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Retail Trends 2026: How Independent Retailers Should Use Generative AI · The Resilient Retail Game Plan - retail insights, retail trends and best practices

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  In this episode, I'm going to explain to you how not to
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  use AI in retail businesses.
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  Welcome to the Resilient Retail Game Plan.
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  I'm Catherine Erdly, and this podcast is here to share retail industry
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  trends, insights, and best practices for you, the retailer who's serious
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  about building something that lasts.
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  This episode is all about how you use generative AI in your business.
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  Why do I make that distinction?
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  Well, because there's a lot of chat about AI in retail at the moment, and
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  a lot of that revolves around agentic AI, which I'm going to be covering
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  in an episode coming up shortly.
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  In today's episode, what I really wanted to talk about was you as a business owner
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  using generative AI in your business.
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  This is about ChatGPT style tools or Claude, and it's also about AI
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  built into many of the tools that you've been using, like Shopify,
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  email platforms, or accounting tools.
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  And what I'm seeing is that almost everyone is experimenting and
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  lots of people are wondering what else there is that they could
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  be doing, and perhaps what...
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  starting to wonder what the pitfalls might be.
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  So I'm gonna be talking in this episode about how people are using AI
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  right now, some of the different use cases, and also some of the reasons
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  to be cautious and some of the things that I've started to see have become
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  a bit of an issue in some of the businesses that I work with day to day.
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  So let's start off with the numbers.
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  And as usual, these vary wildly depending on how you define using AI.
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  And what that looks like in practice is that 16% of UK businesses are formally
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  using AI according to government data.
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  But if you think about it informally, around 50 to 70% of SMEs are using it
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  according to surveys like the British Chambers of Commerce and Intuit, who've
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  done a fair amount of research themselves.
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  And up to 80% of SME decision-makers are saying they've used it in
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  some way according to research done by Enterprise Nation.
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  So what this really means is that people saying that they're using AI
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  is often about writing emails faster.
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  It's not as deeply embedded yet, but it is becoming the norm. So what
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  are people actually using it for?
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  Well, the first main use case that we're seeing for generative AI in
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  retail business is as an assistant as opposed to a replacement.
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  So people are actually using it for writing support.
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  They are using the Shopify tools to help them with product descriptions.
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  They are getting it to draft them emails, to come up with subject lines for their
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  newsletters, to help them create social media captions, and to write blogs.
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  They also might be using it for things like customer communications, so FAQs.
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  And a lot of people that I've spoken to actually use AI, the number one
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  thing that they use it for, is to take awkward customer messages and to help
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  them rewrite it or to come up with a way of diplomatically responding to them.
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  People are also using AI for a lot of admin, so meeting summaries,
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  note-taking, and some basic organization.
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  Another really important role which I think AI can be very good for is
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  idea generation, so content ideas, campaign angles, or planning prompts.
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  So what we're seeing with a lot of independent retailers, and I'm sure this
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  will be a no surprise to anybody, is that they're using AI to help them save time.
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  Because if it's one thing that I know about independent retailers and
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  brands is that you are time poor.
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  I'm sure that you have felt that a lot in your own business So product
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  pages, let's just talk about those for a minute because that is a major use case
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  that we're seeing in terms of what people are actually using generative AI for.
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  And this is important because of the other side of AI, that agentic AI
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  that we're gonna talk more about.
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  But AI tools are increasingly reading your product pages, interpreting your
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  business from the information it finds there, and then using that information
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  to help with product recommendations, which means that your product descriptions
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  now need to explain clearly what the product is, who it's for, why it's
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  useful, and what makes it different.
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  So weak product pages or product pages without a lot of information
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  on it can almost become invisible under agentic AI.
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  So this is where you can really use AI tools to your advantage because
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  previously I know before the advent of ChatGPT or other generative AI tools,
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  that writing product descriptions was one of the most tedious, long-winded tasks
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  that a lot of retailers went through.
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  And now with, with these tools, we can have an advantage.
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  You know your products better than anyone, so you can work on it to come
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  up with product pages that reflect them.
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  AI rewards clarity, not fluff.
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  But the one thing that I would say is even though it is easier than ever to
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  come up with AI descriptions for your product pages, I still think that you
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  need to really put into it all of your knowledge and all of your thoughts about
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  the product, why you picked it, and it's gonna come onto something I'm gonna
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  touch on later, which is the best use for AI is when you give it really detailed
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  prompts and it can help a lot from that as opposed to just asking it to come
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  up with generic product descriptions.
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  But it is useful because you can give them long prompts, and then you can ask it to
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  format all of this information in a way that means that the product description
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  will be read more easily by other AI agents. So another place that we're
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  starting to see people really leaning into when it comes to AI is summarizing
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  sales data, spotting patterns, identifying best sellers, flagging slow-selling
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  stock, sense-checking decisions.
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  And tools are increasingly built into platforms like Shopify, where the
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  sidekick has now become, frankly, a lot more helpful when it comes to finding
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  the information that you actually want.
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  However, this is an area that I've seen both the most advanced but also some
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  of the biggest issues that I've seen crop up, and that is because a lot of
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  people have what I call messy data.
