Saks Fifth Avenue

Personalised shopping experiences with AI

Industry: Retail

Revenue: $6 Billion Annually

Facing fierce competition in the online luxury retail space, Saks Fifth Avenue sought to enhance customer engagement and drive higher conversions. Using SurrealDB's vector search and graph capabilities, they integrated AI-powered large language models (LLMs) into its e-commerce platform to deliver real-time, hyper-personalised product recommendations.

Key challenges

Low conversion rates

Despite significant web traffic, conversion rates were stagnant at 1.5%, far below industry benchmarks for luxury retail.

Lack of personalisation

Generic product recommendations led to disengaged customers and missed opportunities to upsell or cross-sell.

Scalability issues during peak seasons

Seasonal spikes in shopping activity often overwhelmed the existing infrastructure, resulting in slow response times and reduced customer satisfaction.

Fragmented data

Customer preferences and purchase behavior were spread across siloed systems, making it difficult to create a unified view of each shopper.

Solutions

AI-Powered personalisation

Leveraged SurrealDB's vector search and graph capabilities to implement large language models (LLMs) that analyse customer behavior and preferences in real time.

Real-time data processing

Unified customer data from multiple touchpoints into a single, scalable platform, enabling instant recommendations tailored to individual shoppers.

Scalable infrastructure

Ensured that the solution could handle millions of concurrent users without compromising performance, even during peak shopping periods like Black Friday.

Graph-based customer insights

Used graph database features to map customer relationships, such as previous purchases, browsing history, and abandoned carts, creating a more holistic understanding of customer intent.

Results

Increased conversion rates

Conversion rates improved from 1.5% to 4%, representing a significant uplift in revenue.

Revenue growth

The improvement translated to millions of dollars in additional annual revenue.

Improved customer retention

Personalised experiences fostered customer loyalty, with repeat purchases increasing by 30%.

Seamless scalability

During the holiday season, the platform processed record-breaking traffic without downtime or lag, enhancing customer trust.

Why SurrealDB?

SurrealDB's advanced graph capabilities enabled deep analysis of customer purchase behavior, while its vector search feature unlocked precision AI recommendations that kept shoppers engaged and returning.