AI has rapidly reshaped the retail landscape in recent years, benefitting both retailers and customers alike.
For businesses, adopting AI tools and technologies is a critical differentiator when it comes to optimising performance and productivity, enabling demand forecasting and greater insight into supply chains, while also delivering more personalised experiences.
There are sustainability benefits too, with AI-driven optimisation leading to reductions in waste and the growth of responsible, traceable sourcing.
The rise of AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants is helping to streamline customer service, while advanced technologies like image recognition and predictive analytics support smarter merchandising decisions.
Customers are also seeing the benefit of greater AI adoption, particularly when it comes to improved and more tailored shopping experiences. This includes AI-powered chatbots that provide 24/7 customer service, virtual try-ons and intelligent searches that enhance convenience.
Against a rapidly evolving environment and the continued adoption of AI in the retail space, we consider some of the leading companies providing the tools behind the transformation.
10. EDITED
Founded: 2009
CEO: Doug Kofoid
EDITED is a leader in global retail analytics software, founded on a passion for infusing intelligence into every retail decision.
The company empowers merchandisers, buyers and marketers in insight and technology teams. Its open analytics platform creates a unified source of truth that includes market, enterprise and partner data. This gives retailers a contextualised view of their operations in one place that is market-informed, profit-aware and customer-centric.
EDITED counts the likes of Puma, Lacoste, M&S, Harrods, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Gymshark as customers.
9. C3 AI
Founded: 2009
CEO: Thomas Siebel
C3 AI provides AI software that helps retailers improve their operations through data-driven decision-making.
Its platform uses machine learning to forecast demand, manage inventory and streamline supply chains. Retailers can use the company’s technology to predict product sales, reduce stockouts and avoid overstocking. It also helps optimise pricing and personalise customer experiences by analysing shopping behaviours.
C3 AI integrates data from multiple sources, giving retailers a full view of operations and customer trends. Large enterprises use it to cut costs, increase efficiency and respond faster to market changes.
8. Nvidia
Founded: 1993
CEO: Jensen Huang
Nvidia provides AI solutions for retailers through its platforms like Nvidia Metropolis, Nvidia Triton Inference Server and Nvidia AI Enterprise.
These tools help retailers use computer vision, machine learning and data analytics to improve operations. For example, Nvidia Metropolis enables real-time video analytics for in-store monitoring, while Triton helps deploy AI models for tasks like demand forecasting and personalisation.
Retailers use Nvidia to track customer behaviour, reduce theft, optimise store layouts and improve supply chain efficiency. Its powerful GPUs and software inform smarter, quicker decisions and elevate customer experiences.
7. Oracle
Founded: 1977
CEO: Safra A. Catz
Oracle Cloud for Retail delivers AI-driven tools that help retailers improve forecasting, inventory management and customer engagement.
Using Oracle Retail AI Foundation and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, the platform analyses real-time data to predict demand, optimise pricing and manage stock efficiently.
Customers can also use the platform to drive personalised offers and promotions, improve supply chain operations and maximise cost-efficiency. Oracle works with retailers across the fashion, grocery and specialty sectors, enhancing performance both in-store and online while adapting quickly to changing consumer behaviour and market trends.
6. SAP
Founded: 1972
CEO: Christian Klein
SAP’s Leonardo innovation platform helps retailers use AI to improve decision-making, automate processes and enhance customer experiences.
Integrated with SAP’s cloud and ERP systems, it supports tasks like demand forecasting, inventory optimisation and personalised marketing. Retailers use SAP Leonardo to analyse real-time data from stores, customers and supply chains, helping reduce waste, improve stock availability and boost sales.
By connecting data across all operations, SAP Leonardo enables retailers to respond faster to trends, streamline logistics and deliver more tailored shopping experiences online and in-store.
5. Salesforce
Founded: 1999
CEO: Marc Benioff
Salesforce supports many of the world’s biggest retailers, including the likes of Walmart, Macy’s Carrefour, Nike, H&M and Kohl’s.
Its AI platform, Salesforce Einstein, provides a suite of AI-powered capabilities that help to deliver personalised customer experiences, optimise marketing and boost sales.
By using Salesforce’s technology, retailers can predict crucial factors such as buying behaviour, recommend products and automate their customer service operations using AI chatbots. Einstein also supports inventory planning and campaign performance analysis.
4. IBM
Founded: 1911
CEO: Arvind Krishna
IBM’s Watson suite of AI tools needs little introduction, having helped global organisations including retailers innovate and deliver since 2004. Watson uses machine learning and natural language processing to support smarter decision-making across the retail value chain.
Retailers use its capabilities for crucial areas such as demand forecasting, personalised marketing, customer service automation and supply chain optimisation. Watson also powers AI chatbots and virtual assistants, improving customer engagement.
IBM Sterling, another key platform, is used by retailers to enhance inventory visibility and fulfilment.
3. Microsoft Azure
Founded: 2008
CEO: Satya Nadella
Microsoft Azure provides AI tools that help retailers improve operations, enhance customer experiences and boost sales.
Using Azure AI services, including Azure Machine Learning and Azure Cognitive Services, retailers can forecast demand, personalise recommendations and automate customer service. These tools analyse customer data to deliver targeted marketing and improve inventory planning.
Azure also supports computer vision for in-store analytics and real-time supply chain insights. Alongside Azure, Microsoft also offers Cloud for Retail, an AI-driven tool for improving customer experience and optimising operations.
2. Google Cloud
Founded: 2007
CEO: Sundar Pichai
Major retailers like Target, Carrefour, Macy’s and The Home Depot use Google Cloud’s suite of AI solutions to modernise their operations, improve efficiency and enhance customer experiences.
Google Cloud-based AI also helps deliver faster retail insights and market data, better stock management capabilities and more tailored marketing campaigns.
Its platform includes Vertex AI for building and scaling machine learning models and BigQuery for analysing large volumes of retail data in real time.
Retailers use these tools for demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, inventory optimisation and personalised product recommendations.
Google Cloud’s Vision AI helps with in-store shelf analytics, while its Contact Center AI improves customer service with natural language chatbots. These AI-powered virtual agents provide real-time assistance and offer insights into customer interactions to increase agent efficiency and deliver faster resolutions.
1. AWS
Founded: 2006
CEO: Matt Garman
Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a wide range of AI tools specifically tailored to help retailers across sectors improve their operations, customer experiences and market insights. Major retailers use some or all of AWS’s capabilities, including names such as Amazon.com, Nike, Under Armour, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Best Buy and many more.
For these kinds of businesses, the company’s high scalability, strong security and integration with other AWS services, make it ideal for both online and brick-and-mortar applications.
Key services include Amazon SageMaker, which allows retailers to build, train and deploy machine learning models for tasks like demand forecasting, customer segmentation and pricing optimisation. AWS Personalize enables real-time personalised product recommendations, while Amazon Forecast improves inventory planning by predicting future demand based on historical data.
AWS AI services support automation in customer service through Amazon Lex, which powers intelligent chatbots and voice assistants. These tools improve response times and free up human agents for more complex queries.
Explore the latest edition of AI Magazine and be part of the conversation at our global conference series, Tech & AI LIVE.
Discover all our upcoming events and secure your tickets today.
AI Magazine is a BizClik brand
