How Mango Mastered AI Agents To Achieve Record Growth
Mango, the global fashion retailer, leveraged Generative AI to enhance its operations and drive record annual growth. This strategic move has not only positioned Mango as a frontrunner in the use of AI within the retail industry but also as a pioneer in adopting multiple GenAI Agents to reshape traditional business models.
Mango implemented various AI agents across multiple sectors of its business, introducing platforms like Midas, Gaudí, Iris, and Inspire (more below). These platforms have collectively streamlined Mango's operational processes, enhanced customer interaction, and fuelled creativity within the design and product teams. This holistic integration of GenAI solutions has significantly contributed to Mango's reported record annual sales of €3.1 billion ($3.39 billion) for 2023, facilitated the retailer's expansion in the U.S. market and underscored the tangible benefits of GenAI in retail.
Under the leadership of Chief Information Technology Officer Jordi Álex Moreno, Mango embraced GenAI to extend the capabilities of its employees and stakeholders. This move was part of Mango's broader strategy to maintain its competitive edge in the fast-paced fashion industry by leveraging technology to enhance operational efficiency and creativity.
“We see digital intelligence as an extended intelligence, meaning a technology that acts as a co-pilot for our employees and stakeholders,” said Jordi Álex Moreno told Glossy earlier this month. “For this reason, these AI platforms help to extend their capabilities and improve productivity in daily tasks. They also help identify opportunities at different points in the value chain and advance our operations.”
“We are experimenting with different use cases of digital intelligence, specifically in the product development process,” said Moreno. “Generative AI aims to assist in various stages of the creation process of our collections, from trend analysis — enabling the synthesis of large volumes of information — to the creative stage of ideation and product design, prints and textures, as well as in the analysis of feedback from our customers.”
‘Midas’ for Strategic Pricing: Mango introduced 'Midas,' a GenAI platform designed for strategic pricing of products on its website and in stores. By analysing vast datasets, Midas enabled dynamic pricing strategies that respond to market demand, competitor pricing, and inventory levels — leading to increased profitability in key categories such as dresses.
‘Gaudí’ for Product Recommendations: The 'Gaudí' platform utilised GenAI to personalise customer experiences by recommending products. Leveraging customer data and shopping trends, Gaudí offered tailored suggestions to enhance the shopping journey and reportedly led to higher conversion rates and reinforcing customer loyalty.
‘Iris’, the AI Chatbot: To improve customer service, Mango deployed 'Iris,' a chatbot powered by GenAI. Iris was designed to provide instant responses to customer inquiries, ranging from product information to order status, thereby improving the overall customer service experience.
‘Inspire’ for Generative Content and Co-creation: 'Inspire' is a platform that embodies the co-creation spirit between AI and Mango's design and product teams. Utilising GenAI for generating content, Inspire assisted in various stages of the creative process, from trend analysis and ideation to product design, enabling the synthesis of vast information volumes and fostering creativity.
‘Lisa’, a Conversational Platform: Mango also introduced 'Lisa,' a conversational AI platform used by various internal teams. Lisa facilitated better communication and data management across design, store operations, and logistics, optimising the internal workflow and data handling.
These GenAI-driven initiatives significantly contributed to Mango's operational efficiency, creativity, and market competitiveness. By leveraging GenAI, Mango not only optimised its pricing strategies and personalised customer experiences but also streamlined its internal processes and data management, leading to record annual sales and strategic market expansion.
Customer Service Revolution: Similarly to Mango’s deployment of its Iris chatbot, Klarna released their own customer service bot last year that was autonomously managing two-thirds of customer interactions within the first month of deployment. This was a case of both quantity and quality, with Klarna’s AI assistant not only demonstrating the capacity to significantly reduce resolution times — from 11 minutes to under 2 minutes — but also matching human agents in customer satisfaction scores.
As we reported at the time, Klarna’s assistant operates 24/7 across 23 markets and communicates in more than 35 languages — handling 2.3 million conversations and effectively performing the workload of 700 full-time employees. Overall, the innovation led to a 25% reduction in repeat inquiries and is projected to contribute $40 million USD in profit improvement in 2024.
Everywhere AI: As we covered in our The ACQUAINTED Trend Report, AI is shifting from a novelty into ubiquity within the creative industry. As witnessed by Mango’s Inspire platform, AI is now embedded throughout the creative process, with AI skills such as prompt engineering and Stable Diffusion model training becoming more sought after as creativity is further democratised and the creative opportunities provided by GenAI more widely understood.
Mango as a Model for Future Enterprise: As we detail in the ACQUAINTED extended offering deck (get in touch if you’d like to see it), we envision a future whereby enterprises deploy a suite of GenAI agents each specialised in different facets of business operations — ranging from customer service, marketing, and sales to supply chain management, HR, and product development. These AI agents, designed to collaborate and share insights, create a cohesive and dynamic system that adapts in real-time to the needs of the business and its customers. As Moreno states, “Generative AI will be part of the future of all business processes and will, in turn, be a challenge for all professionals as it is a tool from which they can make the most by introducing it into their daily operations.”
This future envisions an enterprise ecosystem where GenAI agents not only augment human capabilities but also work together to create a more intelligent, responsive, and innovative business model. It signifies a shift towards an interconnected AI-driven enterprise that is more than the sum of its parts, capable of navigating the complexities of the modern market with unprecedented finesse and foresight. As seen by the Mango case study, this is moving away from theory and quickly into reality, get in touch today to hear how we can help your enterprise realise it.