{"id":43410,"date":"2026-04-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/?p=43410"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:35:01","slug":"ai-in-retail-customer-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/resources\/blog\/ai-in-retail-customer-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"AI in retail customer experience: Where human expertise matters most"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over&nbsp;the last decade, I\u2019ve watched the customer journey transform&nbsp;numerous times.&nbsp;From in\u2011store only to desktop and then mobile,&nbsp;we&#8217;ve steadily moved toward shopping \u201ceverywhere, anytime&#8221;.&nbsp;With&nbsp;these advancements, new capabilities have&nbsp;emerged&nbsp;like BOPIS, inventory visibility, search, social discovery, and ratings into&nbsp;the everyday&nbsp;experience.&nbsp;Each wave accelerated faster than the last as customers grew more comfortable with new capabilities and made&nbsp;them&nbsp;habits. As we navigate this evolution, the role of AI in retail customer experience becomes increasingly vital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re&nbsp;now in the next great leap: shoppers are turning to AI to cut through the noise and&nbsp;help them make shopping decisions.&nbsp;&nbsp;AI is going beyond improving efficiency; it\u2019s driving measurable results. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/images.nvidia.com\/aem-dam\/Solutions\/documents\/retail-state-of-ai-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">69% of retailers using AI report increased revenue<\/a>, reinforcing its growing role in shaping customer experience and business performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/resources\/e-books\/2026-retail-consumer-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent research<\/a>&nbsp;backs this up.&nbsp;Fifty-eight percent&nbsp;of shoppers&nbsp;made a purchase&nbsp;based on an AI recommendation, and 91% either&nbsp;purchased&nbsp;or seriously considered a purchase after AI input. But AI\u2019s role is different from past digital channels: it&nbsp;excels&nbsp;in planning, discovery, and comparison, especially where choices and stakes are high. It&nbsp;helps&nbsp;shoppers&nbsp;make&nbsp;decisions with confidence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But AI&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;acting alone.&nbsp;While&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;great at narrowing&nbsp;choices,&nbsp;retail&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;is what reassures shoppers&nbsp;they\u2019re&nbsp;making the right&nbsp;decision.&nbsp;AI&nbsp;provides&nbsp;retailers&nbsp;with&nbsp;deep product knowledge,&nbsp;transparent&nbsp;policies, and&nbsp;trusted&nbsp;reputation.&nbsp;Retail brands who can clearly express that&nbsp;authority&nbsp;will be the ones shoppers&nbsp;choose.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI in retail customer experience benefits are a&nbsp;two-way&nbsp;street&nbsp;for both&nbsp;consumers&nbsp;and retailers.&nbsp;&nbsp;Consumers get faster access to relevant information, while AI helps surface retailers\u2019&nbsp;expertise, empower employees, and elevate&nbsp;the customer\u2013retailer interaction.&nbsp;&nbsp;So&nbsp;when retail employees&nbsp;wonder&nbsp;\u201cwill AI&nbsp;replace me?\u201d,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;actually going&nbsp;to&nbsp;unlock more time for&nbsp;them&nbsp;to do&nbsp;meaningful, higher-impact&nbsp;work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How&nbsp;shoppers&nbsp;use&nbsp;AI&nbsp;today<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Understanding the impact of AI in retail customer experience helps retailers adapt to meet shopper needs effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shoppers lean on AI in retail customer experience&nbsp;most in&nbsp;high-consideration&nbsp;categories&nbsp;where the&nbsp;stakes&nbsp;are&nbsp;greater,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the number of choices can feel overwhelming.&nbsp;Forty-eight percent&nbsp;of&nbsp;consumers&nbsp;used AI for price&nbsp;comparisons&nbsp;in&nbsp;electronics,&nbsp;and 36% looked to AI for apparel inspiration.&nbsp;In planning-heavy moments (hosting, d\u00e9cor, special-occasion attire), shoppers used AI for ideas and comparisons far more than instant checkout.&nbsp;Only 5\u20136% completed&nbsp;purchases&nbsp;directly through AI platforms.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&nbsp;aligns&nbsp;with&nbsp;my own&nbsp;recent&nbsp;shopping&nbsp;experience.