You’ve probably heard the line: How do you eat an elephant? 

If you haven’t, the payoff is: One bite at a time.

Laughs or tumbleweed aside, what it fails to mention is which ‘bite’ to start with – stick with me, I’m going somewhere with this…

The point being made is that any task, no matter how big, can be broken down into small, manageable steps (bites). But – and this is the last we’ll speak of eating elephants – it feels like a mouthful of tusk would be a dreadful place to start.

Translated: not all steps are equal when it comes to choosing where to start tackling your challenge. This is especially true of AI adoption in retail. 

I love seeing brands thinking big, but I urge you: start small and pick your next steps wisely.

Step 1: Nail your approach

AI, as promised, is already rewriting the playbook for processes in merchandising, supply chain, marketing and just about every other part of retail. 

Reduced time to market – yep.  

Enhanced decision-making – you got it.

Attributable boosts to the bottom line – absolutely.

But for every AI adoption success story there’s an identical project at a competitor that’s hit the rocks.   

So, what’s the differentiator between success and failure? It’s not the ultimate scale, scope nor speed of the project – it’s the approach.

Step 2: Start with three questions

You have to start by identifying an actual problem for AI to solve. AI for the sake of it is a waste of everybody’s time.

The three questions you need to ask: 

• Can AI do this task? 

• Will AI augment our employees? 

• Can AI completely automate the task? 

Validating your own AI opportunity and understanding the framing, structuring, and deployment AI tools will be critical to retail success in the coming months and years.

Step 3: Seek hyper-specialized solutions

We’ve become so accustomed to huge, universal software suites from major tech players that bloated systems with underutilized capabilities have become the norm. But these won’t get you anywhere near the outcomes of a dedicated tool. 

Think hyper specialized. Got a challenge and someone’s built the exact solution… guess what? That’s going to work out way better than a one-size-fits-all system that promises to tackle everything. 

And while you’re at it, look out for a tool that comes from a partner that will help you get the most out of it. 

You don't need to have an AI tool that does everything. Get one that’s specialized in doing one thing and one thing only.

Step 4: Start small, build from there

Once you have an AI tool, start small, build it up, and invest in training teams to use it to its capacity. 

If you’ve found the right partner (see Step 3) you should have support available for all levels of your business, from the top down – with someone supporting IT at C-level –  as well as your teams on the front lines, the ones who need to start using it, implementing it, reframing it and shaping it to their own needs. 

Step 5: Be prepared to grow with AI

Come for the solution to your problem, stay for the next opportunity. 

AI tools will 100% help boost business growth, but just make sure you’re prepared to grow alongside it. What at first might be fine-tuning to enhance performance may evolve into collaborative development of new features, as mutually beneficial opportunities are identified and capitalized on.  

In the end, the solution doesn’t need a huge fanfare. Build momentum, not noise. 

Your customers, stakeholders, the C-suite – don’t really care whether you use AI or not, only that it’s seamless, discreet, enhances the experience, and delivers results.  

Think big. Start small.

Long-term success for retailers won’t hinge on finding every AI application in their businesses – it’s about identifying what really matters and taking the right steps, with the right partner, to make a difference.

Think big. Start small. Solve a real problem, and scale what works.

And before you start, make sure that your challenge really is the elephant that you want to eat.

This is the 10th post in our latest Profit or Perish series where we uncover the key retail trends that’ll dominate 2025 according to the hottest names in retail.