{
  "id": 14007852,
  "title": "Retail’s Next Advantage Isn’t Scale. It’s Intelligence | Opinion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/retails-next-advantage-isnt-scale-its-intelligence-opinion",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-12T16:53:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/retails-next-advantage-isnt-scale-its-intelligence-opinion-12556666"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Artificial intelligence is unlocking fresh possibilities for retailers across all sizes, offering capabilities once exclusive to the biggest players with vast budgets and teams. For independent stores, this means enhanced forecasting, smarter choices, and a deeper understanding of customers—all without the traditional resources needed to achieve these outcomes. The opportunity doesn't lie in imitating the largest retailers but rather in leveraging AI to compete on their own terms, capitalizing on strengths such as agility, personalized service, and community connections. When implemented thoughtfully, AI could transform the retail landscape, making success hinge not solely on scale but on how intelligently a business operates. This impact extends far beyond retail executives. The stores in our neighborhoods dictate what we can purchase, the prices we pay, which businesses can thrive, and whether entrepreneurship remains a feasible route to independence. When small retailers vanish, we lose more than physical storefronts. We lose choice, local character, innovation, and the willingness to serve customers differently. The stakes are real. According to PwC's June report, around 20 U.S. grocery deals have closed each year since 2020, with 95 percent driven by corporate acquisitions. While consolidation isn't inherently negative—scale can create efficiencies and rescue struggling businesses—it raises concerns if it becomes the sole avenue for survival. Large retailers have historically surrounded their decisions with extensive teams of analysts, planners, technologists, and operators, while smaller businesses often lack the bandwidth to convert information into action. AI presents a chance to bridge this gap. The aim should not be to replicate the structure of a behemoth like Walmart, but to equip smaller retailers with capabilities traditionally available only to companies with immense budgets: quicker analysis, improved forecasting, stronger execution, and more informed decisions. The technology is not merely theoretical. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report revealed that 66 percent of small businesses now employ AI, up from 23 percent in 2023. Moreover, businesses utilizing AI are at least seven percentage points more likely to report growth in sales, profit, and workforce. The real question is no longer whether smaller businesses can utilize AI. It is whether they will employ it strategically to compete effectively. This distinction matters as many companies treat AI as a collection of isolated tactics—chatbots, automated reports, writing assistants—rather than a cohesive strategy. True potential lies in using AI as a unifying element, bridging decisions to execution, data to action, and results to accountability. Retail has long built siloed software systems. AI offers an opportunity to finally dismantle these divisions. Instead of forcing employees to navigate a labyrinth of systems, AI can serve as a streamlined interaction layer, providing answers, facilitating decisions, and initiating tasks. AI agents are reshaping both internal retail operations and the shopping experience for consumers. The alternative is dire. If only the largest retailers harness these capabilities, AI will widen the cost and productivity advantages of the biggest players. Smaller operators will face heightened pressure, increased consolidation, and fewer avenues to differentiate. Eventually, consumers will bear the brunt through diminished choices and weakened local competition. A better future is attainable: retailers of various sizes using intelligence to compete on their own terms, employees spending less time grappling with systems, and owners seizing time to enhance both their businesses and personal lives. However, this future will not materialize by waiting for the perfect AI strategy. Retailers should commence immediately. Identify the most significant operational or decision-making challenge within the business. Explore how AI can address it. Train staff to utilize the tools effectively. Assess the outcomes, and continue expanding upon what works. AI is too powerful to become a fortress around the biggest companies. Instead, we should leverage it to build connections within the market. Joseph Bullock, CEO of FastQuery AI, an AI platform for retailers, emphasizes using AI to enhance retail operations and customer experience. His perspective is his own.",
  "summary": "AI could help independent retailers compete with big chains by improving forecasting, decision making and operational efficiency.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}