&nbsp;I used AI to narrow down options for a&nbsp;new wearable health device that needed&nbsp;to be&nbsp;comfortable, stylish, and capable of meeting specific health-tracking needs,&nbsp;without breaking the bank.&nbsp;Not long ago that process would have&nbsp;meant reviewing numerous&nbsp;product pages, social posts, reviews, and prices across multiple sites.&nbsp;Now&nbsp;AI&nbsp;can&nbsp;gather, consolidate, and&nbsp;offer&nbsp;personalized&nbsp;recommendations and pros and cons for each&nbsp;in seconds.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s&nbsp;the pattern that is playing out more broadly.&nbsp;AI is compressing the most time-consuming part of the shopping journey from product discovery, comparison, and early evaluation&nbsp;with fewer touchpoints for the consumer.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During my time in&nbsp;e-commerce&nbsp;retail, I remember how much effort went into improving product discovery:&nbsp;better search, richer content, clearer filters, and more helpful reviews. I think about&nbsp;how AI in retail customer experience today is using that product data, content, and consumer provided information like ratings &amp; reviews, user-generated&nbsp;insights,&nbsp;and more to pull together those recommendations&nbsp;for shoppers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This shift creates a clear inflection point for retailers.&nbsp;As AI takes on more of the planning and evaluation work, the quality, clarity, and consistency of the information retailers provide increasingly&nbsp;determines&nbsp;how&nbsp;and whether&nbsp;they show up in these&nbsp;new customer shopping journey&nbsp;moments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How retailers show up in an AI\u2011influenced&nbsp;world<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As shoppers&nbsp;increasingly&nbsp;rely on AI to plan and compare,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;imperative that a retailer&nbsp;or&nbsp;brand\u2019s&nbsp;information is set up to signal to AI that&nbsp;it is the one to recommend.&nbsp;AI&nbsp;won\u2019t&nbsp;create a&nbsp;brand\u2019s&nbsp;expertise\u2014it will surface whatever is already there.&nbsp;&nbsp;If a brand\u2019s product details, policies, and content are thin, inconsistent, or hard to interpret, AI&nbsp;can\u2019t&nbsp;confidently&nbsp;do that.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What AI needs to confidently&nbsp;represent&nbsp;a retailer:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Complete, structured product&nbsp;fundamentals:<\/strong> Clear attributes, use-case context, compatibility, care, and warranty details\u2014supported by structured data (such as product schema markup) that makes this information machine-readable. AI uses these signals the same way a store associate would to understand relevance and suitability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Decision-support&nbsp;content&nbsp;that mirrors how shoppers think<\/strong>: Comparisons,&nbsp;size guidance, FAQs, \u201cbest for\u201d framing,&nbsp;and&nbsp;clear tradeoffs. These act as the confidence\u2011building moments that shoppers traditionally get from expert associates or detailed product pages.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Consistent service and policy clarity<\/strong>: Availability, fulfillment options,\u00a0returns, pickup,\u00a0and service commitments. When AI pulls these details into recommendations, it\u00a0reduces\u00a0uncertainty and\u00a0shapes\u00a0which brands\u00a0shoppers\u00a0trust.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Credible&nbsp;brand signals:<\/strong> Reviews,&nbsp;user-generated content (UGC),&nbsp;accessibility and&nbsp;sustainability&nbsp;claims, and&nbsp;consistent expression of brand&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;and values.&nbsp;AI uses these cues to judge credibility when shoppers ask for \u201ctrusted,\u201d \u201creliable,\u201d \u201cdurable,\u201d or \u201cethical\u201d recommendations.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As AI&nbsp;reshapes&nbsp;discovery, information quality increasingly&nbsp;determines&nbsp;visibility.&nbsp;In many ways,&nbsp;AI-ready&nbsp;content is becoming the next evolution&nbsp;of SEO.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;not about gaming algorithms&nbsp;but&nbsp;supplying clean, structured information that AI can interpret accurately.