The AI Shift in Retail & What It Means for POS Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here. And in 2025, it transformed from experimental technology within point of sale and retail operations into practical, everyday tools that boost revenue, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

For POS providers and retailers alike, the systems that capture sales and inventory data now feed machine learning models that predict trends, reduce errors, and automate decisions. In this post, we break down AI adoption stats, practical applications, and why flexible POS platforms like KORONA POS are positioned to turn AI insights into action.

How Widely Is AI Being Adopted in Retail?

AI adoption is already mainstream in retail. Here are the numbers:

• 85% of retail execs say they’ve developed or expanded AI capabilities. 
• 77% of eCommerce professionals use AI daily, with personalization topping use cases. (All About AI)
• Retailers leveraging AI report 5–15% annual revenue growth and 10–30% cost reductions. (All About AI)
• Over 70% of retailers have piloted or partially deployed agentic AI to boost operational efficiency.

These figures show AI has moved well past “pilot” status. It’s now a core component of operations. This includes systems tied to POS data, such as forecasting, merchandising, and customer engagement.

What AI Looks Like in Retail Today

AI is more than just one tool — it’s a sweeping suite of capabilities retailers are actively layering into their tech stacks:

Predictive Analytics & Forecasting

AI models enhance forecasting accuracy, helping to reduce stockouts and optimize inventory levels. Retailers using AI for demand forecasting see measurable gains in planning and reduced carrying costs. 

Personalization & Customer Experience

AI-driven recommendations generate significant portions of online revenue, while chatbots drastically reduce support response times. 

Chatbots & Automation

Retailers are increasing the use of AI chatbots for customer service and sales support — boosting conversions and offloading routine tasks.

Operational Efficiency

AI reduces operational inefficiencies and automates back-office tasks, enabling store teams to focus on customer service and strategic decisions.

Why This Matters for POS Providers & Retailers

AI’s impact on retail isn’t confined to eCommerce giants — physical stores, omnichannel brands, and independent retailers all benefit when POS data feeds broader analytics:

• Faster decision-making: Machine learning models surface trends faster than spreadsheets.
• Inventory optimization: Predictive AI cuts overstock and shrink but maintain adequate stock for top sellers.
• Smarter customer engagement: Loyalty and personalization efforts perform better with unified AI insights.

But data quality matters: AI is only as good as the systems it learns from. That’s where flexible, integrated POS platforms come in — they help ensure clean, unified sales and inventory data that AI engines can trust.

What’s Next: AI’s Roadmap in Retail

Industry forecasts show AI’s role is only growing:

• AI adoption across retail is expected to expand 14x by 2035, reaching a market value of $138+ billion (All About AI).
• By 2030, 70% of enterprises will use AI for forecasting and automation. 
• Nearly all retailers surveyed plan to increase AI spending in the next year (NVIDIA Blog). 

These trends suggest that the next big question for retailers moves beyond just collecting data. Now, retailers must act on it in real time, blending POS systems with AI-driven insights that improve workflow, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

What This Means for KORONA POS and Retailers

For POS providers and their customers, the AI opportunity is simple:

• Integrate real-time data: The richer the data feed from POS, the more useful AI becomes.
• Enable smarter tools: Features tied to sales, inventory, and customer behavior become more predictive.
• Deliver actionable insights: Retailers want signals — not spreadsheets.

For independent retailers and multi-location businesses, that means choosing a POS that supports growth, centralizes operations, and feeds the analytics that power AI results.

Introducing KORONA AI Beta: Smarter, Faster Retail Workflows

KORONA AI Beta brings powerful, practical AI tools directly into the KORONA POS ecosystem so retailers can save time, reduce errors, and generate actionable insights from the data they already collect. Rather than theoretical features, it focuses on everyday tasks that make a real difference in store operations.

Here’s what the beta includes:

• Quick Product Creation — Type a product name and KORONA AI instantly fills in details like price, commodity group, and tags, so new items are added faster with fewer manual steps.
• Automated Stock Receipts — AI matches incoming shipments to purchase orders based on past behavior, reducing manual entry and receiving errors.
• Streamlined Data Imports — Upload spreadsheets and let AI intelligently map fields to your POS structure, cutting down cleanup time and import mistakes.
• Business Insights — Instead of digging through spreadsheets, get clear, AI‑generated summaries and actionable recommendations from your sales and report data.
• Self-Checkout UI Design Support — Tell the system how you want your kiosk screen to look, and KORONA AI helps generate a branded, user-friendly self-checkout interface.

These features are designed to work with KORONA Studio and POS, turning routine tasks into AI‑assisted workflows that reduce manual effort and help businesses focus on growth. Access is currently limited to existing users through the beta program.

Looking Ahead

AI in retail is now everyday tech that drives measurable gains in revenue, efficiency, and customer experience. The systems that capture data at the register now feed the engines that predict, personalize, and automate store operations.

If you’re interested in how modern POS platforms like KORONA POS help retailers prepare for and act on AI-driven insights, check out our retail POS system overview and see how integrated data and analytics can power smarter decisions.