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The Retail Sales Dilemma and How to Solve It

Retail, maybe more than any other industry, was thrust into the acceleration of online shopping trends via COVID, now tasked with balancing a robust omnichannel sales presence and strategy. Where are retail professionals facing the biggest B2B sales conversion challenges today, and why? And how can those strategies lead to more thoughtful CRM usage,…

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Retail, maybe more than any other industry, was thrust into the acceleration of online shopping trends via COVID, now tasked with balancing a robust omnichannel sales presence and strategy. Where are retail professionals facing the biggest B2B sales conversion challenges today, and why? And how can those strategies lead to more thoughtful CRM usage, and applicable tips for other industries?

Hunter Austin, co-founder and managing partner of Kelley Austin, and Greg Ryan, principal solutions engineer for Salesforce, broke down their overview of retail’s sales dilemma and how to leverage the right tools, like a flexible industry-specific CRM, to reach today’s consumers, B2B & B2C alike.

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More Retail Insights

Tencent puts its retail AI agents inside the chat apps store staff already use

Tencent puts its retail AI agents inside the chat apps store staff already use

Tencent Smart Retail presented five AI tools, including WorkBuddy and Miora, at World Retail Lab Asia 2026 in Hong Kong. Retail News Asia reports that the system links back offices to sales staff on WeCom and shoppers on Weixin. That could ease store adoption, but it ties data to one ecosystem.

  • 01Tencent's retail AI advantage could come from where the tools sit. Retail News Asia reports that the system links merchant back offices to front-line sales teams on WeCom and to shoppers on Weixin.
  • 02Chains whose sales lean heavily on loyalty members could gain the most from chat-based clienteling agents. Tencent cites Chow Tai Fook as applying AI to customer and store operations.

Oct 23, 2026

Walmart opens its store to AI shopping agents with spending limits while Amazon shuts them out

Walmart opens its store to AI shopping agents with spending limits while Amazon shuts them out

Walmart announced on October 21 that it will let AI shopping agents buy on a customer's behalf through separate Agent Profiles, due within a month, with purchase approval by default or a spending cap the customer sets. Agents never see card details and cannot change payment methods. The Walmart Agent Gateway, an MCP server, is in beta for developers. Amazon blocked Meta's Muse agent in September.

  • 01Agent Profiles let customers set spending caps ($50, $100, $200) or require approval on every purchase, with agents unable to access card details or payment methods.
  • 02Walmart’s Agent Gateway runs on the Model Context Protocol, letting AI agents search, build carts and check out without browser automation.
  • 03Amazon blocked third-party agents citing lack of authorization to access customer accounts, scrape data, or process transactions.

Oct 23, 2026

Retail security tech that only counts catches quietly erodes shopper trust

Retail security tech that only counts catches quietly erodes shopper trust

AI-enabled security systems can rack up detections yet still erode shopper trust and harm the brand. Mike Mitchell of Telaid says retailers should align deployments to customer expectations, back privacy answers with real controls, involve more departments in planning, test against real shopping behavior, and require human review before any action affecting customers or employees.

  • 01Retail security technology should balance theft detection with maintaining customer trust.
  • 02Overemphasis on detection capabilities can negatively impact the shopper experience.
  • 03Considering customer perception is essential for effective retail security systems.

Oct 20, 2026

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