AI for the Store Associate: The Key to Improving the Shopper Experience

Retailers are investing heavily in artificial intelligence to enhance customer experiences and streamline operations. Industry estimates placed the global AI-in-retail market at roughly $11.6 billion in 2024, with continued rapid growth expected through 2030. With these investments, much of the industry's attention has focused on automation and customer-facing technology. Yet despite advances in automation, customers still turn to associates when they need answers, guidance, or help completing a purchase.

Recent data emphasizes this point. Sixty-two percent of customers still rely on store associates when they cannot find a product. Another 53 percent say poor or unhelpful service is the top factor that prevents them from returning to a store.

The challenge for retailers is not deciding whether customers prefer people or technology. It's ensuring that associates have the technology they need to meet customer expectations in real time.

Beyond Autonomous Retail

The early Amazon Go deployments and Just Walk Out initiatives reflected a belief that the future of retail would be fully automated. While these experiments generated significant interest, they also revealed an important reality: shoppers aren't looking to eliminate the human element from retail, but simply having employees present on the sales floor is still not enough for them either.

Associates are now expected to act with machine-like speed and accuracy, providing real-time product information, inventory visibility, and personalized recommendations. The research indicates that more than one-third of shoppers have abandoned a purchase entirely because they could not get timely assistance from a staff member.

With that said, retailers continue to face mounting labor pressures. In fact, 43.6 percent say operating conditions have worsened due to labor shortages and rising costs. So, how can they empower associates to deliver machine-speed answers and personalized service at a time when resources are increasingly stretched?

Creating an Increasingly Smart, AI-Enabled Store Ecosystem

The answer lies in information and decision acceleration. The retailers that win will be those that can use AI to put accurate, real-time information in the hands of associates the moment customers need it.

Rather than forcing customers to interact with another screen or self-service tool, retailers can deliver AI-powered insights directly through the tools associates already use, including headsets, handheld devices, and store communication platforms. Associates can receive real-time inventory updates, product information, fulfillment alerts, or answers to customer questions without leaving the sales floor. This enables employees to remain focused on the customer while accessing the information they need to provide faster, more accurate service.

Generative AI can also provide insight, not just information. When a customer has a more complex question (e.g., comparing products, identifying compatible accessories, or finding an alternative for an out-of-stock item), AI can quickly combine information from multiple systems and provide clear, actionable recommendations. This enables associates to spend less time searching for answers and more time helping customers make informed purchasing decisions.

When AI connects associates to real-time insights, it removes friction from everyday tasks. Employees spend less time searching for information, tracking down colleagues, or guessing at inventory availability. They can act faster, communicate more clearly, and serve customers with greater confidence, despite labor shortages or additional operational challenges.

From Automation to an Information Advantage

Retail leaders must look past the hype surrounding AI and focus on the realities of the store floor. They cannot afford to deploy technology that creates friction for customers or employees. Retailers often talk about customer experience as if it begins with the shopper. It actually begins with the associate.

The retailers that gain the most from AI won't necessarily be those with the most automation. They'll be the ones that use AI to close the gap between customer questions and employee answers, creating a connected store environment. Today, convenience rules the shopper journey. As a result, the ability to deliver the right information at the right moment is becoming one of retail's most important competitive advantages.

Beth Worrall is the CEO of VoCoVo, a retail communications specialist.