Nvidia’s third annual state of artificial intelligence in retail and consumer packaged goods survey depicts an industry moving from experimentation to scaled deployment, as artificial intelligence reshapes everything from demand forecasting to customer engagement. Artificial intelligence has transformed retail and consumer packaged goods operations by improving customer analysis and segmentation for more personalized marketing and advertising, and by boosting the speed and accuracy of demand forecasting across supply chains and logistics. Companies are also using intelligent digital shopping assistants and catalog enrichment tools to dynamically enhance and localize product information, while artificial intelligence agents and physical artificial intelligence systems are increasing operational speed and efficiency in warehouses and broader supply chain operations.
The survey, which garnered hundreds of responses, highlights how embedded artificial intelligence has become in the sector. 91% of respondents said their companies are either actively using or assessing artificial intelligence, and 90% said they would build on the success of current projects by increasing their artificial intelligence budgets in 2026. 89% reported artificial intelligence is helping to increase annual revenue, while 95% said it is helping decrease annual costs, with 30% stating revenue has increased by more than 10% and 37% saying costs have been reduced by more than 10%. Respondents cited improved employee productivity at 54%, operational efficiencies at 52%, and better customer service at 41% as key benefits. Open source is now central to many artificial intelligence strategies, with 79% saying open source models and software are moderately to extremely important, as retailers look to avoid vendor lock in, adapt models to proprietary data and scale innovation across interoperable ecosystems.
Agentic artificial intelligence is emerging as a major new layer in retail automation. Overall, 47% of survey respondents said they are using or assessing agentic artificial intelligence, with 20% saying artificial intelligence agents are already active in their organizations and another 21% reporting agents are coming within the next year. Respondents identified increased process speed and efficiency at 57%, enhanced customer experience and personalization at 40%, and improved decision making with real time data at 40% as the top goals for agentic artificial intelligence. These systems are being piloted across internal operations, employee and customer support, and customer engagement, where agents can act on insights in real time to adjust messages, recommend products and guide purchase decisions. Supply chain resilience is another focus, as 64% of respondents reported increased challenges such as geopolitical instability, labor constraints and rising expectations for speed and transparency. The top use of artificial intelligence in the supply chain is operational efficiency and throughput at 51%, followed by meeting customer expectations at 45% and solving for traceability and transparency at 38%. Physical artificial intelligence is gaining ground, with 17% of respondents using or evaluating it, and early deployments such as in store robotics point to a broader shift toward making existing physical infrastructure smarter to handle workforce pressures and logistical complexity.
