At the Mall of America in a suburb just south of Minneapolis, shoppers walk 1.15 miles just to make their way around a single level of the sprawling shopping destination visited by 40 million people every year. And with multiple floors in total comprising around 5.6 million square feet of total building area—enough to fit nine Yankee Stadiums—some might find it handy to have a digital guide for navigating the nation’s largest shopping center.
The mall—call MoA by the locals—has partnered with IBM to integrate the company’s Watson technology to create a “mobile concierge” that helps shoppers make their way around. Using Watson’s conversational API, a holiday-themed chatbot—fittingly named “E.L.F.” (short for Experience List Formulator)—helps guests plan a personalized shopping experience based on whatever they’re looking for.