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  So messy data is where there aren't really clear product hierarchies, the
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  information is not really categorized very well in a way that means that
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  the analysis is actually that helpful.
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  So if your categories are inconsistent, and especially if your stock
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  information is wrong, then all of these capabilities with the AI, they're
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  just not actually going to help you.
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  And a lot of the time we need better inputs to have better outputs, and a
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  lot of the work that we do with Stock Doctor actually ends up being around
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  cleaning data, making the setup more strategic, making sure that the stock
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  information's more accurate so you can actually start to leverage it properly.
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  I would also say that a lot of people have started using it for
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  that top-level strategy, and there is definitely a confirmation bias in AI.
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  So we're seeing lots of people asking it, you know, "Should I do
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  this?" And it, generally speaking, will tell you that it's a good idea.
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  I definitely see that AI is still very much more tactical as opposed to
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  strategic, so it is giving you specific answers to specific questions, but
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  it's not always seeing the full picture
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  So customer service is another area that people are really leaning into with AI,
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  and it's being used for handling repeat questions, delivery updates, returns
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  information, basic recommendations.
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  So again, with this particular use of AI, I think it's important to look
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  at what it can do and what it can't do and where it can really help.
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  And I think, again, as I've seen in lots of other areas of people's businesses, it
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  works really well when there's a blend.
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  So you don't want to risk losing the personal touch, you don't
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  want to sound generic, and you don't want to damage trust.
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  Your advantage as an independent retailer or brand is personal connection, so
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  you don't want to automate that away.
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  That said, you can look at it as what I would call a triage approach.
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  So even pre-AI, around 80% of queries, the research shows that around 80%
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  of customer queries could be handled by some kind of automated response.
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  You know those, the kind, the where is my parcel, how long is the delivery date,
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  if I order it today, when will I get it?
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  All of that kind of thing.
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  So probably 80% of all of those have always been able to be automated,
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  but now with a lot of plug-ins, AI-powered chatbots, things like
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  that, it's probably easier than ever to automate the more basic requests.
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  But what people are really leaning into is where you're using AI to triage the
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  most basic questions, but then very quickly being able to put a human on
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  to deal with that 20% of queries that just can't be solved that quickly.
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  So earlier this year, I spoke to Sarah from Artichoke, and she won
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  the Boutique Star Award for Online Retailer of the Year, and she, for
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  example, and her team, after somebody places an online order, they call them.
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  They call every single customer who places an order because they're
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  able to take the efficiencies from technological advancements, but then
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  they're keeping that human element.
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  And I think that that's where AI works really, really well in retailers is
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  where you can use those advancements, as I said, to really triage the majority
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  of those queries, but then make sure that you have got that human touch
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  ready to go and maybe even more ready to jump in because they have got the
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  time to focus on a fewer number of maybe trickier problems to solve.
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  One area that is really controversial, and I think the jury is still out
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  on in retail, is AI for imagery.
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  It has its use cases for sure, things like mock-ups, things like backgrounds,
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  campaign visuals potentially, and maybe using it for concepts.
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  I've seen a lot of people use AI to almost create very bespoke vision boards
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  for a remodel or a new store or an idea of what a new product range might look
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  like, and I think that's really useful.
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  I think obviously AI imagery is appealing in terms of saving time and saving money,
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  but I think that there's still a real concern here with things like is it
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  accurately representing your product?
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  So it would be brilliant if we could get to the point where you could take
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  a photo of one product once and then be able to use AI to replicate that
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  across all of the different colors.
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  But at the moment, I think that still you would have to be so certain that
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  something that you did that with would then be correctly represented
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  so that when the customer receives that item, they weren't disappointed.
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  That could lead to higher returns, that could lead to loss of trust.
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  And also, there's this feeling of these off visuals that
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  customers can't quite explain.
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  And I've been seeing this rise of certain websites where people have
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  used AI for all of the photography, including putting up fake photos of the
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  shop owners to make it look like it's an independent retailer when actually
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  it's ... Well, it may be an independent retailer, but it's not UK-based even
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  though it says that in the name.
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  And I think that there is a slight fear that if you find a, a website
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  and it feels like the images are AI produced, then it really does give a
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  level of trust or it drops a level of trust from the consumer right away.
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  So I think that AI imagery is just something that we have to be really
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  careful with and to really, really understand what it can be used for,
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  what's working, and what's not.
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  And it may well be that it's something that is great for doing touch-ups,
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  but not yet a replacement for real product imagery, and certainly not real
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  photographs of you as the shop owner.
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  And there's also this uncanny valley effect, which is that sort
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  of visuals being slightly off, which can really affect people's trust.
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  Because people are really looking for signals that you're a real brand, that
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  you're a real person behind the brand, that it's a real company, that it's
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  not a spoof website, that their money's gonna be safe if they spend it with you.
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  So imagery is a, a really strong, powerful way to prove that.
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  So I would say that of all of the uses of AI in independent retailers, imagery
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  is one that is probably potentially the one that we have to really look at the
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  most and think carefully about what you want to do So most retailers are not
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  necessarily using AI to build systems, even though now what we're seeing,
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  it's crazy the speed of things change.