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Retailers earn trust in AI\u2011supported experiences the same way&nbsp;they\u2019ve&nbsp;always earned trust in stores: by showing their work. That includes:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reliable product attributes and naming conventions&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A content supply chain that keeps every SKU complete and updated&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Structured data that AI systems can parse&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A single, trustworthy source for policies and service information&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Governance to keep content fresh as assortments change&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This makes&nbsp;it incredibly easy for AI to understand, trust, and advocate for&nbsp;your&nbsp;brand.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How&nbsp;retailers&nbsp;prove&nbsp;credibility&nbsp;and expertise&nbsp;in an AI-led&nbsp;journey<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shoppers increasingly see AI as credible.&nbsp;Forty-one percent&nbsp;say AI recommendations are&nbsp;equal&nbsp;in value to retailer advice, and&nbsp;38%&nbsp;say they value AI&nbsp;even more.&nbsp;But trust&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;simply given.&nbsp;Concerns about&nbsp;privacy, accuracy, transparency, and bias&nbsp;remain&nbsp;widespread,&nbsp;often moderate rather than extreme, which means shoppers are willing to engage, but&nbsp;they\u2019re&nbsp;watching closely.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Retailers earn trust&nbsp;by showing their work:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Being transparent about where and how AI is used:<\/strong>&nbsp;Clear labeling of AI\u2011generated suggestions or automated decisions builds confidence rather than confusion.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Citing the data behind recommendations:<\/strong>&nbsp;Whether&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;product information, reviews, or policies, customers expect to know why something was suggested.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Explaining the logic (\u201cbest for X because Y\u201d):<\/strong>&nbsp;This mirrors how the best in\u2011store associates talk\u2014specific, contextual, and confidence\u2011building.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Auditing for accuracy, bias, and hallucinations:<\/strong>&nbsp;Shoppers notice when AI gets something wrong. Retailers who&nbsp;monitor&nbsp;quality build long\u2011term trust.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Protecting privacy and giving customers control:<\/strong>&nbsp;Clear consent, control over data, and practical privacy choices reassure shoppers that the value exchange is fair.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Done right, AI in retail customer experience&nbsp;amplifies brand credibility.&nbsp;And this is where human&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;comes back into the picture. AI can inform and guide, but people&nbsp;validate, reassure, and help customers feel confident in their final decision.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What I\u2019d&nbsp;do as a&nbsp;retailer: Where to&nbsp;invest AI in retail customer experience for&nbsp;real&nbsp;impact<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If I were a&nbsp;retailer,&nbsp;I&nbsp;wouldn\u2019t&nbsp;go in trying to&nbsp;involve AI everywhere,&nbsp;and I&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;think most retailers&nbsp;think that. But&nbsp;they\u2019re&nbsp;certainly&nbsp;likely&nbsp;overwhelmed wondering whether to start internally or externally\u2026 I say both.&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;start with where decisions are the hardest and&nbsp;confidence matters most. This supports both the customer and employee (a win-win).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>Prioritize AI where&nbsp;decisions are hardest<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019d&nbsp;focus on&nbsp;high intent,&nbsp;high complexity&nbsp;categories&nbsp;where shoppers face choice overload.&nbsp;AI&nbsp;is most effective at doing the&nbsp;heavy pre\u2011work.&nbsp;It&nbsp;shortens the journey and&nbsp;gets customers&nbsp;to a point where a meaningful conversation can happen, faster.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>Make sure&nbsp;your&nbsp;brand&nbsp;is eligible to show up in those moments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before investing in&nbsp;new&nbsp;AI experiences,&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;make sure my product and brand information is strong enough to be recommended in the first place.&nbsp;Priority categories need to be clearly described, easy to compare, and supported by consistent product and policy information.