Small businesses turn to AI and tech innovation: ‘The employee I needed’

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Reports point to how small retail businesses are turning to innovation and technology such as artificial intelligence to grow and reach new customers.

Cara Bevilacqua, who owns Coastal Design Workshops, uses technology like artificial intelligence to promote her small business.  

Coastal Design Workshops is a creative virtual workshop experience where Bevilacqua instructs team building class craft events.

Artificial intelligence is used to describe her workshops to customers.

“When I have to come up with a description of my workshops, I want to make sure that it’s as detailed and attention grabbing as it can be to a customer,” Bevilaqua said. “Because when I do it by myself, I’m not really great at coming up with the most creative descriptions so I use AI for that.”

She said marketing platforms that she partners with integrate artificial intelligence into their systems so “a lot of the marketing” for her business is also “handled by AI.”

“AI is the employee I needed,” Bevilacqua said.

Bevilacqua explained that upon starting her business in 2019, she would instruct in-person classes, but she said for the past three years, it has been “all virtual” since the coronavirus pandemic. She said technology is “so much more important now.”

“I need to have really good detailed descriptions of what I’m selling because I can’t have it in front of their face,” Bevilacqua said. “It’s all on the computer so it’s very important.”

In a 2023 U.S. Chamber of Commerce report on the impact of small businesses using technology, C-Tech and Teneo Research conducted a nationwide survey of the small business ecosystem.

The survey found that 71% of small business owners plan to adopt the latest technology including artificial intelligence, chatbots and cryptocurrencies.

“Leveraging innovation and technology, small businesses across the state of Florida are capitalizing on opportunity, reaching new customers and outperforming their competitors,” Director of Public Affairs at NetChoice Rob Winterton said.

The survey also found that around half of small business owners are concerned about technology regulations harming their businesses as well as having to comply with increased costs and litigation stemming from out-of-state regulation.

Florida’s Voice asked Bevilaqua if she has any concerns about technology regulations harming her business.

“I don’t feel concerned or threatened about it right now,” Bevilacqua said. “But it just looks like the way that things are going, technology and AI is obviously getting ingrained in like every type of job out there, every career, every industry, so I feel like even though I can’t picture how it will affect me now, I’m sure down the road it totally will.”

“But for now I feel like it’s helpful,” she continued. “I feel like for now, it’s kind of a helping hand in areas where I can’t really do it all by myself, but we’ll see where that leads.”

The Motley Fool reported how artificial intelligence is “changing the retail industry.”

The report said one of the most common applications of artificial intelligence in retail is in demand forecasting, which is used to help businesses better understand consumer demand in real-time so they can be sure to have the right inventory.

Other ways businesses can utilize artificial intelligence is through inventory management and product optimization, according to the report.

Cox Blue reported technology strategies for small businesses to use for this year’s Small Business Saturday including using marketing automation to help segment business’ leads and develop specific, customized campaigns to reach groups with an individualized message tailored to appeal to them.

The report also pointed to businesses creating social media plans and using local, targeted paid social advertising.

When it comes to social media, Bevilacqua said she doesn’t rely on it to promote her business, but “feels the pressure to be more active on it, especially with AI.”

“A lot of people are automating things and using AI to come up with content and getting faster and faster at producing content,” Bevilacqua said. “And I’m kind of falling behind on that, because I haven’t started utilizing AI.”

BizTech reported three technologies that small businesses “should be using” including contactless payment, offering the omnichannel experience, which is an approach to user experience that focuses on the overall quality of interaction between customer and brand for online shopping. They also said businesses “need to” utilize data collection systems.

Retail Insight Network reported that retailers have begun to use machine learning, which Global Data explained is a “crucial” subset of artificial intelligence.

Machine learning is an artificial intelligence technology that allows machines to learn by using algorithms to interpret data to predict outcomes and learn from successes and failures, according to Global Data.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order Oct. 30 to impose safety and security regulations on artificial intelligence as the technology continues to grow in the U.S.

The executive order said that is to “protect Americans from the potential risks of AI systems.”

“It’s critical that our policies on the state and national level encourage – not hinder – the adaptation of technology so that American small businesses can continue to compete globally and thrive locally,” Winterton said.