Retailers are beginning to use AI to automate certain parts of the merchandising process, to determine what to order or even to make deals on their behalf.A slew of tech companies like Duvo.ai, Relex Solutions and Gain have arisen or added new functionality over the past few years to help merchants with tasks like managing inventory or communicating and negotiating with vendors. Some of these companies are still in the early days of working with retailers in the U.S., but this could soon reshape what the roles of buyers or other employees within retail organizations look like globally.
The pitch to retail companies is that instead of analyzing data themselves or having back-and-forths with suppliers in email threads, AI agents could do those tasks for them.
Some retailers have developed such functionality in-house. Walmart last year announced Wally, a GenAI-powered assistant for Walmart merchants that automates data entry and analysts, root-cause identification, operational questions and advanced calculation. “When we think about category planning and merchandising, it’s personal, local and human,” a Walmart spokesperson told Modern Retail. Applying AI is really to help serve customers and associates better so they can spend more time on the human aspects of their day-to-day lives instead of tactical, manual work.” Also in 2025, Target revealed Trend Brain, a “trend intelligence platform” that processes visual and written trend data and provides insights specific to Target’s private brands.
