AI in Retail: Artificial Intelligence in the Everyday Store
How leading retailers are moving from AI pilots to intelligence built into every layer of the store. And what it takes to get frontline teams acting on it.
Key findings
- Store teams can spend up to 64% of their shift on routine tasks like compliance checks and chasing information, instead of serving customers.
- Out-of-stocks and overstocks were projected to cost retailers $1.7 trillion in a single year, with $1.2 trillion of that from empty shelves alone.
- Over 85% of retailers have launched or are exploring AI, and the strongest adopters report more than 2x the sales growth and 3x the profit of competitors.
- 62% of retailers plan to retain or upskill employees to work with AI tools.
Summary
AI in retail has moved past the pilot stage. Pricing engines, replenishment models, and shelf sensors now run quietly behind everyday store operations. But signals on their own do not fix execution. Store managers are sales leaders, not data analysts, and a dense report does not tell anyone what to do next.
This report from RETHINK Retail examines how retailers close that gap, covering shelf-edge data, adaptive pricing, frontline enablement, autonomous checkout, and responsible AI governance. It features insight from YOOBIC, Diebold Nixdorf, VusionGroup, Allume Group, Chief Digital Agency, and The Vitamin Shoppe, with results from Mars, Walmart, and others.
What you’ll learn
- How to turn shelf-edge signals into actions store teams can complete the same day.
- How to give associates short, role-specific guidance instead of dense reports.
- How to keep AI decisions explainable so shoppers and store teams trust them.
- Where retailers are seeing returns, from 40% time savings on routine tasks to 50% less training time.
