Last holiday season, IBM and Westfield Mall partnered to save the holiday season by turning bad gift-givers good. We created a cognitive app—fueled by data that only Watson can see—that turned gift-recipient’s social media feeds into presents they’ll love. Even better, presents that were available for purchase right then and there in the Westfield Mall.

Our cognitive gift-giving solution was inspired, created and driven by data. Widespread research drove us to rescue Christmas in San Francisco based on two insights: the brand’s lack of presence in the region and the tech-savvy community.

Further demographic information led us to our target: the mid-thirties male. Based on this data-driven insight, we crafted our messaging and experience to tailor to this audience.

With a little help from Watson and a lot of data, San Francisco enjoyed their first A.I. Christmas. Retailers celebrated the decrease in returns and shoppers rejoiced the decrease in holiday rejection.

Within our short visit to San Francisco’s Westfield Mall, we prevented 7,452 bad gifts from being gifts from being given and decreased holiday returns by 10 percent.