GenAI could help boost the efficiency of customer service teams and give shoppers access to fast, personalized, 24/7 support. To make the most of the technology, retailers and brands need to understand the key use cases in a customer service setting—and stay mindful of the risks.

The gap is closing between AI customer service agents and humans, according to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: But customers have plenty of concerns—including their shrinking ability to access human assistance and the possibility of hallucinations.

The deal will bring 7,000 new customers and critical disaster recovery tools to tackle growing cybersecurity threats.

Steep discounts drove record Black Friday online sales: Ecommerce sales surged on the day after Thanksgiving, while brick-and-mortar sales grew just 1.1% YoY.

Behind the hype around composable commerce, there are pros and cons that retailers should consider before shaking up their business operations.

New AI Tools for Marketers: Salesforce and Adobe launch generative AI products aimed at streamlining workflows and bolstering campaign performance through customization.

Industry KPIs show how email compares to SMS

ROAS is a widely used metric for advertisers to understand the effectiveness of their campaigns, and newly added data to Industry KPIs shows YoY changes in ROAS by industry. We recently added several important metric benchmarks to Industry KPIs, including cost per click (CPC) and ecommerce ad spend.

Generative AI’s poetic hallucinations might clash with data science rigor: The tech industry’s growing catalog of generative AI app integration raises questions about performance and adoption best practices.

Bots might soon replace professional interactions: ChatGPT is coming to Slack as companies go all in on generative AI. It would be wise to tally the pros and cons of AI adoption.

Thousands of Googlers get pink slips: As scavenging continues to rise among other industries, terminated workers shouldn’t be jobless for long. Meanwhile, Google is laser-focused on a revenue-driven AI strategy.

Tech’s economic pain isn’t letting up: Economic recovery eludes the tech industry as the Fed targets the overall strong job market’s role in driving inflation. Expect more corporate downsizing.

Will tech have learned its lesson during economic recovery? A mild recession in 2023 could give rise to tech’s recovery during the second half of the year. Expect industry caution.

Big Tech’s real estate addiction cured by downturn: Companies are reversing their office expansion plans to cut costs. Long-term, the move makes more financial sense than layoffs given the rise of remote work.

Activist investor pressures Salesforce to slash staff: A string of tech layoffs last week follows the Fed’s interest rate hike. But tech talent scavengers should keep companies on their toes.

Are health systems turning to Big Tech for digital health? Healthcare providers have specific software investment priorities for the next year. We explore if Big Tech players’ digital health capabilities are meeting those needs.

Salesforce-owned Slack announced Canvas, an integrated feature that allows users to create and edit documents without leaving the application.

US marketing tech spending to top $20 billion this year: Growth reflects increased importance of using data to improve customer experience.

Retailers enhance their rewards programs as inflation shifts consumer spend: But that’s easier said than done, as overly complex rewards can steer away customers rather than encourage their loyalty.

Shopify offered a lifeline for merchants during the pandemic. Now, as the ecommerce environment grows more challenging, the company is devising new strategies to help brands expand their reach.