This high-tech E.L.F. is guiding confused shoppers with the help of IBM's Watson
The new E.L.F. bot at the Mall of America wants to be your little shopping helper.
E.L.F. stands for the Experiential List Formulator. It's essentially a mobile concierge, an IBM Watson-powered chatbot that asks people things like what they enjoy doing or how long they plan to hang out at the mall, according to VentureBeat. You can chat with the bot through Facebook Messenger or online at elf.mallofamerica.com.
The Mall of America, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, is a massive collection of hundreds of stores across 5.6 million square feet, so E.L.F. could be a big help in narrowing down options and getting around. It's just one of multiple "helper bots" developed by IBM Watson Group and Satisfi, which has called concierges like E.L.F. "the future of shopping."
"Imagine doing all of your shopping from home, and when you do have to go into a store there is a personalized shopper ready to wait on you, and somehow all of this is given to you at no added cost," Satisfi wrote in a blog post.
Satisfi and IBM Watson Group have teamed up on two other mobile concierges, including Macy's On Call, a service that helps shoppers navigate the store, and a SMS-based bot called At Your Service, VentureBeat reports. The latter can be found at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach, California, and gives customers information when they text a special phone line. Shoppers can ask questions like “Where is Neiman Marcus located?” or “Where can I valet?”
It's not quite a magical elf from the North Pole, but it's better than nothing.
Marissa is a real-time news intern at the LA office. She has a bachelor's degree in political science from UC Santa Barbara and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She's a free spirit.
