Synthetic intelligence is quickly turning into the cornerstone of innovation within the retail and shopper packaged items (CPG) industries.
Ahead-thinking corporations are utilizing AI to reimagine their whole enterprise fashions, from in-store experiences to omnichannel digital platforms, together with ecommerce, cell and social channels. This technological wave is concurrently reworking promoting and advertising and marketing, buyer engagement and provide chain operations. By harnessing AI, retailers and CPG manufacturers usually are not simply adapting to alter — they’re actively shaping the way forward for commerce.
NVIDIA’s second annual “State of AI in Retail and CPG” survey offers insights into the adoption, funding and affect of AI, together with generative AI; the highest use instances and challenges; and a particular part this yr inspecting using AI within the provide chain. It’s an in-depth take a look at the present ecosystem of AI in retail and CPG, and the way it’s reworking the industries.
Drawn from a whole lot of responses from business professionals, key highlights of the survey present:
- 89% of respondents mentioned they’re both actively utilizing AI of their operations or assessing AI tasks, together with trials and pilots (up from 82% in 2023)
- 87% mentioned AI had a optimistic affect on rising annual income
- 94% mentioned AI has helped scale back annual operational prices
- 97% mentioned spending on AI would improve within the subsequent fiscal yr
Generative AI in Retail Takes Middle Stage
Generative AI has discovered a robust foothold in retail and CPG, with over 80% of corporations both utilizing or piloting tasks. Corporations are harnessing the expertise, particularly for content material technology in advertising and marketing and promoting, in addition to buyer evaluation and analytics.
According to final yr’s survey, over 50% of shops consider that generative AI is a strategic expertise that shall be a differentiator out there.
The highest use instances for generative AI in retail embody:
- Content material technology for advertising and marketing (60%)
- Predictive analytics (44%)
- Customized advertising and marketing and promoting (42%)
- Buyer evaluation and segmentation (41%)
- Digital buying assistants or copilots (40%)
Whereas some issues about generative AI exist, particularly round information privateness, safety and implementation prices, these issues haven’t dampened retailers’ enthusiasm, with 93% of respondents saying they nonetheless plan to extend generative AI funding subsequent yr.
AI Throughout the Retail Panorama
AI use instances have proliferated throughout almost each line of enterprise in retail, with over 50% of shops utilizing AI in additional than six totally different use instances all through their operations.
In bodily shops, the highest three use instances are stock administration, analytics and insights, and adaptive promoting. For digital retail, they’re advertising and marketing and promoting content material creation, and hyperpersonalized suggestions. And within the again workplace, the highest use instances are buyer evaluation and predictive analytics.
AI has made a major affect in retail and CPG, with improved insights and decision-making (43%) and enhanced worker productiveness (42%) being listed as high advantages amongst survey respondents.
The commonest AI problem retailers confronted in 2024 was a scarcity of straightforward to know and explainable AI instruments, underscoring a better want for software program and options — particularly round generative AI and AI brokers — to enter the market to make it simpler for corporations to make use of AI options and perceive how they work.
AI within the Provide Chain
Managing the availability chain has all the time been a problem for retail and CPG corporations, however it’s develop into more and more tough over the past a number of years because of tumultuous international occasions and shifting shopper preferences. Corporations are feeling the strain, with 59% of respondents saying that their provide chain challenges have grown within the final yr.
More and more, corporations are turning to AI to assist tackle these challenges, and the affect of those AI options is beginning to present up in outcomes.
- 58% mentioned AI helps to enhance operational effectivity and throughput.
- 45% are utilizing AI to scale back provide chain prices.
- 42% are using AI to satisfy shifting buyer expectations.
Funding in AI for provide chain administration is about to develop, with 82% of corporations planning to extend spending within the subsequent fiscal yr.
Because the retail and CPG industries proceed to embrace the facility of AI, the findings from the newest survey underscore a pivotal shift in how companies function in a fancy new panorama. Main corporations are harnessing superior applied sciences — corresponding to AI brokers and bodily AI — to boost effectivity and drive income, in addition to to place themselves as leaders in innovation, serving to redefine the way forward for retail and CPG.
Obtain the “State of AI in Retail and CPG: 2025 Developments” report for in-depth outcomes and insights.
Discover NVIDIA’s AI options and enterprise-level platforms for retail.