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  People are able to build apps by themselves, for example, things like that.
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  They're not necessarily looking to automate everything, but they do
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  want less admin, faster output, and definitely help getting started.
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  So if I had to describe the mood of a lot of independent retailers when
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  it comes to AI, I would say that people, a lot of people are curious,
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  slightly skeptical, and some people are feeling kind of over the hype, and
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  maybe that's how you're feeling too.
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  It's an interesting topic, and we haven't even really touched on the environmental
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  concerns or people's ethical concerns about using AI, which a lot of people
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  have very strong feelings about.
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  So I would say that at the moment, AI in independent retail, it feels like a
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  lot of people, as I said, are exploring, trying things, seeing what works.
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  So what would I suggest that you don't use AI for?
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  Well, I do think that you need to be careful with fully AI written
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  content, because people are much better at spotting AI now.
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  Even subconsciously, people notice if the tone feels off, if the
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  structure feels repetitive, or if the language feels generic.
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  So for example, I'll use this example from my own business as well.
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  A couple of years ago, I used one of the early AI tools to help me
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  revise my onboarding email sequence, and I was able to make it sound more
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  enthusiastic, which is something that I sometimes find a little bit hard
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  in the written word to really convey excitement, passion, et cetera, et cetera.
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  So I'd used this tone adjuster, as it were, from AI, and recently
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  I was re-editing it to make sure it was all still accurate, and
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  honestly, I was completely mortified.
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  And, and in fact, if you've ever received these emails from me, then
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  I apologize, because it... The shift already from what feels acceptable, it
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  is now... It was so clearly AI written.
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  It had, it had rocket emojis and confetti cannon emojis all over it,
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  and I feel like what passed even a year ago doesn't necessarily pass now.
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  So at the time, everyone, when it first came out, we were all just so excited.
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  It was like magic.
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  I mean, it still is like magic, a lot of it.
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  But a lot of people used it for a lot of things, and now because it's so
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  ubiquitous, everyone just knows that there's so much AI out there, that I
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  think that w- I'm actually seeing a lot of people reverse AI text in their business.
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  In other words, take it out and write it instead.
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  So I would say watch your numbers closely.
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  If you're using AI heavily, check your email open rates, check your
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  click rates, check your conversion.
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  I'm already seeing people, as I said, removing AI written text and actually
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  seeing their performance improve.
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  So if something drops, I would just ask yourself, "Does this actually
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  sound like me, or does it sound like everyone or everything else?"
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  So what I think AI has absolutely meant is that a lot of retailers should no
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  longer or should ever have a situation of been sitting there and thinking, "I
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  don't know what to do. I don't know what ideas I should do. I, I can't think of
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  any ideas for my next email, my next campaign." You absolutely 100% can use
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  AI to help you generate those ideas.
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  It's really, really good for ideas.
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  It's really good for structure, and it's really great for getting started.
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  But your voice is your differentiation and is your brand.
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  My favorite approach or what I've seen people using and that works
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  really well is to talk it out.
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  So voice note it, brain dump it, and then get AI to tidy it up.
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  Because there's a huge world of difference between spending 10 or 15 minutes brain
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  dumping your thoughts around a topic, thinking what you feel about something,
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  what you'd like to say, all of the kind of things that you'd like to get across to
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  your customer, and then asking AI to put it into some post ideas or to clean it up.
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  That will get you a lot closer to where you want to be than if you just say to
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  a generic tool, marketing tool, "Create me a marketing campaign." The more you
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  can put into it, the more likely you are to get something out that sounds close.
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  I would say as well that I would be very careful with using
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  AI to- for decision-making.
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  It definitely has a confirmation bias problem.
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  If you say, "I think I should do X," it will say, "Yes, that's a great
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  idea." It struggles with nuance, it struggles with context, and it
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  struggles with seeing the whole picture.
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  And it can miss really obvious practical issues.
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  You can ask it to challenge you, to ask questions, and you can ask
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  it to summarize your thinking.
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  It can be a really powerful tool to get it ... To, to say to it, "I want you
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  to challenge me. I want you to ask me a whole load of questions," and for you to
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  verbally process whatever decision it is that you want to make, rather than just
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  asking it to give you the right answer.
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  So using it for thinking and rather than deciding is a better
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  case, in my opinion, for using AI.
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  So it's very different to talk for 20 minutes and process out loud and
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  then get it to summarize it for you than it is to tell me what to do.
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  So this is how I put it in 2026.
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  There is no reason at all to sit in front of a blank page.
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  But there is every reason to sound like yourself.
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  The retailers who get the most from AI won't be the
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  ones who hand everything over.
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  They'll be the ones who use it to think better, move faster, and stay distinct.
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  Thank you so much for listening.
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  Don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe, depending on where you
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  listen to your podcast, to be the first to know about each new episode.
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  Why not come over to Instagram at Resilient Retail Club and tell me
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  what you thought of today's episode.
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  And then in a couple of weeks' time, we're going to be talking
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  about agentic AI, which is when it's actually the robots doing the shopping