Small business takeaway:
- From Walmart’s digital shelf labels to Crayola’s trend tracking, AI is becoming the tech layer that turns data into faster decisions—and smaller firms can tap it, too. It’s enabling businesses to instantly update pricing and promotions as demand shifts, route product returns to the most cost-effective handling outcome, and leverage real-time social listening to maximize customer engagement and business opportunities early.
Artificial intelligence is helping companies across a variety of industries make decisions faster by analyzing vast pools of data in real time, drawing conclusions, and either suggesting or taking actions based on those conclusions.
These capabilities are proving to be especially useful in executing business processes that traditionally have involved time-consuming activities, including optimizing retail shelf prices, managing product returns, and identifying and responding to social media trends.
While analysts debate the extent to which AI replaces human decision-making, it’s clear that the speed at which companies can make decisions in an array of different circumstances is increasing rapidly due to the technology.
Walmart eyes instant price changes with digital shelf labels
One example can be seen in Walmart’s rollout of digital shelf labels (DSLs), which are expected to be installed across the retail giant’s U.S. store network this year.
“A price change that used to take an associate two days to update now takes only minutes with the new DSL system,” said Daniela Boscan, a Food and Consumable Team Lead at a Walmart store in Hurst, Texas, in a blog post. “This efficiency means we can spend more time assisting customers and less time on repetitive tasks.”
Walmart, which operates about 4,600 stores across the United States, can carry more than 140,000 individual SKUs (stockkeeping units) in a typical Supercenter.
The ability to quickly implement Rollbacks—the temporary price reductions that Walmart is known for—are among the key benefits that the retailer said it foresees from the new technology. As Walmart increasingly incorporates AI algorithms into its demand forecasting and price optimization tools, the retailer will be able to adjust pricing on every item in the store almost instantly to optimize sales and profitability.
"Walmart’s … investment in digital shelf labels has raised the stakes significantly for every retailer trying to match/index or beat them on prices and promotions," said Matt Pavich, Senior Director, Strategy & Innovation at Revionics, an Aptos Company, which provides technology solutions for retailers.
Several other retailers, including Kroger and Whole Foods Market, have also begun rolling out digital shelf labels, and the momentum is expected to continue. A recent report from Mark & Spark Solutions predicted that unit shipments of digital shelf labels would increase from about 15 million in 2024 to nearly 33 million by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of 12.1%.
“Significant trends shaping the U.S. [DSL] market include the rising integration of AI-driven inventory and pricing systems, a shift towards sustainable and low-power display technologies, and an increasing demand for automation to reduce labor costs,” the report concluded.
AI optimizes the costly product returns process for businesses
Retailers are also increasingly using AI throughout both the online purchasing and returns processes, leveraging algorithms and automation to ensure that customers are making the right product selections before they make their final buying decisions. When it comes to apparel, for example, technology can help customers find the appropriate style and fit based on their past behaviors and the patterns created by other shoppers.
In addition, sophisticated data analytics are helping retailers detect fraud and navigate the most cost-effective options for handling each return.
When a customer opts to return a product, AI is helping retailers quickly explore their options: whether it is more cost-effective to have the customer return a product or just have them keep it, and if they do return it, where the customer should send it and whether the retailer should issue a refund or a credit.
Crayola was able to both process content 80% faster using the Emplifi AI tech solution and and was able to detect and respond to emerging trends 90% faster.
“There is a lot of intelligence around those kinds of things, and retailers are getting smarter about it,” said Robert Johnson, Executive Vice President at returns management platform ReturnPro.
Returns totaled an estimated $849.9 billion in 2025 for retailers, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). In addition, the NRF research also found that 9% of all returns are fraudulent, and 85% of retailers said they are using AI or machine learning in their returns process to identify and combat fraud.
Retailers are increasingly analyzing patterns of behavior to identify potential fraudsters in real time, before they actually complete the purchase, said Blaine Nielsen, President of Retailers at Rithum, which provides commerce solutions for businesses.
When companies are able to identify some shoppers as fraud risks, they can “create a little more friction in the returns process,” such as charging a fee for returning merchandise, he said.
[Read more: AI Is Revolutionizing Product Returns — And Every Business Can Benefit]
Real-time social listening helps Crayola jump on emerging trends 90% faster
Social media, with its diverse array of platforms and billions of pieces of new content generated each day, represents another area of opportunity for companies to leverage the analytical capabilities of AI engines.
To help sift through this mishmash of digital information, companies are increasingly using AI-powered social listening tools, which monitor social media activity in real time and can create appropriate responses.
Crayola, for example, which regularly engages with consumers on several social media platforms, has used analytic technology from Emplifi, a provider of customer experience solutions powered by AI, to identify social media trends and respond to comments more quickly.
The maker of crayons and other artistic supplies and toys was able to leverage its social listening skills as part of a 2025 marketing campaign promoting the return of eight crayon colors that had previously been retired.
The company developed a social listening strategy in which it was able to respond in real time to mentions of the brand, using an image of one of the resurrected colors like Magic Mint and Blizzard Blue, and incorporating the brand personas created specifically for that color.
“That really allowed us to have a fun way to engage with consumers,” said Brittany Mehalick, Social Media Engagement and Trends Manager at Crayola.
Crayola was able to both process content 80% faster using the Emplifi AI tech solution and and was able to detect and respond to emerging trends 90% faster. Previously it might have taken multiple days to discern social media trends that company can now identify instantly, Mehalick said.
[Read more: AI + Social Listening Generates Greater ROI for Brands Including Neuro, Crayola, and Vaseline]
The current environment requires fast response times, said Chris Hackney, Chief Product Officer at Meltwater, which provides social media analytics and other data-driven tools to businesses.
“The media cycle is speeding up, so the problem is that you have more volume of media, it’s all fragmented in a million places, and the narrative in it moves very quickly,” he said.
Brands need to stay on top these narratives both because they can provide opportunities for boosting engagement with consumers and because negative and potentially damaging content could be spreading, Hackney explained.
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