From Warehouse to Wallet: New State of AI in Retail and CPG Survey Uncovers How AI Is Rewiring Supply Chains and Customer Experiences
Source: NVIDIA AI Blog
AI’s Impact on Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
AI is reshaping retail and CPG operations by:
- Customer analysis & segmentation – enabling hyper‑personalized marketing and advertising.
- Demand forecasting – delivering faster, more accurate predictions for supply‑chain and logistics planning.
- Digital shopping assistants & catalog enrichment – dynamically enhancing and localizing product information for richer customer engagement.
- AI agents – accelerating operational speed and efficiency. (Learn more)
- Physical AI systems – streamlining and automating warehouse and supply‑chain workflows. (Learn more)
NVIDIA State of AI in Retail & CPG – 2024 Report
NVIDIA’s third annual State of AI in Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods survey gathered hundreds of responses, highlighting the maturation of AI as firms transition projects from pilot to production across the sector.
Key Highlights
- 91 % of respondents are actively using or assessing AI.
- 90 % plan to increase AI budgets in 2026 to build on current successes.
- 89 % report AI is boosting annual revenue, while 95 % say it is reducing annual costs.
- 79 % consider open‑source models and software moderately to extremely important for their AI strategy.
- 47 % indicate their companies are using or assessing agentic AI in operations.
Dive Deeper
Read on for a detailed look at the report’s most compelling findings and what they mean for the future of retail and CPG.
Open Source Opens Opportunities
Open source has quickly become the foundation of many retail AI systems, giving teams the flexibility to adapt models to their data and use cases while maintaining strong governance. Open, interoperable ecosystems also make it easier to plug AI into existing tools and workflows, helping retailers rapidly scale innovation.
“Most retailers first started experimenting with AI using proprietary AI vendors,” said Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer of Publicis Groupe. “They had the models, but they didn’t own the keys to their own kingdom. Open source flips that script, allowing retailers to leverage their proprietary data, avoid vendor lock‑in and benefit from open‑source community innovation.”
AI Unlocks Significant Business Impact
Key Insight: 91 % of respondents say their companies are either actively using or assessing AI. In retail and CPG, the question has shifted from whether to invest in AI to how to deploy and scale it most effectively.
Measurable Business Benefits
| Benefit | % of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Improved employee productivity | 54 % |
| Operational efficiencies | 52 % |
| Better customer service | 41 % |
| Revenue growth (any increase) | 89 % |
| Revenue growth > 10 % | 30 % |
| Cost reduction (any decrease) | 95 % |
| Cost reduction > 10 % | 37 % |
Executive Perspective
“What executives should be focused on is not green‑lighting vanity projects at the expense of high‑ROI wins,” said Chris Walton, co‑CEO of Omni Talk.
“The retailers who will succeed will start with boring use cases that solve specific P&L problems, prove the value, then scale.”
Investment Outlook
- 9 out of 10 survey respondents plan to increase AI investment next year (infrastructure, talent, software).
- 50 % expect a significant rise, with budgets growing 10 % or more year‑over‑year.
Agentic AI Makes a Big Debut in Retail
The retail and CPG industry is piloting AI agents across multiple lines of business.
Adoption
- 47 % of survey respondents are using or assessing agentic AI.
- 20 % say AI agents are already active in their organizations.
- 21 % expect agents to be deployed within the next year.
“The truly disruptive impact of agentic AI will hit retail supply chains and operations first—autonomous agents handling real‑time inventory rebalancing, dynamic pricing, and vendor negotiations at scale—because that’s where the ROI is measurable.” — Walton
Key Goals for Agentic AI in Retail & CPG
| Goal | % of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Increased process speed and efficiency | 57 % |
| Enhanced customer experience and personalization | 40 % |
| Improved decision‑making with real‑time data | 40 % |
Primary Operational Areas
- Internal Operations – Automation of supply‑chain tasks, inventory management, and vendor negotiations.
- Employee & Customer Support – AI‑driven assistants that handle routine inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and provide real‑time guidance.
- Customer Engagement – Agents that go beyond analytics to act on insights instantly:
- Adjust messaging in real time
- Recommend products tailored to individual contexts
- Guide purchase decisions based on up‑to‑date data
These three lines illustrate how agentic AI will transform retail from back‑office efficiency to front‑line, personalized customer experiences.
AI Providing Resilience to the Supply Chain
Retail and CPG have faced intense supply‑chain challenges this decade, and those challenges are only growing more complex. Sixty‑four percent of respondents in this year’s survey reported increased challenges year‑over‑year, such as geopolitical instability, labor constraints, evolving consumer expectations for speed and transparency, and regulatory complexity across global operations.
“AI lets retailers optimize inventory at the store and customer level rather than at a regional level,” said Goldberg. “AI allows retailers to incorporate many more factors in their demand forecasts, and much more accurately predict and avoid out‑of‑stocks by matching supply to demand.”
The industry is turning to AI to streamline operations and solve complexity.
- 51 % – Using AI for supply‑chain operational efficiency and throughput (top pressure valve)
- 45 % – Meeting customer expectations
- 38 % – Solving for traceability and transparency
Physical AI is gaining ground, with 17 % of respondents using or evaluating the technology.
“The real transformation will come from AI that makes existing physical infrastructure smarter,” said Walton. “My favorite example is in‑store robotics. Through them, you get better pricing, better inventory management, and better presentation quality.”
Early movers demonstrate that, when integrated thoughtfully, physical‑AI systems deliver more than task automation—they enhance flexibility and throughput in response to workforce pressures and rising logistical complexity.
Download the “State of AI in Retail and CPG: 2026 Trends” report for in‑depth results and insights.
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