AI Developing a Green Thumb for Retail: How AI in Retail Can Lead to Sustainability

 

AI solutions are popping up everywhere in retail, from self-driving robot delivery to augmented reality shopping experiences. But could today’s technology advancements also bring the retail industry closer to its sustainability goals?

AI in retail goes beyond the shopping experience by changing the customer journey to make better, more accurate online shopping decisions, leading to fewer returns. Couple that with AI-driven forecasting and supply chain optimization, which can lead to much less waste and spoilage in retail.

Visual AI in retail helps connects buyers to products, brands, and styles they want and contributes to a burgeoning resale market, which creates a reuse cycle for clothes and other items, reducing landfill waste. While this might not sound like a lot, the fashion industry produces 150 billion garments a year, with 40 million tons ending in landfills.

Sam Ramadori, CEO of BrainBox AI, a company focused on sustainability solutions, likes retail’s progressive approach.

Sam’s Thoughts

Sustainability objectives are front and center for all businesses today, and retailers have particular needs and situations that are unique to them. In particular, the fact that they have multi-site locations as opposed to one manufacturing site. They have hundreds or thousands of locations spread out across the country.

So, when we’re talking about reducing their carbon footprint, one of the large categories Is there are many locations and the energy used to operate those locations. So, there are exciting elements to novel AI technology that can help address their sites’ energy efficiency in very scalable ways.

AI has a super powerful predictive capability and super powerful self-adaptive, so learning each site by site and then the ability to make real-time autonomous decisions to the site’s equipment to reduce energy consumption and demand as efficiently as possible. These exciting new times pay for themselves because energy efficiency is subsidizing that carbon reduction.

To have a negative cost for carbon reduction is unique, and that’s one of the benefits that AI can bring to the table.

Article by James Kent

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

data center design
Applied Digital’s Data Center Design for a 100 MW AI Factory Built from the Ground Up
July 2, 2025

AI workloads are redefining the limits of data center design and infrastructure. Legacy data centers, built for traditional co-location, cannot handle the density, thermal demands, or power dynamics of accelerated computing. The AI boom has upended the data center sector, forcing a rapid shift to liquid-cooled racks as facilities pivot from sub-10kW racks to…

Read More
Commerce media
A Look at the Rise of Commerce Media Networks: How Nift Helps Brands Own How Their Message Shows Up
July 2, 2025

As traditional digital advertising struggles to retain consumer trust, brands are exploring new, more authentic ways to connect with shoppers. Platforms like commerce media networks, which weave together commerce, content, and data, are emerging as powerful tools in this shift. Research from MG2 Advisory reveals that only about 37% of consumers feel brands genuinely…

Read More
Hospitality leadership
Heart-First Hospitality Leadership: How Saying ‘Yes’ Transforms Guest Experiences, Boosts Staff Morale, and Drives Business Results
July 2, 2025

As the hospitality industry emerges from years of pandemic-driven upheaval, hospitality leadership is evolving to meet new challenges. Leaders are looking for new ways to retain staff, elevate guest satisfaction, and drive revenue without burning out their teams. One trend gaining traction is the power of “Yes”: empowering employees to say yes more often,…

Read More
civic leadership
Mayor Gerard Hudspeth’s Civic Leadership Journey: What Politics Teaches About People
July 2, 2025

What does a mayor learn about human nature? In this episode of Professional Quotient: Conversations that Build Equity, host Jason Winningham sits down with Gerard Hudspeth, longtime mayor of Denton, Texas, and a respected figure in civic leadership. Drawing from his years in public service, Hudspeth explores how leading a city reveals the core…

Read More