In this episode of Retail Reality Check, host Clare and IHL Group President Greg Buzek argue that merely handing employees AI tools yields modest efficiency gains, while true value comes from redesigning workflows with AI at their core. Citing McKinsey data, they note only 11% of leaders have re‑engineered roles and processes around AI, yet those that do see far higher enterprise value. The podcast showcases several retailer case studies: H&M’s intent‑driven on‑site search reduced shopper soft exits by 80% and search exits by 30%; Manhattan Beer Distributors uses AI‑driven shelf image recognition to improve on‑shelf availability and planogram compliance; Dave & Buster’s upgraded self‑service kiosks via Diebold Nixdorf’s OpenAP integration, achieving 99.8% uptime and higher spend; Co‑op Live connects Oracle Symphony Cloud POS with NetSuite finance, linking ordering, payments, and reporting, which correlates with a 224% higher profit‑winner likelihood. The episode also promotes the upcoming Retail Agent Con, a half‑day program on AI agents in retail. A rapid‑fire “lightning round” highlights recent pilots and rollouts—Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, RFID expansions, drone delivery tests, smart‑glasses for drivers, driverless freight trucks, generative‑AI imagery cost cuts, and more—illustrating the breadth of AI‑enabled innovation across the sector. Listeners are challenged to pick a high‑impact workflow, rebuild it around AI, and define measurable outcomes.
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Most companies handed their people AI tools and got faster emails. H&M rebuilt the work itself and saw shopper drop-offs fall 80%. Hi, I am Clare, your host. Thanks for joining this week's Retail Reality Check, a podcast on the latest tech installs in retail and consumer product goods. We provide hard data so you can make smart decisions based on IHL Group research. Before we get into the news, mark your calendar for November 17th. Retail Agent Con is coming, and 290 retailers have already registered. You don't want to miss this one. The agents are here, and retail is still deciding what to do about them. Agents are already changing how customers shop and how retail work gets done, and they are moving faster than most organizations have adapted. This half-day program looks at what agents are doing in retail right now, which results are real, and how people and agents learn to work together in service of the customer and the business. The registration link is in the description below. This week's theme comes straight from IHL Group President Greg Buzek, who spoke at Bluestar's Vartec event. He challenged the room to picture how their organizations would run with AI at the core of the work. His advice for getting there was simple: take the time to rethink. Here is the problem Greg sees.
Most companies are still bolting AI onto old processes. Emails get drafted faster, and meetings get summarized, yet the handoffs and decisions stay the same. And the numbers show what that costs. McKinsey research shows only 11% of leaders have redesigned roles, workflows, and operating models around AI. Of that group, 48% report enterprise value, compared with 13% of organizations that simply hand employees AI tools.
Greg's message was aimed at software vendors, and it came with a warning. What happens when a customer that uses 3 functions of its point-of-sale system decides to vibe code its own? His answer is that the vendors who learn to redesign their own work with AI can build that knowledge into their products and deliver value a homegrown tool will lack. IHL Research backs up the payoff. Retail winners invest 95% more in AI adoption than laggards, aiming it at systematic automation of routine tasks and real-time optimization of complex decisions. That is workflow redesign in practice. So what does redesign look like in retail? Start with H&M. The retailer rolled out Voyado's intent-driven on-site search across more than 60 markets. Instead of matching keywords to product names, the new system reads real-time signals like inventory, add-to-bag activity, purchase behavior, product newness, and revenue performance. The result? Soft exits, where shoppers drift off out of frustration, fell by 80%, and exits from search dropped 30%. That lines up with what IHL sees in its 2026 study. Personalization of the customer experience is the top technology priority for 58% of retailers, and it has ranked first in 7 of the last 9 years. Industry benchmarks show AI personalization engines lift conversion 3% to 7% and average order value 5% to 