AI in retail: Elevating the in-store experience

Only 29% of retail sales happen online, according to the Office for National Statistics. Many retailers still rely on sales in physical stores. But to hold onto their in-person customers, they must build an exceptional in-store experience.

High staff turnover could act as a blocker: The BRC suggests the annual churn rate for UK retail employees is as high as 50%. Retail workers are also often hired on short-term or zero-hours contracts—where employers don’t offer staff a guaranteed number of hours per week.

As a result of high turnover and inconsistent hours, many in-store employees are unable to gain the experience needed to provide exceptional service.

Retailers must consider how to empower frontline workers to serve customers better. AI in retail can help transform the in-store experience for both employees and customers. Let’s explore some examples from ServiceNow® retail solutions that could deliver a competitive advantage.

Smart operations for the shop floor

AI can enable real-time insights to streamline operations on the shop floor. Using the ServiceNow platform, store managers can self-serve issues before they disrupt customers.

If a checkout display screen has a fault, for example, managers can refer to knowledge base articles created by generative AI (GenAI) to independently resolve the problem without waiting for a field technician. Once an issue has been effectively resolved, GenAI can be used to create or update a knowledge base article.

Alternatively, store colleagues can troubleshoot or discuss resolutions with a GenAI chatbot, which is always available. It helps employees—even if they haven’t worked on the shop floor for long—get up to speed quickly.

Smoother operations can help prevent disruptions and free store employees to spend more time serving customer needs—rather than calling support lines or duplicating service requests.

AI-powered automations

Even with more accessible information, not all issues can be fixed in the moment. When an in-store incident can’t be solved through self-service, AI can expedite a resolution. For example, an employee can log an issue with a virtual agent. This can automatically create a work order to fix the problem and generate a ticket to track progress.

AI-powered automations minimise how often human intervention is needed to attend to environmental issues in-store. For instance, if an escalator breaks down, a store camera can detect it and send data to an AI system, which reports the issue to an engineer and creates a work order for maintenance support.

The entire process of reporting, scheduling an engineer, and resolving a case can be automated to make it as efficient as possible.

Automated processes like this can reduce the time it takes to solve common problems on the shop floor while freeing in-store colleagues to support customers.

Full visibility into frontline activity

AI is breaking down knowledge silos between individual stores and headquarters. Critical store information, summarised by GenAI and presented in real time, gives regional managers greater visibility to inform decision-making. They can view open incident cases, sort by priority, and explore reports with ease, even at the store level.

Key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards help measure store performance and offer insight into what’s working and where improvements are needed to inform the wider business strategy. Most importantly, with AI, it’s possible to take action immediately based on what is happening in the store.

By tracking incidents and building transparent operations, AI in retail enables frontline and head office staff to collaborate more closely. Managers can identify where to make changes that will improve experiences for both workers and customers.

Convenient customer experiences

We’re just starting to see the true potential of AI in retail. One retailer is taking it to the next level through an AI-powered service that makes basket recommendations to customers based on affordability, allergens, and family preferences. The service offers a more direct way to shop—bringing bespoke sales assistance to online channels.

By enabling store associates to make better decisions and focus on customer interactions, AI helps transform customer and employee experiences.

Find out more about how ServiceNow helps put AI to work for retail.