Did you know retailers could automate 70% of routine jobs by the end of 2025? 

Due to an increasingly competitive and complex marketplace, retailers have embraced new technologies to increase efficiency, improve customer experiences, and ultimately boost profits. Within this movement, retail automation replaces or augments manual processes with machine efficiency. 

Whether you own an e-commerce site or a traditional brick-and-mortar store, retailers today simply can’t afford problems like lost orders, shipping delays, or high-friction digital experiences. Profit margins for retail businesses are notoriously low – especially with certain segments like grocers. 

In this article, Dev.Pro provides a high-level view of retail automation – focusing on benefits, technologies, and applications. As an industry leader in retail software development solutions like custom point-of-sale (POS), we are excited to explore this dynamic landscape. 

What is Retail Automation?

Retail automation integrates advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to streamline and enhance operations for both online and physical stores. Retail automation removes human labor from mundane tasks like inventory, stocking, and customer check-out with backend and customer-facing applications. 

Why is Retail Automation Important? 

A confluence of factors in our global, digital-first society is pushing retail automation to the forefront of the business landscape. As Investopedia explains, “The Internet has made it easier than ever to compare prices and shop from around the world” while “Low-cost foreign competition has also made it tough for retailers” to ensure sustainable growth. Finally, shoppers are highly selective with non-essential items like luxury goods – making it difficult to increase prices. 

Amidst so many challenges, retail automation offers a way for retailers to remove unnecessary organizational barriers, while also giving employees jobs with more value and meaning. 

What are the Benefits of Retail Automation?

From home improvement to electronics, retail automation helps retailers across a variety of verticals. Key benefits of retail automation include: 

  • Efficiency: Automation allows retailers to resolve operational efficiencies and IT-related issues with tools like workflows and runbooks. 
  • Customer Experience: New technology like AI helps stores reduce wait times, personalize interactions, and improve order accuracy to create highly impactful customer journeys. 
  • Data Insights: Novel tools like IoT help allow retailers to gather data for identifying trends, tracking customer behavior, and optimizing inventory.
  • Scalability: By eliminating mundane tasks and cutting back on organizational barriers, retail automation lays the groundwork for future scaling. 

What Technologies are Used in Retail Automation?  

From computer vision to custom POS integrations, several technologies are at play in retail automation systems at any given time. The size, scope, and complexity of these integrations vary across organizations and industries. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

Retailers utilize a variety of AI technologies to boost productivity. Natural Language Processing (NLP) enables AI systems to understand, interpret, and generate human language for responding to customer queries. Predictive analytics anticipates product demands using a variety of indicators – including sales data, market trends, customer demographics, and seasonal patterns. For its part, AI-powered visual search enables image-based product searches and suggests items with visual similarities. 

Internet of Things (IoT) 

Retailers rely on different technologies to integrate IoT into their daily workflows. IoT systems begin with customers who bring smartphones or other internet-connected devices into stores. Customers use these devices to search for products, access support, find deals, and read reviews. Inside stores, the IoT ecosystem includes smart devices like POS systems and RFID technology. In-store devices exchange data with customer devices and connect to analytics systems and business frameworks. 

Robotics

Robotics is an integral facet of retail automation and is generally integrated with other technologies like IoT. In certain applications, inventory bots are equipped with cameras and sensors to verify pricing and identify out-of-stock items to streamline the inventory process and keep shelves stocked. Even more, bots capture, “granular data about the products on the shelves and customer buying patterns” to help businesses make data-driven decisions. 

Key Applications of Retail Automation 

From autonomous shopping to streamlined inventory management, retailers are continuously uncovering new and exciting ways to apply retail automation technology. 

Custom Point-of-Sale (POS) 

Custom point-of-sale (POS) solutions greatly enhance the functionality of the sales process for retailers. Integrations with third-party platforms such as Amazon, Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce enable seamless experiences for both customers and employees. Retailers with physical and digital offerings benefit from features like BOPUS, curbside pickup, and omnichannel delivery.

Customer Service 

Retail automation enhances customer service by leveraging chatbots, self-service kiosks, and AI-driven support systems to provide instant assistance and personalized recommendations. Automated solutions streamline returns, FAQs, and order tracking to reduce wait times and improve customer satisfaction. 

Supply Chain & Logistics 

Automated inventory management leverages RFID and IoT sensors to track stock levels. With instant alerts for restocking, retailers can prevent stockouts, enhance supply chain efficiency, and meet customer demands. Supply chain automation transforms warehouse operations with advancements like robotic picking and packing, while AI optimizes delivery routes to reduce transit times and cut operating expenses. 

Autonomous Shopping  

Autonomous shopping leverages AI, computer vision, and IoT sensors to create retail experiences without human employees. Fully automated stores like Amazon Go enable seamless product detection, automated billing, and instant payments, eliminating checkout lines and enhancing convenience – while still allowing customers to interact with products in a physical capacity. 

Summary 

High customer expectations for personalization combined with relentless competition from global retailers make it increasingly challenging for businesses to secure a strong market share. In turn, retail automation has become an invaluable tool for differentiation in such a challenging business climate. 

No matter if you own an e-commerce site or a brick-and-mortar store, small issues like shipping delays or a lack of integrations between channels can quickly turn into big problems. While losing a single customer to inefficiencies or disorganization is one thing, it is difficult to grasp the widespread financial implications of negative customer reviews on popular sites like Google and Yelp. 

By increasing efficiency and improving the customer experience, retail automation technology provides many benefits that will help sustain profitability and growth. Don’t let knowledge gaps hinder your journey into retail automation. Dev.Pro has the skills to bring your digital transformation initiatives to life.

Contact us to get started!