What’s next for retail in 2025: AI-powered analytics trends and BI innovation

Beata Socha

September 17, 2025

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Fast decisions, faster innovation: retail's top AI priority in 2025

What are retail enterprises looking for in AI-powered analytics?

According to the Retail & CPG In Focus Report, 54% of leaders rank faster decision-making and innovationas their top expected outcome from AI-powered analytics-outranking even cost savings and productivity.

This focus highlights a pivotal shift: companies aren't just looking for numbers-they are seeking long-term strategic advantage.

• 15%of organizations have already deployed AI-powered analytics in at least one department

• 8%are operating on AI-powered insights across multiple use cases and business units

But the focus isn't solely on results. Retail and CPG companies are increasing AI access and adoption across the organization, so every employee can surface, analyze, and act on trusted data-without technical roadblocks or IT bottlenecks.

How AI is used in retail in 2025

Businesses are integrating AI into day-to-day workflows to accelerate operations, reduce time to decision, and improve responsiveness. Here's how AI-powered analytics benefit both data professionals and general users.

Supporting data teams with Automation

According to the report, organizations are using AI to automate critical processes such as:

• Data preparation

• Identification of anomalies

• Threat detection

• Dashboard development

This shift frees data teams to focus on high-value strategy while ensuring insights are consistent, accurate, and scalable. The result? Improved security, governed data, and faster decisions.

Empowering business users with clear insights

Self-service analytics is on the rise. AI-powered self-service analytics tools allow employees with limited technical skills to ask data questions in natural language and receive visual answers automatically. This includes processes like:

• Assortment optimization

• Logistics planning

• Content creation assistance

• Social listening

AI enables business users to get fast, accurate insights tailored to their projects.
Furthermore, it reduces overreliance on data teams and enables faster decisions across departments.

How retailers plan to expand AI access in 2025

The Retail & CPG In Focus Reporthighlights that only 9%of employees in most organizations currently use BI tools beyond spreadsheets.

However, that number is expected to change fast: over 27%of retail organizations plan to give more than one-fifthof their workforce direct access to AI-powered analytics within the next year.

As retailers continue to integrate natural language interfaces or embedded analytics, the front lines-store associates, plant operators, logistics coordinators-are starting to adopt it.

To support this adoption, organizations are investing in:

• Natural language tools that simplify data exploration

• Embedded analytics within tools employees already use (Microsoft Office, Slack, POS systems)

• automated visualizations that replace the need for manual or custom dashboards

• AI literacy and change management programs to empower workforces

The end goal: to remove friction, broaden access, and make data part of everyday decision-making-for everyone.

Retail's new star: AI bots

AI-powered analytics is no longer confined to dashboards.

Many retailers are now deploying AI botsthat operate directly within daily tools and workflows.

These bots can:

• Summarize key metrics in natural language

• Alert teams to demand shifts or anomalies

• Recommend actions based on sales or inventory trends

• Respond to ad hoc questions using governed data

Source: Retail & CPG In Focus Report

The reportshows a growing trend toward deployment:

• 27%of companies are piloting AI bots and planning production this year

• 15%have deployed bots for specific functions

• 4%use fully operational GenAI bots across departments

Essentially, AI bots mark a shift from passive dashboards to active, contextual insight delivery-driving faster, governed decisions with fewer bottlenecks.

What's next for AI in retail?

Retailers are no longer questioning whether AI works. They are focused on scaling it across teams, time zones, and regions. This requires rethinking the analytics experience: beyond dashboards, into the everyday workflows of every employee.

But adoption alone is not enough. The Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods in Focus Reporthighlights why strong governance, semantic consistency, and self-service analytics are critical to long-term success.

Enterprises that prioritize these areas will not only scale AI-they will compete with speed, trust, and measurable business impact.