The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly reshaping the retail industry, driving significant transformations. As retailers strive to stay ahead amidst rapid technological advancements, AI has become a key enabler of innovation and efficiency.
The retail sector shows strong interest in integrating AI across operations and the customer journey, aiming to boost in-store sales, enhance online revenue streams, and optimize supply chain operations. Despite this, only 42% of retailers are currently using AI, and even fewer have a strategy for its deployment. Furthermore, over 70% of organizations report minimal value creation from their AI initiatives. This gap between AI’s potential and its current business impact often stems from a lack of understanding of AI’s value creation mechanisms.
Simply investing in digital infrastructure, AI technologies, and data is not enough to realize value from AI. Not all retailers that implement AI see benefits or extract value from it. Many struggle to integrate AI into their strategies and business models effectively. This challenge is largely due to a limited understanding of how AI systems generate business value and the type of value expected.
This project seeks to improve the understanding of value creation, delivery, and capture from AI technologies.
The project runs from 1 September, 2024, to 31 August 31, 2025, and is funded by the Hakon Swenson Foundation.
