AI isn't enough: Why store infrastructure will determine which retailers scale successfully
The hardest part of retail AI may soon be the part nobody puts in the demo.
A model can recommend a markdown, predict a stockout, adjust a picking route or identify a pattern in store traffic in milliseconds. But a retailer only gets value when that decision becomes an accurate action in the physical store. Whether it’s a price change or a sensor reading, it has to arrive promptly for it to be useful.
SVP for SOLUM, Europe.
There is already a striking gap between AI ambition and execution. Deloitte's 2026 survey of 200 retail and consumer products executives found that 75% consider AI a top strategic priority, yet only 16.5% can quantify the return they are getting from it. Clearly, retailers believe in AI. The harder problem is turning isolated capabilities into something that works consistently across the business.
For physical retailers, the challenge does not end with...
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