The Mall Of America’s New Chatbot Aims To Make Your Holiday Shopping Easy

It’s been more than 20 years since the Mall of America starred in the holiday hit film “Jingle All The Way,” but if Arnold Schwarzenegger ran the halls this season for a remake, he could have a little help from artificial intelligence. Today, Minnesota’s massive mall and key tourist attraction is launching its own chatbot for the holiday season. The bot—available across various platforms, including Mall of America’s website, mobile app and Facebook page—will let users ask questions so they can plan before they arrive. They can also ask for directions when they’re there, brainstorm gifts to buy, and learn about the mall’s deals or events. In addition to the text-based bot, the Mall and developer party Satisfi Labs created a voice-enabled skill to access the bot through Amazon Alexa. “When you think about maybe visiting the mall for the first time and you have your whole family with you, some kids maybe want to go see the rides, some might want to see a movie, and maybe your husband or your partner [may want] to go somewhere else and you want to go somewhere else. It’s quite overwhelming,” said Justine Santa Cruz, VP of strategic partnerships and alliances for Satisfi Labs. “You don’t even know where to park for something as big as that.” Read more at Adweek.