Learning from every action to make the AI (and us) smarter
Pensa Vision AI is artificial intelligence which can see through the lens of a camera. Pensa Actions AI is a retail AI agent as a new expansion of the Pensa platform. It automates walking a retail store with the eye of experienced store personnel to assess what matters most right then and guides the work to get it done. Taken together, the AI learns from every action and every observation to make the system smarter.
Why Retail Execution Is Still So Manual
Walking the floor and assessing aisles is work that’s gone on the same way for decades; done many times a day by store and department managers then again by individual store associates and third-party manufacturer reps and their agencies. There is generally high turnover of such personnel and a tribal passing on of knowledge about how to assess and best deal with issues. Given the 25,000-50,000 items in a typical retail store and up to 150,000 varied retail locations, it is difficult to audit and determine highest value actions to take. Today, this process involves item-by-item bar code scanning of individual product items and price tags, plus manually correlating what is seen with inventory databases, shipment data, and price files. Earlier generations of retail AI have not removed that burden: they carry a use tax of photo-by-photo capture, image stitching and catalog upkeep that can cost more time than the AI saves.
How Does Pensa Actions AI Work?
Pensa Actions AI visually inspects individual aisles and promotional displays to assess the most important actions to take, including re-stocking out-of-stock items, ensuring shelf tags, merchandising signage and promotional displays are set up properly and other activities needed to optimize store and channel readiness. It largely replaces the need to barcode scan item-by-item and tag-by-tag, and automatically prioritizes the highest value actions to take, offering a “turn by turn” aisle guidance, similar to navigation in a car, for the most important sequence of actions to be taken, along with the reason behind each suggestion.
Built to Adapt to Every Worker and Device
Pensa Actions AI is designed to be used by manufacturer brand representatives, retailers or third-party workforces who regularly visit stores for merchandising, inventory setup or auditing. Seeing through the lens of a camera, typically a mobile phone or other handheld device already in a worker’s hands, Pensa Actions AI takes in the store scene and eliminates much of the tedious and error prone manual activities performed today. It integrates into the existing process for frontline workers, either as a standalone mobile application or appearing as a simple task within workforce management software directing their activities.
The AI is designed to learn and adjust to individual users and their preferences, adding more upfront support for new users while fading into the background for old hands, providing further assistance only when asked.
When available, its AI memory mode can take into account retail context such as sales, inventory levels, supply chain, and promotional calendars and trade commitments to determine which activities to do and in what order. Its recommendations increase productivity and give newer workers the benefit of the tricks of the trade from the most experienced workers.
The application itself can adapt to nearly any model of Apple iPhone or Android device, including specialized Zebra-type barcode scanners. For newer models of mobile devices, the AI is designed to operate on-device in a zero or low connectivity store environment, otherwise working on- and off-line to maximize compatibility across several hundred device models for maximum workforce flexibility.
What Results Has Pensa Actions AI Delivered?
Early use of the capabilities behind Pensa Actions AI has been successful in automating up to 70% of tedious, manual retail execution work. Its ability to prioritize the right action at the right time has driven up to a 30% improvement in item distribution, a 20% decrease in stockouts, and a 90% reduction in shelf voids.
Pensa Actions AI is available now for licensed subscribers and will continue to expand in capability on an ongoing basis, combining with the rest of the Pensa portfolio to give retailers, CPG brands, and their partners a consistent view of merchandising and operations across the entire supply relationship. Pensa integrates with major enterprise data and workforce platforms.
Why AI That Learns From Every Action Matters for Retail
Let’s take a moment to explain what we see as the significance of AI integrated in this manner. AI memory and the collective knowledge of everything that’s ever happened and every action to react to what people have seen and done in the store environment begins to hint at the vast superpower possible as retail execution gets smarter and smarter from knowing the current, the past, the likely outcomes in the future.
This is not a single vendor role, nor a single system or AI agent. It is instead an AI deployed at retail which can work alongside people, with systems taking in as “signals” all that is known and done, better predicting the next steps at retail as a result, then simplifying the work toward the most important, then and there. To everyone’s benefit.
Let’s take the next step in the journey together.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pensa Actions AI?
Pensa Actions AI is a retail execution AI agent that automates store walks, replaces item-by-item barcode scanning and picture-by-picture image recognition, and guides teams to fix what matters most. It uses the camera from a mobile device that frontline workers already use to identify and interpret everything happening in a retail store, then the AI guides the worker step-by-step for what to do next.
How is Pensa Actions AI different from earlier retail execution AI tools?
Pensa Actions AI avoids the AI Use Tax that earlier retail AI often has: photo-by-photo capture, image stitching and catalog upkeep that can cost more time than the AI saves. Actions AI takes in the aisle as the worker walks and largely replaces item-by-item barcode scanning. It goes beyond detecting issues: it prioritizes the highest-value actions and guides workers through them in order.
Who is Pensa Actions AI designed for?
Pensa Actions AI is for brand representatives and field teams, retailers, and third-party workforces, such as brokers and merchandising agencies, who regularly visit stores for merchandising, inventory setup, or auditing. It also serves the organizations that plan and dispatch those teams, helping them spend frontline time on the work that matters most.
Does Pensa Actions AI work in stores with low or no connectivity?
Yes, Actions AI works in stores with or without connection. On newer mobile devices, Pensa Actions AI is designed to run on-device in stores with little or no connectivity. On other devices, it works online with cloud processing. Either way, frontline teams can keep working in back aisles, rural stores, and other locations where the signal drops
What is AI memory mode in Pensa Actions AI?
AI memory mode is a Pensa Actions AI capability that, when available, takes in retail context such as sales, inventory levels, supply chain, promotional calendars, and trade commitments. It uses that context to decide which activities to do and in what order. These signal-based actions give newer workers the benefit of the tricks of the trade from the most experienced ones.
Does Pensa Actions AI integrate with other systems or operate standalone?
Both. Pensa Actions AI runs as a standalone mobile app, or integrates with existing workforce management software that directs frontline activity and appears as a simple task. Pensa integrates with major enterprise data and workforce platforms, and Actions AI works with the rest of the Pensa portfolio to give retailers, brands, and their partners a consistent view of merchandising and operations.