Intelligent automation is playing a leading role in reshaping retail trends in the retail and eCommerce sector, with as many as 80% of retail executives saying their organizations will have AI-powered intelligent automation in place by 2027.
It’s easy to see why: IA can deliver new levels of operational efficiency, customer experience and revenue growth, especially as its capabilities continue to evolve and improve. This blog explores the most likely changes and innovations for IA in retail in 2025, and how you can anticipate and adapt to them.
Discover how generative AI is transforming retail and other industries: The Impact of Generative AI: Shaping the Future Across Industries.
Automation has gained real traction in recent years across the retail sector, with strong adoption of AI-driven personalization, inventory management and customer support virtual agents.
More recently, firms have been able to use AI to automate routine store tasks and improve day-to-day efficiency and cut costs—70% of these tasks could be automated by 2025.
This includes using automation platforms to build workflows, where several automated actions take place when triggered by specific actions. For example, a customer generating a service ticket can lead to the automation platform sending an email confirming receipt, and handing the issue over to an appropriate member of staff.
Explore the transformative power of generative AI in retail: Generative AI in Retail: 5 Ways It’s Transforming the Industry.
AI can power more personalized and immersive customer experience, so that customers get tailored actions and interactions, and feel more valued as a result. Virtual reality is a major growth area here, supporting faster location and assessment of product information, with 32% of consumers having used VR to test and purchase products.
AI and automation can also help with a range of service options, such as self-service point of sale, virtual agents for product recommendations, contactless payment, automated customer feedback tools, and automated inventory management.
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Different automation technologies, including AI, machine learning and Robotic Process Automation, can come together to automate highly complex retail processes. So far, fewer than 20% of large businesses have mastered this ‘hyperautomation’, meaning there is scope for competitive advantage for retail firms who can get it right.
Proper integration of hyperautomation means that processes such as finance, accounting and customer service can all be supported by automation, as can management of data and the wider supply chain. This can yield faster and more efficient operations, and a reduced risk of human error.
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Connected to the previous point, intelligent automation can be instrumental in ironing out the inefficiencies from the supply chain, thanks to predictive analytics, real-time inventory tracking, and autonomous systems for streamlined inventory.
AI and automation can track items in real time, not only in terms of stock levels and when replenishment is needed, but also items that are selling particularly well and should be restocked to meet demand. The insights gained from this activity, combined with wider data around market trends and social media activity, can also enable informed, proactive supply chain decisions to be made.
Low-code and no-code automation tools use templates and drag-and-drop user interfaces, allowing staff without high levels of coding expertise to make the most of automation technology.
In a retail scenario, there are a whole host of potential use cases for these platforms, including designing websites and apps, optimizing inventory management systems, and streamlining the returns and exchanges process. Customer relationship management and point-of-sale platforms can also be put together without the need for detailed coding.
Businesses like DHL are at the forefront of delivery and logistics robots, and other self-driving vehicles, that are automating the last-mile part of the supply chain. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the annual global revenue of the autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) market is expected to reach $15 billion by 2035.
AGVs and similar driverless machines are proving extremely useful in taking the human intervention and constraints out of delivery and logistics, adding streamlining and consistency to the supply chain as a result.
Using AI and automation technology ethically and responsibility is increasingly coming under the spotlight. And according to Pymnts, only 8% of retail executives are currently confident that their organizations have the ability to properly govern their AI models. Retailers expanding their use of intelligent automation in 2025 will therefore have to keep ethics front-and-center of their deployments.
This means ensuring that no unintentional biases become embedded into systems, so as to avoid any perceived or actual inequalities that may impact diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments. Those who approach AI development with a careful, ethical mindset will ultimately reap the most significant benefits, demonstrating that the quality of implementation matters far more than rapid deployment. Building foundations with a strong partner with expertise in responsible AI will play a key role in implementing AI correctly.
Businesses who are getting their deployments of intelligent automation right are finding that the technology can be transformative in four key areas:
Being able to add consistency and personalization to engagement promotes better customer loyalty, at a time when it’s easier than ever for customers to shop around
Cutting out the need for manual effort in a wide range of tasks can generate real cost and efficiency savings, including redeploying staff
Predictive analytics can help make key business decision-making more informed, taking out the guesswork and putting the business on a solid footing for the future
Optimizing inventory management, logistics, and other operational processes for greater productivity can all make for a more agile, dynamic and efficient businessoptimizing inventory management, logistics, and other operational processes for greater productivity can all make for a more agile, dynamic and efficient business
It’s important to remember that automation should act as a partner to human endeavor, and shouldn’t automatically be seen as a replacement for it. This is key not only for building a culture of innovation within a retail business, but also in ensuring that automation and AI are used ethically and responsibly.
This is why Ciklum advocates an approach to intelligent automation that’s based around Experience Engineering, so that you can:
If you're ready to explore intelligent automation for your business, or just want some more information to guide your implementation, consult a Ciklum expert for a free consultation today.