Talk to us
  1. Home
  2. AI use cases
  3. Retail & e-commerce

AI use cases

AI use cases in retail and e-commerce

30 AI agents that retail and e-commerce companies run today, grouped by the team they work for. For each one: the process, what the AI does, where people step in and the result the company reported.

Customer service

In production · reported 2025

60% of WhatsApp inquiries resolved autonomously

WhatsApp customer service and order status

Latin American multi-brand retailer

What the AI does
Answers FAQs from the knowledge base, pulls live order, invoice and refund data to give delivery dates and delays, and creates service cases.
Where people step in
Escalated cases go to a live rep with full history and context.
Systems
WhatsApp · CRM · E-commerce platform · Knowledge base

In production · reported 2026

35% order inquiry deflection

Order status inquiries on brand websites

French beauty group

What the AI does
Verifies shoppers and gives order updates around the clock, using approved brand-specific language instead of free text.
Where people step in
Out-of-scope requests go to a care advisor with chat history, or become a case.
Systems
CRM · Order management · Email

In production

55% AI resolution for email

Order status, returns and exchanges

US premium women's fashion brand

What the AI does
Resolves order status, return and exchange requests over email and voice using returns data, and summarizes complex issues with customer and order history.
Where people step in
Support associates take complex issues with AI-generated summaries.
Systems
Helpdesk · Returns platform · Email · Phone

In production

Email reply 7 hours to 18 seconds

Holiday-peak voice and email support

US pop-up greeting card company

What the AI does
Identifies callers in the e-commerce platform, matches accounts, collects full order details before handoff and answers routine email inquiries.
Where people step in
Human agents take over with full context.
Systems
Helpdesk · E-commerce platform · Phone · Email

In production

48% resolution

Buy, sell and trade customer support

UK used photography gear platform

What the AI does
Answers buyer and seller questions in the brand's voice, with order status, cancellation and refund actions planned.
Where people step in
Frustrated or urgent messages go to a human.
Systems
Helpdesk

Sales

In production

70% reduction in weekly buyer update time

Weekly buyer updates on open orders

Wholesale apparel company

What the AI does
Classifies open-order lines, flags at-risk POs, pairs delays with ship-now alternatives and drafts buyer emails and internal escalations.
Where people step in
The sales team reviews draft emails and escalations before sending.
Systems
Order exports · Email

In production

$35M from smarter trade spend

Trade promotion planning and variance tracking

EMEA consumer goods supplier

What the AI does
Captures retailer and sales feedback through a structured interface, validates inputs, brings in actual sales and flags variance risks on a live dashboard.
Where people step in
Analysts review and approve updates; every decision is logged in an audit history.
Systems
Spreadsheet · Sales data

In production · reported 2026

89% CSAT

Store inquiries and phone product reservations

European home improvement retailer, 660+ stores

What the AI does
Answers questions on opening hours, promotions and the app, and in pilot markets checks product availability and reserves items for pickup.
Where people step in
Complex questions are connected to the right human agent.
Systems
Phone · Inventory system

In production · reported 2024

>50% of inquiries resolved

Always-on shopping assistance and support

US DTC mattress brand

What the AI does
Gives personalized product recommendations and support for mattresses, pillows and bed frames, 24/7 and in any language.
Where people step in
Replaces an earlier chatbot that often escalated to call center teams.

In production · reported 2026

280,000 chats in first 4 months

Pre- and post-purchase shopping guidance

US home appliance company

What the AI does
Helps customers find and compare products, tracks orders, registers warranties, starts returns and finds compatible replacement parts.
Where people step in
After three failed attempts, customers are directed to request a live rep follow-up.
Systems
E-commerce platform · Order management · ERP · CRM

Operations

In production

+233% onboarding speed

Restaurant menu digitization for onboarding

International on-demand delivery platform

What the AI does
Extracts information from restaurant menu photos with OCR as part of a seven-step machine-assisted onboarding process.
Where people step in
A team of 200 operators runs the process alongside the automation.
Systems
OCR

In production · reported 2026

75-80% decrease in extraction handling time

Merchant menu onboarding from PDFs and photos

US food delivery marketplace

What the AI does
Classifies incoming menus by format and routes them to extraction agents that turn URLs, PDFs and images into structured items, prices and modifiers.
Where people step in
Trained specialists review every AI output and correct it before the menu goes live.
Systems
Platform API

In production

Live in 15 days

Daily inventory reorder and pricing actions

Mexican footwear retailer, 143 stores

What the AI does
Analyzes daily sales, inventory and open POs to send a prioritized morning brief on reorders, transfers, slow movers and pricing, and answers questions, including in Spanish.
Where people step in
Merchandising and planning teams act on recommendations; the company's team sets business rules.
Systems
ERP · Database

In production

84% cheaper to run

Item list extraction from raw documents

PE-backed e-commerce company

What the AI does
Extracts key details from raw documents and notes, builds standardized item lists with quantities and annotations, and decides when human QA is needed.
Where people step in
Human QA reviews flagged items and lists; their feedback goes back into the system.

