{"schemaVersion":"2.0","industry":{"slug":"retail","name":"Retail","headline":"Turn customer demand into sales","summary":"Custom AI agents guide shopping, carry customer requests through resolution and coordinate replenishment, giving retail teams more capacity for customers.","image":"/images/industry-retail-v1.webp","imageAlt":"Illustrative retail planning specialists studying demand patterns with product samples in a violet-lit analytics studio","workflows":[{"title":"Shopping assistance","pain":"Shoppers abandon decisions when product questions and availability require waiting for staff.","detail":"AI agents interpret shopping intent, match approved product information and guide customers toward suitable items and purchase steps across channels.","output":"Clear recommendations and next steps for an informed purchase.","authority":"Customers authorize purchases; staff approve exceptions.","businessValue":"Help shoppers move from product interest to purchase.","aiCapability":"Interprets shopping goals, occasion and budget; matches product descriptions and approved customer context.","capabilityLimits":"Selected-market shopping pilot in the cited case; do not assume basket creation, payment or pricing powers.","sourceIds":["retail-pandora"]},{"title":"Customer service follow-through","pain":"Service queues expand as order updates, returns and exceptions bounce between teams.","detail":"AI agents interpret customer questions, combine product policies with order context, and resolve approved requests or escalate changes with a conversation summary.","output":"Resolved questions and complete handoffs for order changes.","authority":"Staff approve refunds and policy exceptions.","businessValue":"Support repeat purchase through faster, better customer service.","aiCapability":"Language understanding and grounded answers combine product policies, order status and conversational context.","capabilityLimits":"The reported live agent handles defined FAQs/status; unsupported order changes escalate to people.","sourceIds":["retail-pandora"]},{"title":"Replenishment coordination","pain":"Supplier emails change availability while buyers manually reconcile orders and stock plans.","detail":"AI interprets supplier emails and PDF changes; agents match affected orders, prepare reviewed updates and coordinate the next replenishment steps.","output":"Reviewed supplier changes supporting faster replenishment decisions.","authority":"Buyers approve purchasing and supplier commitments.","businessValue":"Support product availability within purchasing and margin controls.","aiCapability":"Interprets unstructured supplier email/PDF intent and maps it to the correct order context for buyer review.","capabilityLimits":"Production-ready preview; unsupported split deliveries, site/vendor changes and commercial commitments need human handling.","sourceIds":["retail-procurement"]}],"story":{"framing":"Shoppers need answers while orders, returns and stock changes cross teams. Agents carry those workflows forward, with approvals where customers and commercial decisions need them.","painPoints":[{"title":"Shopping assistance","detail":"Shoppers abandon decisions when product questions and availability require waiting for staff."},{"title":"Customer service follow-through","detail":"Service queues expand as order updates, returns and exceptions bounce between teams."},{"title":"Replenishment coordination","detail":"Supplier emails change availability while buyers manually reconcile orders and stock plans."}],"dataSources":[{"name":"Product catalog and availability","detail":"Qualify ownership, permitted access, quality and business context before connecting."},{"name":"Customer requests and order history","detail":"Qualify ownership, permitted access, quality and business context before connecting."},{"name":"Demand and inventory signals","detail":"Qualify ownership, permitted access, quality and business context before connecting."},{"name":"Supplier confirmations and policies","detail":"Qualify ownership, permitted access, quality and business context before connecting."}],"metrics":[{"name":"Shopping assistance response time","definition":"Elapsed time between the agreed start and accepted completion of the workflow.","unit":"Time","why":"Compare with the baseline while preserving quality and required review."},{"name":"Customer case resolution time","definition":"Elapsed time between the agreed start and accepted completion of the workflow.","unit":"Time","why":"Compare with the baseline while preserving quality and required review."},{"name":"Replenishment action turnaround","definition":"Elapsed time between the agreed start and accepted completion of the workflow.","unit":"Time","why":"Compare with the baseline while preserving quality and required review."}],"spotlight":{"title":"From bottleneck to working agents","summary":"Custom AI agents, team enablement and accelerated delivery turn a redesigned workflow into a working service. The implementation is tested against your systems, controls and acceptance standard.","inputLabel":"Your core data, existing systems and a valuable operating bottleneck.","outputLabel":"An implemented agent workflow, enabled people and measured operating outcomes.","steps":[{"id":"discover-redesign","label":"Simplify the workflow","detail":"Find the bottleneck. Remove waste and agree the baseline.","records":"Current work, policies and baseline.","owner":"Process owner and Elygent team.","output":"A simpler workflow with agreed success measures."},{"id":"connect-foundation","label":"Connect the foundation","detail":"Make your data, knowledge and systems usable by agents.","records":"Approved data, knowledge and system access.","owner":"Data owners and implementation engineers.","output":"Trusted context and qualified system connections."},{"id":"deploy-enable","label":"Deploy and enable","detail":"Build agents, test exceptions and train the people using them.","records":"Test cases, review paths and working methods.","owner":"Elygent engineers and your team.","output":"A validated agent workflow and an enabled team."},{"id":"operate-improve","label":"Operate and improve","detail":"Measure completed work, improve throughput and expand what works.","records":"Accepted outputs, turnaround and exceptions.","owner":"Service owner and Elygent team.","output":"A measured operating service with approved improvements."}]},"faq":[{"question":"Do we need to replace our systems?","answer":"Start with your existing workflow and qualify the connections. Data and context are prepared around it; system access and supported actions are agreed before deployment."},{"question":"How do we know the work improved?","answer":"Baseline turnaround, completed work and review effort. Test the new workflow, measure accepted output in operation and expand only after the result is validated."}],"sources":[{"id":"retail-procurement","title":"Microsoft — Procurement Agent supplier communications","url":"https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/supply-chain/procurement/procurement-agent-supplier-com-overview","note":"Updated August 10, 2026; explicitly production-ready preview. AI classifies vendor email/PDF intent, matches orders and proposes reviewed changes; not every line/site/vendor-change scenario is supported.","accessedAt":"2026-10-05","publishedAt":null,"evidenceType":"Official AI feature documentation; production-ready preview","updatedAt":"2026-08-10"},{"id":"retail-pandora","title":"Salesforce — Pandora customer story","url":"https://www.salesforce.com/customer-stories/pandora/","note":"October 8, 2025: reported live Clara FAQs/order-status reasoning and human escalation; Gemma product matching is described as a selected-market pilot. No performance figures copied.","accessedAt":"2026-10-05","publishedAt":"2025-10-08","evidenceType":"vendor-customer-story"}]},"businessStory":{"context":"Shoppers need answers while orders, returns and stock changes cross teams. Agents carry those workflows forward, with approvals where customers and commercial decisions need them.","outcomes":["Shopping assistance response time","Customer case resolution time","Replenishment action turnaround"],"coreData":["Product catalog and availability","Customer requests and order history","Demand and inventory signals","Supplier confirmations and policies"],"coreValue":"Turn product and customer knowledge into purchases, repeat business and available stock.","implementationBridge":"Elygent implements agents across commerce, service and replenishment, connecting retail data and systems with clear operating rules."},"heroKind":"photo","imagePosition":"40% center","path":"/industries/retail","url":"https://elygent.ai/industries/retail","notice":"Illustrative AI implementation opportunities. Scope, access, controls and acceptance are agreed per engagement; these are not verified Elygent customer results.","formats":{"json":"https://elygent.ai/api/industries/retail","markdown":"https://elygent.ai/api/industries/retail/markdown"}}}