Beverage giant Coca-Cola has uncorked a bubbly taste of the future using AI to develop a new flavour — Y3000 Zero Sugar. Artificial intelligence played a role in not only creating the flavour but also the design and packaging of the can. The flavour was formulated using feedback from consumers. Coca-Cola has been relentlessly pushing the boundaries by using AI in its marketing and advertising. In February it announced a partnership with Bain & Company and Open AI to harness the power of generative AI.

Malls are back

Digital commerce may be booming, but malls are cornering a lot of retail action too. The contribution of malls to organised retail sales is expected to rise to around 30 per cent by 2028 from the current level of 19 per cent, said Praveen Govindu, Partner, Deloitte at the MAPIC India conference in Mumbai last week. He estimated that India’s total retail sales would grow from $58 billion in 2023 to $136 billion by 2028. However, there is a need to accord industry status to shopping malls to overcome the challenges of taxation and availability of credit, he stressed. According to a Deloitte study on top reasons for visiting malls, 82 per cent said it was for shopping, 73 per cent for watching movies, 56 per cent for dining and 22 per cent for gaming.

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