In production

Report in <35 min for ~$3

Market trend discovery and validation reports

PE-backed market intelligence platform

What the AI does
Generates candidate trend topics from web data, has pro and con agents debate each using sales and web evidence, then a judge agent writes a client-ready report.
Where people step in
Analysts use the reports; outputs are checked against human-labeled ground truth.
Systems
Sales data

Finance

In production · reported 2025

60% no-touch invoice rate

Expense invoice coding and approval

US hardware and home improvement chain

What the AI does
Codes and classifies all expense invoices and syncs them into the ERP through standardized approval flows.
Where people step in
Invoices over $3,000 and certain GL codes follow specific approval flows.
Systems
ERP

In production

-80% manual reconciliation hours

Multi-system POS and bank reconciliation

Car wash chain, hundreds of sites

What the AI does
Extracts POS, bank and transaction data to prepare reconciliations, and scans transactions for performance anomalies, explaining causes with weather, traffic and event data.
Where people step in
Accountants validate the reconciliations.
Systems
POS · Bank data · Spreadsheets

In production

80-90% automated before human review

FP&A flash reporting and variance commentary

Regional food company

What the AI does
Collects inputs, sends follow-ups and escalations, consolidates data, and writes variance explanations and CFO report commentary.
Where people step in
An FP&A manager supervises the agent and reviews reports before release.
Systems
ERP · Spreadsheets

In production · reported 2021

$25.5M invalid deductions recovered annually

Retailer deductions management

Consumer packaged goods company

What the AI does
Aggregates retailer claims, validates deductions and automates dispute correspondence to recover invalid deductions.
Where people step in
Analysts work disputes with AI support.
Systems
ERP

In production · reported 2021

94% payments auto-applied

Cash application and deduction coding

Global foodservice distributor

What the AI does
Captures remittance information, applies payments straight through to the ERP and identifies and codes deductions.
Where people step in
Cash application analysts handle payments that are not auto-applied.
Systems
ERP

Procurement

In production

~500 POs/month managed by agents

PO follow-up and carrier invoice entry

US building products distributor

What the AI does
Follows up on missed ship dates, updates the ERP, detects PO-to-invoice price discrepancies in real time and enters freight receipts and carrier invoices.
Where people step in
The team is pulled in only when intervention is needed; price discrepancies are flagged immediately.
Systems
ERP · Portal

In production

6 FTE freed (50% capacity)

AP matching, receiving entry and PO creation

US building products distributor

What the AI does
Runs AP three-way match, enters BOL receiving data into the ERP, generates POs from usage and inventory data and runs competitive sourcing.
Systems
ERP · AP software

In production

$3.5M benefits in 2024 in ocean freight

Freight and logistics sourcing events

UK multinational food and retail group

What the AI does
Runs and optimizes freight sourcing events, including ocean freight, from launch to award.

Supply chain

In production

70% reduction in weekly buyer update time

Weekly buyer updates on open orders

Wholesale apparel company

What the AI does
Classifies open-order lines, flags at-risk POs, pairs delays with ship-now alternatives and drafts buyer emails and internal escalations.
Where people step in
The sales team reviews draft emails and escalations before sending.
Systems
Order exports · Email

In production

Live in 15 days

Daily inventory reorder and pricing actions

Mexican footwear retailer, 143 stores

What the AI does
Analyzes daily sales, inventory and open POs to send a prioritized morning brief on reorders, transfers, slow movers and pricing, and answers questions, including in Spanish.
Where people step in
Merchandising and planning teams act on recommendations; the company's team sets business rules.
Systems
ERP · Database

In production

$4.9M value from stockout prevention

Stockout prevention and delivery rescheduling

Dutch global brewer

What the AI does
Combines brewery, warehouse and customer data with vessel monitoring, detects likely out-of-stock events and adjusts delivery schedules automatically.
Where people step in
Teams resolve the distributor alerts the system surfaces.
Systems
Data platform · Warehouse data · Vessel monitoring

