- Customer service and marketing are AI’s biggest use cases in retail
- Inventory management and supply chain is a big focus as we look forward
- AI maturity is actually very low – this is largely untapped and poised for major growth
More than two in three (70%) retailers are testing or have partially implemented agent AI, with just as many (71%) expecting the technology to help improve operational efficiency as early as next year, according to a new Fluent Commerce report.
But while 12% have already seen a strong impact, only 8% have fully implemented AI across their operations.
As an additional challenge, only 5% consider their AI systems mature and optimized, but plenty of other obstacles stand between retailers and successful AI implementations.
Retailers are optimistic about agent AI
The figures show that 88% of retailers recognize the role of agent AI in keeping them competitive against competitors, but ethical/regulatory concerns (43%), customer trust and transparency (43%), data quality and integration issues (39%) and lack of skills (36%) are holding them back from going all-in.
“Retailers are clearly investing in artificial intelligence, but the journey from pilot to full-scale implementation has proven more complex than expected,” said Chief Strategy Officer Nicola Kinsella.
Currently, most AI in retail has centered around customer service and chatbots (56%) and personalized marketing (46%) – but we could be on the cusp of big change as retailers begin to explore the use of AI across their operations.
Kinsella credited agent AI with being able to “see the full operational picture,” such as order exceptions, processing speeds and fulfillment locations, delivery delays and more.
Nearly a third plan to deploy agent AI across inventory management (30%) and supply chain optimization (32%).
Not only do these new AI capabilities present retail businesses with additional areas for productivity gains, but looking ahead, retailers clearly expect to see more value from AI-enhanced administration over AI-enhanced creativity.
By leaving human workers to come up with the best strategies, AI can be left to generate useful insights and actions from existing data: “With the right data and a thoughtful deployment, retailers can capture real, measurable benefits from AI.”
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