The Entertainer has launched an AI-enabled chatbot which will offer help to customers shopping online for Christmas presents.
The retailer’s mascot, Jack, appears online dressed as Santa, ready to answer gift-related questions from shoppers via voice or text. Jack can also tell jokes and provide tips for cooking the Christmas dinner.
The Entertainer partnered with Red Ant to develop the AI technology which is available on all devices using text input, with voice available on Chrome browsers only.
The retailer said Jack’s responses will be ‘trained’ by humans over time, allowing him to increase his intelligence.
Rob Wood, head of online and digital at The Entertainer, said: "We knew that Red Ant has expertise in developing AI projects, and we wanted to use their experience to deliver a virtual assistant that ticks all the boxes. We wanted something that was fun, relevant and genuinely useful, and Santa Chat is all three. It also paves the way for future connected retail initiatives."