12%. H&M just put that priority into production. Next, the store shelf. Manhattan Beer Distributors is reportedly using AI Merch's image recognition platform so merchandisers can photograph a shelf and automatically identify inventory, out-of-stocks, prices, and facings. It is part of a broader move by CPG firms and retailers with tools from companies like Zebra, Simbay Robotics, Traxx, and others. Why does this matter? Because retailers are working from estimates. In IHL's Shelf Intelligence research, retailers self-report just 58% on-shelf availability accuracy and 57% planogram compliance, and 39% cannot reach 50% on planograms. Those that exceed 70% on-shelf availability enjoy 18% higher brand trust ratings. Shelf Image Recognition replaces the estimate with verified shelf conditions. Our 4th story moves into hospitality. Diebold Nixdorf modernized Dave& Buster's self-service checkout with interactive kiosks that handle multi-payment food and beverage orders, plus Powercard purchases and recharges. OpenAP is connect the kiosks to D&B's existing POS, and the rollout reduced waits, improved spending and engagement, and hit 99.8% uptime. IHL's 2026 study shows how much room there is to grow here. Only 25% of hospitality respondents report fully up-to-date self-checkout, with another 18% planning upgrades. And POS and mobile POS software adopters show a 49% sales growth advantage. Finally, Co-op Live, the UK's largest arena, is deploying Oracle Symphony Cloud POS and NetSuite To connect food and beverage operations with finance. Symphony unifies ordering, payments, and sales data across concessions and kiosks, while NetSuite handles reconciliation, budgeting, and forecasting. IHL research shows why that connection pays off. Profit winners are 224% more likely, and sales winners 48% more likely, to use cloud retail management systems that unify POS, inventory, and reporting into a single version of the truth. Put these stories together and Greg's point comes through clearly. The winners pick one workflow, give AI the knowledge it needs, set clear guardrails, and measure the whole outcome. Then they carry what they learn into the next process. Now let's run through the rest of this week's headlines in our lightning round. Google is expanding its Universal Commerce Protocol in Merchant Center. Adding cart transfer and checkout testing for US retailers. Tapestry's Coach and Kate Spade now support purchases through Google Search AI Mode and Gemini. JD Sports has completed phase 1 of its RFID rollout, reaching 1,000 stores in 14 months, with Germany the final directly controlled market to go live. Brand partnerships raised RFID-tagged product coverage from 40% to 73%. Lowe's is testing drone delivery in Charlotte, North Carolina, with DoorDash and Wing. Customers can get select tools, paint, and household essentials in as little as 20 minutes. TikTok Shop has integrated UPS-owned Happy Returns, letting participating sellers, including PacSun, offer box-free, label-free returns at nearly 10,000 return bar locations. Amazon is expanding smart glasses trials for delivery drivers. After 275,000 test deliveries, it plans 5,000 more devices and targets 20,000 deployed by the end of 2027. Instacart and Dollar General are piloting same-day delivery across about 7,000 Dollar General and PopShelf stores in 6 states, expanding to roughly 20,000 locations in 48 states this autumn. IKEA will deploy Kodiak's fully driverless freight trucks in its US supply chain later this year. after a 4-year pilot on a 219-mile Texas route. Swedish fashion retailer Lager 157 completed a 3-store Clarity RFID pilot, with stock accuracy reaching 98-99.8%. A network-wide rollout is planned for 2027. Scooter's Coffee moved its mobile app and more than 900 drive-thru locations to Olo in under 90 days. Tesco is trialing AIUTA virtual try-on technology at its Sandhurst Extra store, letting shoppers preview 1,500 F&F clothing items. Zalando says generative AI has cut its website imagery costs by 90% and shortened production cycles from weeks to days. And Chipotle opened its 1,500th Chipotle Lane in Bradenton, Florida, speeding up its digital order-ahead pickup lane rollout. So here is a question to take into your week. Pick one workflow in your business that eats hours every month. If you rebuilt it with AI at the center, what would change, and how would you measure it? For more, visit ihlservices.com, where you will find more than 50 additional stories from this week and free whitepapers from IHL Group. Thanks for listening to Retail Reality Check. We hope to see you back next week.
