AI Agents in Retail: the silent revolution in large-scale retail

Compiled 7 March, updated 14 March 2026

AI Agents in Retail:

The silent revolution in retail

Applications, use cases and strategic implications for modern retail

76% of global retailers are increasing their investment in artificial intelligence agents. This is not an intention, systems are already at work in Walmart‘s warehouses, Sephora‘s shops, SharkNinja‘s customer service platforms. A silent transformation that is reshaping, sector by sector, what it means to do retail in the age of artificial intelligence.

What makes them different

An AI agent does not just answer questions: it perceives, plans and performs autonomous actions without continuous human intervention. According to MIT Sloan Management Review, these systems execute multi-step plans, use external tools and interact with digital environments. In retail, where margins are tight and speed of decision-making is a competitive factor, this operational autonomy changes the rules of the game.

Key use cases

Inventory management. Walmart implemented AI agents with computer vision and sensors on the shelves: when stock falls below a threshold, the system autonomously triggers reordering. Documented result in the pilot shop: -30% out-of-stock events in six months.

The Arkansas giant also signed a partnership with OpenAI.

In Europe, Lidl invests heavily in AI.

Customer service. DSW, the American shoe retailer, introduced a voice agent capable of authenticating the caller, analysing order history and resolving unattended requests. Estimated savings: $1.5 million in support costs. SharkNinja uses Salesforce’s Agentforce for post-sales management: CIO Velia Carboni described it as ‘fundamental to building a community that keeps customers coming back’.

Personalisation. Sephora has turned tablets into stores and mobile apps into digital beauty consultants: the agent suggests shades, simulates the result in augmented reality and builds personalised routines, refining with each interaction. According to the Shopify 2025 Retail Report, retailers adopting AI personalisation record a 25% drop in average order value and a -19% drop in returns.

Conversational commerce as a new channel

The partnership between Shopify and OpenAI, which enables shopping directly within ChatGPT, marks a structural change: the AI agent becomes a primary sales channel, no longer an auxiliary tool. “People discover products through AI conversations, not just through search or advertising,” said Vanessa Lee, VP of Product at Shopify. A discontinuity that redefines the rules of brand visibility and commercial positioning.

Risks not to be underestimated

Gartner predicts that more than 40 per cent of agentic AI projects will be abandoned by 2027, due to hidden costs and integration complexity. The MIT Sloan 2025 research warns that 80% of the work in these projects involves data engineering and governance, not AI design. On the consumer front, 63% of Gen Z would accept an agent making purchases on their behalf, but trust remains the main obstacle: transparency and control are the conditions customers demand.

What is at stake

McKinsey estimates that retailers with autonomous AI systems are growing 50% faster than competitors. Cognizant projects $4.4 trillion in additional spending over the next five years from customers embracing AI. Agents are not an investment in the future of retail, they are already the present, and those who delay to act today risk having to make up for a hard-to-fill disadvantage tomorrow.

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