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PacSun CEO Brieane Olson was singing the praises of artificial intelligence at the NRF Big Show on Sunday, even as she expressed a note of caution about applying it to certain aspects of the business.
She said PacSun formed an internal leadership team that meets on a weekly basis to discuss AI strategy across the next 18 months, noting that “12 months from an AI perspective is just too short to accomplish anything.”
“I’m very proud of our progress across all fronts, throughout the organization, in terms of how we’re exploring and discovering AI, whether it’s through personalization, whether it’s through merchandising, planning, and assortment,” she said.
But the parts of the business that PacSun is hesitant to integrate with AI are “things that touch the creative, particularly in terms of product design.” When it comes to creative work, she said, AI can produce a “sea of sameness…so that’s been an area that has been more protected.”
PacSun was an early adopter of AI-powered applications, partnering with SaaS solutions provider antuit.ai in 2022 to better predict online demand and optimize inventory allocation and fulfillment from brick-and-mortar stores, which were previously struggling to keep up with orders.