AI gives brick-and-mortar retailers the tools to beat their e-commerce competitors – if they can figure out how to use them.

Digital marketing technology has been evolving rapidly. Not that long ago, humans were in charge. Think Mad Men. They’d come up with a marketing slogan, debate it around the room, then launch it and hope it works.

Now we’re living in a world where the best brands on Facebook run 160,000 versions of an ad. Powered by machines, digital marketing is increasingly personalized, experiment-driven and dynamic. This new form of marketing, called Programmatic marketing, is viewed as the emerging standard, and companies supporting it have seen rapid increases to their market value. Digital advertising startup The Trade Desk’s market cap, for example, has grown 100% in the last 6 months.

Can a similar technology disruption help brick and mortar retailers sell more goods?

They could certainly use the help.

Read more about how retailers are beginning to leverage their new box of marketing tools from our co-founder David Moran in the December edition of Retail Merchandiser, page 68-69.