06 November 2024

AI is reshaping the retail industry, yet few companies know how to fully leverage this technology. A new research project aims to help businesses understand and harness AI’s full potential to create long-term business value.

A man wearing a virtual reality headset stands on a stairwell, immersed in a digital experience. Photographer: Teiksma Buseva

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming retail and driving significant changes. In an era of rapid technological advancements, AI has become a key factor for fostering innovation and efficiency—something retailers are now investing in to stay competitive.

Many retailers want to use AI to boost sales, improve their online revenue, and make deliveries more efficient. However, despite the interest, few are actually using AI, and even fewer have a clear plan for how to implement it.

Alexander Flaig.
Alexander Flaig.

"Many companies are riding the AI wave and investing heavily in AI solutions based on promises of business value. But the benefits are few and often only anecdotal," says project leader and researcher Alexander Flaig.

Investing in AI technology and digital infrastructure, however, is not enough. Companies struggle to leverage AI because they don’t know how to integrate it into their strategies and business models effectively.

"The problem is that no one really knows what value AI, especially generative AI, actually creates. What lies beyond efficiency gains, and what is the actual value AI generates?" says Alexander Flaig, lecturer in Business Administration at LInköping University in Sweden.

To address this issue, a new project is being launched to help companies better understand how AI can create value. The project runs from 1 September, 2024, to 31 August, 2025, and is funded by the Hakon Swenson Foundation.

The goal is to provide retailers with the knowledge they need to fully harness AI's potential, thereby creating long-term business value.

Contact

Read more about the project

Learn more about AI at LiU

En robot som ser delvis mänsklig ut.

Artificial intelligence (AI) at Linköping University

LiU has over 100 university courses related to AI and AI competence at every department. AI at LiU is about AI techniques as well as applications of these techniques, about views on AI, how it benefits society, ethical guidelines etc.

En flygbild av en bro över ett vattendrag.

Hydröms Hydropower East Middle Sweden

Hydropower is vital to future energy systems. This project develops AI-based decision support tools to improve water regulation, increase electricity generation, reduce water spillage and strengthen energy system resilience.

The text

Research just around the corner

Democracy and academic freedom is the theme for the lecture series Research just around the corner in 2026.

Latest news from LiU

Neil Lagali vid utrustning för att undersöka ögonen.

Eye problems after COVID-19 can now be explained

Mild COVID-19 can cause severe and long-lasting eye problems, according to a study from LiU. The study also explains why it has been difficult for sufferers to get help: the abnormal eye behaviour cannot be detected by standard methods.

A woman kneeling down in a garden picking plants.

When soil becomes data – how digitalisation affects knowledge of soil health

How do we know whether soil is healthy? A new study from Linköping University shows that as knowledge about soil is increasingly translated into digital data, important insights about its biological life and local context risk being overlooked.

A close up of a person holding a camera.

LiU researchers push the boundaries of organic solar cells

Researchers at LiU have now demonstrated how organic solar cells can become more efficient than previously thought possible. The key is to extend the time that electrons in the material remain excited, which leads to improved performance.