&nbsp;If complex categories&nbsp;aren\u2019t&nbsp;well defined, retailers simply&nbsp;won\u2019t&nbsp;appear when customers are deciding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Equip associates to&nbsp;build on&nbsp;AI research\u2014not repeat it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What\u2019s&nbsp;great about customers arriving having already used AI is that it speeds up the&nbsp;conversation,&nbsp;so associates can&nbsp;pick up where they left off versus starting at the beginning. They should be trained and equipped to&nbsp;ask what the shopper already considered, understand what AI recommended&nbsp;(and why), and identify&nbsp;the&nbsp;missing&nbsp;context AI didn\u2019t capture.&nbsp;Great associates don\u2019t just answer&nbsp;questions. They surface the questions customers didn\u2019t think&nbsp;to ask&nbsp;such&nbsp;as usage, priorities, and what their own customers have shared back with them.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Use AI to support&nbsp;associates in real&nbsp;time&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To make this work at scale,&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;invest in AI tools that put product knowledge, comparisons, inventory visibility, and policy clarity directly in associates\u2019 hands.&nbsp;This will help&nbsp;eliminate&nbsp;time spent searching for information, reinforce consistent brand guidance, and free up mental space for empathy, listening, and personalization.&nbsp;The result is more confident associates and better customer moments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Redefine success&nbsp;for high-intent and complex categories&nbsp;(your AI pilot categories)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019d&nbsp;measure success differently in these categories.&nbsp;While&nbsp;improved&nbsp;conversion rates&nbsp;are usually the largest goal, lower return rates and&nbsp;fewer post-purchase issues can&nbsp;also&nbsp;result, along with higher associate&nbsp;productivity, measured by sales per hour and time spent advising vs. searching.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI creates efficiency; the retailers who win will reinvest it into&nbsp;higher\u2011touch service that builds confidence and loyalty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The&nbsp;bottom&nbsp;line<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI in retail customer experience is the largest disrupter in&nbsp;retail\u2019s&nbsp;evolution since online shopping.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;becoming&nbsp;a&nbsp;planning partner&nbsp;shoppers rely on when decisions are complex and confidence matters.&nbsp;That\u2019s&nbsp;good news for retailers who are willing to do the work: prepare your&nbsp;data, empower your people, and design the handoff between digital guidance and human credibility.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The brands that win&nbsp;won\u2019t&nbsp;be the ones trying to replace humans with machines.&nbsp;They\u2019ll&nbsp;be the ones who use AI in retail customer experience to&nbsp;clear the path and let their people do what only people can do: connect, reassure, and earn customers for life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/resources\/e-books\/2026-retail-consumer-study\/\">Read our AI retail research<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over&nbsp;the last decade, I\u2019ve watched the customer journey transform&nbsp;numerous times.&nbsp;From in\u2011store only to desktop and then mobile,&nbsp;we&#8217;ve steadily moved toward shopping \u201ceverywhere, anytime&#8221;.&nbsp;With&nbsp;these advancements, new capabilities have&nbsp;emerged&nbsp;like BOPIS, inventory visibility, search, social discovery, and ratings into&nbsp;the everyday&nbsp;experience.&nbsp;Each wave accelerated faster than the last as customers grew more comfortable with new capabilities and made&nbsp;them&nbsp;habits. As we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":43412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","disable_featured_image":false,"temp_reference":0,"temp_parent":0,"pathfactory_url":"","webinar_link":"","webinar_link_text":"","start_date":"","start_time":"","end_date":"","end_time":"","pressganey_person_subtitle":"","pressganey_person_linkedin":"","pressganey_person_articles":"","pressganey_person_available":false,"url":"","menu_icon":"","is_mobile":false,"breadcrumb_base":"","author":22102,"co_author":0},"categories":[501],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43410"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43453,"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43410\/revisions\/43453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forsta.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}