information,” said Godbole. “We have people in our shops for which they worked there 10 or 15 yearsBut this gives you a lead if you have only worked there six months.
“We think about Gen AI tools as superpowers for employees and we are close to this vision,” she added. “When the employee comes to the customer, they are confident that he has all the tools that help this customer.”
Lowe's also plans to include chatbots for his customers this spring, one of the busiest seasons of the retailer. “We have a system where you can ask questions: How do I build a deck? Which flowers grow best in my area? “, Said Godbole. “The assistant will really help you and give you ideas and you will also buy the product directly in the genei experience.”