NLX and Amazon Web Services Deliver Generative AI-Powered Conversational Experiences for Saks Fifth Avenue

NLX, the AI platform powering advanced conversational experiences for the world’s most admired brands, announced its collaboration with Saks Fifth Avenue, part of the Saks Global portfolio of luxury retailers, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer voice-first, generative AI-powered conversational experiences to the luxury retailer’s customers.

Saks Fifth Avenue works continuously to elevate its customer service to match the high expectations of its customers. The company turned to NLX Voice+ and Amazon Connect, AWS’s unified, AI-native customer experience solution, to improve interactions between agents, supervisors, and customers.

Using NLX patented, multimodal Voice+ technology integrated on Amazon Connect, Saks Fifth Avenue customers calling to inquire about the status of their order or return, among other questions, may be able to engage with AI in a way that’s most similar to a human agent. They can speak to and hear the AI, exchange texts, and walk through steps on a screen that both the AI and customer can “see.”

“At its core, luxury is personal. By thoughtfully integrating advanced technology like NLX, we are not replacing the human touch, we are enhancing it. This allows us to work smarter to elevate every customer interaction, ensuring our teams are empowered to deliver exceptional, high-touch service across all facets of the customer journey,” said Jessica Bengtzen, Vice President, Service Centers, Saks Global.

With this new technology, the luxury retailer has decreased agent call volume with about 20% of callers opting into the visual voice-guided Interactive Voice Response (IVR) experience. These time savings scale to measurable gains in workforce efficiency, service speed, and bottom-line performance, all while increasing customer satisfaction and driving loyalty.

The luxury retailer also uses generative AI through Amazon Connect and Amazon Bedrock on AWS to give customer support agents data to make more informed decisions and deliver an elevated luxury experience. Saks Fifth Avenue can now monitor customer sentiment, access real-time and historical metrics, summarize a 20-minute customer conversation into a few sentences, and reduce after-call workload by 15 seconds per interaction.

“Saks Fifth Avenue understands that its customers expect excellence in everything, and their post-purchase service experiences are no exception,” said Andrei Papancea, CEO of NLX. “As consumers increasingly expect brands to offer fast and efficient service while preserving the high-touch  experience, retailers like Saks that deliver the most delightful and advanced technology will capture their loyalty and their business.”

With the NLX proprietary no-code platform and the help of AWS Professional Services, Saks Fifth Avenue has been able to build, test, and analyze voice-first, generative AI-powered conversations in a matter of weeks without needing to tap IT resources.

“Luxury retail customers expect conversational experiences that are personalized and feel as natural as speaking with an in-store associate would be,” said Rich Geraffo, Vice President & Managing Director, AWS North America. “NLX is delivering exactly that – elevated, seamless interactions through a unique pairing of its own AI capabilities with Amazon Connect and Amazon Bedrock. For Saks Fifth Avenue, this equates to meeting customers exactly where they are, with the speed, sophistication and white-glove service they demand.”

NLX was inspired by the experience of building a conversational AI platform from the ground up for a global, Fortune 100 financial services company. That process revealed the unmet need in the marketplace, which is the ability for enterprise brands to efficiently build and scale leading-edge conversational AI solutions for any business function. It also informed key NLX differentiators, including no-code implementation and development that allows non-technical teams to create and manage their own conversational applications at scale. NLX is compatible with any existing tech stack, including first- and third-party AI technologies.

NLX is a conversational AI platform for building and managing chat, voice, and multimodal applications at scale. As human interactions with technology become increasingly conversation-based, NLX makes it practical to create, deploy, and manage conversational experiences for any industry or use case, working in concert with any large language model and technology stack. From individual builders to the world's biggest brands, including Comcast, Saks Fifth Avenue, Toyota, and United Airlines, NLX makes it possible to harness advanced AI technologies to create exceptional experiences that mirror the natural ebb and flow of people's day-to-day decision-making.

Saks Fifth Avenue is a leading destination for luxury fashion, driven by a mission to help customers express themselves through relevant and inspiring style. Since its inception in 1924, the company has delivered one-of-a-kind shopping experiences, featuring an expertly curated assortment of fashion and highly personalized customer service. Its unique approach combines an emphasis on the digital customer experience with a strong connection to a network of 33 extraordinary locations across North America for seamless, all-channel shopping. Saks Fifth Avenue is part of Saks Global’s portfolio of top luxury retail brands and real estate assets.

Visit saks.com for more information.

Saks Global is the largest multi-brand luxury retailer in the world, comprising Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks OFF 5TH, Last Call and Horchow. Its retail portfolio includes 70 full-line luxury locations, additional off-price locations and five distinct e-commerce experiences. With talented colleagues focused on delivering on our strategic vision, The Art of You, Saks Global is redefining luxury shopping by offering each customer a personalized experience that is unmistakably their own. By leveraging the most comprehensive luxury customer data platform in North America, cutting-edge technology, and strong partnerships with the world's most esteemed brands, Saks Global is shaping the future of luxury retail.

Saks Global Properties & Investments includes Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus flagship properties and represents nearly 13 million square feet of prime U.S. real estate holdings and investments in luxury markets. 

For more information, follow Saks Global on LinkedIn.