Will AI Change the Face of Front-Line Retail Work?

Nested within a broader discussion of how the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is driving employment and wage growth -- at least, in industries which show exposure to AI in the first place -- Forbes contributor Richard Kestenbaum discussed how recent data provided by Teneo might directly impact the nature of front-line retail work.

"If productivity is really increasing, then work will change and so will expectations of workers. People will be expected to do more faster and make better decisions and that usually requires new skills. That’s the exciting part: workers can become dramatically more capable. It’s also the scary part: the baseline skill level for many jobs may rise and workers who can’t get access to training will fall behind," Kestenbaum began.

"The Teneo report says that customer-facing AI projects are among the top AI areas for return on investment. For retailers, that’s the store, so you can expect that retailers are going to push AI to the store level and right into the hands of store associates," he added, pivoting to outline two distinct likelihoods emerging from that premise.

Entry-level retail store jobs could be harder to land: According to this line of thinking, should AI tools be deeply integrated into daily store operations, retail sales associates will need to possess associated skills in order to land, and keep, entry-level positions. "If AI-enabled store associates deliver better service and earn higher wages, retailers will need training programs, stronger hiring filters and incentives for motivation and skill. That may make the job of store associates a higher-skill role. That helps consumers and can reduce turnover but it may also raise barriers for workers who historically treated retail employment as an accessible entry job," Kestenbaum wrote.

But, in-store service standards from the customer vantage point could improve: As Kestenbaum noted, the most common frustrations cited by shoppers -- notably store staff who have difficulty locating product, who are unaware of current inventory matching customer needs, or who are simply less-than-informed than the customer themselves -- could be appreciably mitigated by the inclusion of AI-based assistance at the ready in brick-and-mortar store settings.

Retail Workers May Fear Job Losses, Due to AI and Other Factors

And according to a survey conducted early this year by AI-powered SEO platform Chadix (via Chain Store Age), it appears that retail workers themselves do have some degree of fear surrounding potential job cuts in the industry due to AI influence.

Among that survey's findings:

• More than one-third (40%) of respondents who are retail workers indicated that they fear AI automation will lead to a termination of their jobs. Only workers in the manufacturing sector (45%) exhibited more anxiety over this concern.
• More than half (60%) anticipate that there will be major industry disruption within five years.

There may be some basis for serious concern, although AI automation may be only one factor at play. According to the most recent Challenger, Gray & Christmas jobs data, the U.S. retail sector shed 91,954 jobs in 2025 as of early December -- up a staggering 139% from the 38,403 positions lost during the same time frame in 2024. However, the Challenger report lays the motivation for these job cuts on "adjust[ed] workforce levels amid softening demand, tariff uncertainty, and changing consumer preferences," rather than at the feet of AI automation or integration.