Merchandising & Store OpsSunday, November 1, 2026
BCG describes an agentic operating model where specialized AI agents for pricing, promotions, assortment, and inventory coordinate to continuously monitor market signals and accelerate decision-making.
Wendy's is scaling its FreshAI drive-thru ordering system, built on Google Cloud foundational LLMs, from 160+ units in Q1 2025 to 500+ U.S. locations by year-end, reporting improved order accuracy, efficiency, and upsell-driven check-size gains.
Square introduced an AI agent that handles phone calls, takes orders, and routes them to the kitchen and POS with full interaction logging, alongside a redesigned kiosk and a back-of-house assistant.
ShopMy has launched shopmy.us, a consumer shopping platform featuring a multi-curator discovery engine called Circles and a personalization layer called Taste Profile.
Commercetools introduced InStore in January 2025, a unified-commerce application that integrates online and physical retail operations using AI-driven personalization and real-time inventory.
Project44 launched an AI agent in its Intelligent TMS that automates carrier selection and negotiation, reducing freight spend by 4.1% and accelerating sourcing cycles by 75%.
