The retail industry is constantly changing. While brick-and-mortar stores and catalogue shopping were the norm back in the early 2000s, today, e-commerce platforms and mobile apps are dominating the scene.
Approximately 2.77 billion people shopped online globally in 2025, which is more than one in every three people worldwide. And things are only going to continue evolving.
In another study, it’s been suggested that retail automation will reach close to $50 billion by 2030, driven by technologies like AI and ML, which have the power to completely revolutionise what we’ve grown accustomed to. So what is retail automation exactly, and what changes will it bring?
Easier Automation
When we’re talking about retail automation and how it will change the industry, it’s important to note how vague that term actually is. Of course, automation has been present in the retail industry – and plenty of other industries, for that matter – for a while now.
The current ‘easier’ implementation of automations within online platforms is becoming a standard part of doing business. In the iGaming industry, it’s been in play for years. Chatbots have been utilised for years by the best online slots to play in the UK, pre-empting and clearing a path for further AI usage, especially for an industry keen on tech usage.
Tools like AI-powered chatbots, personalised recommendation engines, and automated inventory management are increasingly built into platforms by default, and this has been common practice in the retail industry, too. Beyond this, however, automation has been changing more intrinsic parts of the sector – parts that will eventually change the way we shop and interact with brands on a daily basis.
Intrinsic Automation
As stores and ecommerce sites seek to streamline their operations – and thereby secure an advantage in an increasingly competitive industry – automation has become the name of the game, leading to a better shopping experience for customers and a smoother workflow for businesses.
One of the ways this is happening is through automated inventory management. Over the last few years, for instance, retailers like Amazon have deployed over 750,000 mobile robots and tens of thousands of robotic arms in their warehouses, performing tasks such as heavy lifting and package sorting, utilising advanced AI systems. This has led to a 25% reduction in order fulfilment costs and is expected to save up to $10 billion annually by 2030.
As well as this, we have AI-powered self-checkout systems. Self-checkouts have been around for a while now, sure, but something like Mashgin’s AI-based checkout technology uses 3D cameras and ML to instantly identify items placed on its tray, essentially creating checkout-free stores, where customers don’t have to scan a thing. Right now, the system boasts over 99.99% accuracy and has been adopted by retailers like Morrison Healthcare, where the response has been generally positive.
The Pros and Cons of Automation
Other ways in which automation is being applied include automated document processing – with retailers leveraging tools like Docparser to automate the extraction and processing of data from invoices – automated store security – with AI systems monitoring store locations remotely, and alerting owners instantly in case of any incident – smart shelves – with shelves being equipped with sensors to detect low inventory or expired goods – and even AI-powered demand forecasting – with ML algorithms analysing sales data to predict future demand and allow retailers to optimise their inventory levels ahead of time.
All of these applications and systems are clearly beneficial, not just from a business point of view, but also for shoppers. Because automation reduces errors and effectively speeds up service, it creates a smoother, more convenient shopping experience that cuts out a lot of the frustrations and blahs that are so easily experienced. But it’s not all good news, of course.
For workers, especially, automation is bringing significant challenges. Going back to Amazon’s mobile robots for a minute, while this might seem like a good thing in terms of convenience, it also means that many tasks previously performed by humans are now automated, leading to many workers being out of a job. Indeed, job displacement caused by automation is a big concern across the retail industry.
Ordinarily, working in the retail sector has served as a key entry point into the workforce, particularly for young people, offering accessible opportunities to gain experience and start building a career. But with routine roles now being increasingly automated, these traditional stepping-stone positions are becoming scarcer, making it harder for new workers to enter the job market and gain that experience early on.
Conclusion
Whether this will become a major societal problem remains to be seen, however. Although automation is bound to take over a few traditional roles, it will also create new ones, meaning that workers who adapt and acquire the right skills can still find job opportunities.
The key will be balancing technological advancement with workforce development, ensuring that it enhances productivity without leaving people behind, and this kind of balance is what will have to be found over the next five years. As we mentioned previously, it’s projected that retail automation will reach $50 billion by 2030, so it’s clear that the trend in general is here to stay!