In production

47% faster order resolution

Incomplete order resolution for supply chain

US Fortune 50 consumer goods brand

What the AI does
Turns planners' natural-language questions into queries across data stores, works through multi-step workflows with error recovery and answers questions on incomplete orders.
Where people step in
Supply chain specialists act on the answers.
Systems
Data stores

In production

~500 POs/month managed by agents

PO follow-up and carrier invoice entry

US building products distributor

What the AI does
Follows up on missed ship dates, updates the ERP, detects PO-to-invoice price discrepancies in real time and enters freight receipts and carrier invoices.
Where people step in
The team is pulled in only when intervention is needed; price discrepancies are flagged immediately.
Systems
ERP · Portal

HR

In production

38% time savings

Candidate screening and interview scheduling

Major US furniture retailer

What the AI does
Reviews uploaded CVs, runs video or audio pre-screening calls and schedules interviews with the company's hiring representative.
Where people step in
Hiring teams interview the top candidates.

IT

In production · reported 2025

37% resolution rate

Customer service and employee IT help

Norwegian paper-tablet maker

What the AI does
Answers customer questions from FAQs, product guides and policies, and answers employee IT questions in Slack, creating tickets for complex issues.
Where people step in
Complex customer issues go to reps; complex IT questions become tickets routed to the right team.
Systems
CRM · Slack/Teams · Helpdesk · ERP

Marketing

In production

$35M from smarter trade spend

Trade promotion planning and variance tracking

EMEA consumer goods supplier

What the AI does
Captures retailer and sales feedback through a structured interface, validates inputs, brings in actual sales and flags variance risks on a live dashboard.
Where people step in
Analysts review and approve updates; every decision is logged in an audit history.
Systems
Spreadsheet · Sales data

In production

Report in <35 min for ~$3

Market trend discovery and validation reports

PE-backed market intelligence platform

What the AI does
Generates candidate trend topics from web data, has pro and con agents debate each using sales and web evidence, then a judge agent writes a client-ready report.
Where people step in
Analysts use the reports; outputs are checked against human-labeled ground truth.
Systems
Sales data

In production

9x ROI

Product SKU data enrichment for search

Major US retailer

What the AI does
Performs the heavy data enrichment steps for SKUs within a six-step process and flags data that contains errors.
Where people step in
A team of 70 skilled operators handles tasks needing finer judgment.

In production · reported 2026

38 active automation triggers

Customer sentiment analysis and workflow automation

UK beauty brand

What the AI does
Searches thousands of reviews, identifies sentiment patterns, compares them with competitive intelligence and returns insights; business users build further automations.
Systems
Data warehouse

In production

5M AI conversations

Consumer brand advice across messaging channels

German consumer goods company

What the AI does
Answers product questions as brand advisors and captures consumer insight across markets and languages on web chat and social messaging channels.
Systems
Web chat · WhatsApp · Social messaging · CRM

Anonymised summaries of public case studies published from 2023 to 2026. Company and vendor names are withheld. Figures are as the companies reported them; they are not Retexa results.

Questions

AI in retail and e-commerce

What are the most common AI use cases in retail and e-commerce?

In the 30 public cases we collected, AI agents in retail and e-commerce work mostly in customer service, sales and operations. Examples: whatsapp customer service and order status; order status inquiries on brand websites; order status, returns and exchanges.

Where do people stay in the loop?

Each card says where people step in. In this industry, for example: escalated cases go to a live rep with full history and context; out-of-scope requests go to a care advisor with chat history, or become a case.

Are these Retexa results?

No. These are anonymised summaries of public case studies from 2023 to 2026, with company and vendor names withheld. Figures are as the companies reported them. Retexa builds the same kind of agents on top of the systems you already run.

Other industries

More AI use cases

See every industry and team on one map

AI use cases in logistics and freight31 examplesAI use cases in banking and finance33 examplesAI use cases in insurance32 examplesAI use cases in telecom13 examplesAI use cases in healthcare37 examplesAI use cases in manufacturing33 examplesAI use cases in energy and utilities17 examplesAI use cases in travel and hospitality20 examplesAI use cases in real estate15 examplesAI use cases in government17 examplesAI use cases in software and SaaS35 examplesAI use cases in media and entertainment19 examplesAI use cases in automotive15 examplesAI use cases in consumer services21 examplesAI use cases in professional services26 examplesAI use cases in education9 examples

One of these looks like your desk?

Bring us the process. We build the agent on top of the systems you already run, and you pay per accepted result.

Talk to an engineer