What are the best strategies for retailers to adapt to AI-powered consumer trends?

Examining the evolution of AI, what today’s consumer wants from its capabilities and the ways retailers can leverage it optimally

// By George Minakakis, Founder and CEO of Inception Retail Group, and Author of ‘The New Bricks & Mortar Future Proofing Retail‘

In 2025, consumers will be looking for increased personalization, speed, and convenience. The consumer world has become more complicated than ever before, and it is filled with uncertainty. Their primary household concerns in simple terms are to keep a roof over their head, food on the table and keep their families healthy and happy. So, the days of browsing and losing time reviewing offers is no longer convenient. Consumers have wanted personalization, speed and convenience, and today’s technological capabilities will deliver it.

Personalized, relevant and immediate

Traditional text searching and browsing are boring, and the move to ‘ask’ reflects their desire for more personalized, relevant, and immediate answers. There are shifts happening with platforms offering greater simplicity; it arrived with Generative AI and conversational searches. Amazon’s recent introduction with Rufus and Perplexity.ai comes with a subscription, and both have voice interactions and immediate answers.

All of this is revolutionary, and I’ve directly shared with executives that personal AI assistants will be game-changers and will improve even more in time. Why? Instant Gratification! Another task is done, and more free time to enjoy and manage life.

How does this impact retailers, and what’s their response?

The question is, will consumers adopt chatbot-embedded voice interactions on websites or opt for a platform that can conduct broader searches and personalize their asks? It is more likely that the latter will win the day. And wherever the consumer goes, retailers will want to be there. However, that doesn’t mean that a chatbot embedded on a website has no value, the personal AI assistant/agent can direct a human asking a question to your site.

Even mobile first behaviours had to evolve. While these consumers using mobile devices prefer fast and concise answers, typing lengthy questions has not been easy. Now voice adds a whole new element and with ear buds you can hear and get your answers on the go. And that means identifying your next stop to buy something or pick it up. Convenience and instant gratification!

Retailers need to optimize for ‘answer engine optimization’ and make their products and services

discoverable. The development of FAQ pages that answer common consumer questions helps. And because this involves natural human language, ‘asks’ are very specific questions. Such as ‘What is the best restaurant nearby?’ vs. ‘Best restaurants near me.’ Referred to as long-tail keywords, which are generally longer queries. However, research shows that there are more long questions than keyword searches. Again, with the intent to narrow the quest for solutions.

Keys to the future

Artificial Intelligence and data are the keys to the future of retailing. The average consumer is producing, interacting, watching, or listening to about 880 kilobytes of data per second. It is an unfathomable amount of information, and in reality, they are leaving a massive digital trail of insight. Ask and voice interactive browsing and shopping will grow exponentially, and it offers more data and insights. Retailers must make investments to collect data. Without it, they will lack the ability to develop predictive insights on their customers. Aside from the obvious surface knowledge available online, retailers need real-time information on their marketplaces to meet the needs of their businesses.

Consumers can no longer afford to lose time; they will leverage personal AI assistants to avoid generic product recommendations and work with applications that personalize and cater to their needs more effectively. Yes, this is a paradigm shift, and it will require a rethinking of how we connect with consumers. Voice enabled platforms and the ability to collect data are non-negotiables going forward.

Evolution required

Retailers will want to evolve beyond just offering their products and services and create AI-powered profiles which can create and articulate tailored suggestions, pre-configured shopping lists and even proactive alerts on unique offers. This is a level of service that creates relationships and loyalty when developed and delivered properly.

Retailers need to prepare as consumers embrace ‘ask’ as a normative approach to find what they are looking for. They should also prepare for more powerful iterations of what is currently in the marketplace by way of personal AI assistants. They will become more sophisticated, and this personalization will turn into human AI trusted relationships where consumers work with their preferred models. Today, this is a subscription-based model for consumers that may change to a fee-based service for retailers to use and promote their products and services, making it free to consumers, which will become ubiquitous in our lives by then.

One thing I have noted over the years working for multi-national companies is that with every economic and technological shift that takes place, the organizations that adapt and evolve remain relevant. My advice is to prepare for more technological innovations.

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George Minakakis is the CEO of Inception Retail Group and Author of his forthcoming book, Predictive Leadership – How Humans and AI will Transform Organizations, Innovation and Competition.