Zebra Technologies Points to ‘Modern Store’ with AI Agents for Deskless Workers in Retail

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a global leader in digitising and automating frontline workflows, will demonstrate how its Modern Store framework is meeting the new requirements of retailers and shoppers. The company will also showcase forward thinking AI solutions including its Zebra Companion suite of AI agents and thought leadership with European grocer, Mpreis.  

“Retailers are still facing significant challenges: shrink is high and hard to tackle, conflicts threaten supply chains, staff seem harder to find, greater productivity is needed, and customer expectations are higher than ever,” said Mark Thomson, Retail Strategy Director EMEA, Zebra Technologies.

Research findings from Zebra’s latest Global Shopper Study reveal that almost 90% of frontline retail workers believe they can deliver a better customer experience when equipped with mobile technology tools that simplify communication and tasks.

“By integrating AI-driven solutions such as AI agents, voice AI, and computer vision, retailers can work toward solving their top-of-mind challenges – elevating the customer experience, improving asset and inventory visibility, and better engaging their frontline workforce so they’re more productive,” said Thomson.  

A specially dedicated demo at Zebra’s booth will showcase the capabilities of Zebra Companion which was developed in collaboration with select customers in Europe and North America. This solution will be available starting in the second quarter of 2025 to select customers with admission to its early access pilot programme. The suite includes:

• Knowledge agent thatoffers the ability to conversationally interact with job aids and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to facilitate faster onboarding, giving associates the information they need when they need it.
• Sales agent thatassists with product-related questions, real-time queries on product availability and pricing as well as cross-sell and upsell recommendations for associates during customer interactions.
• Zebra Device agent thatensures optimal usage and maintenance of Zebra devices by providing troubleshooting and contextual data integrations, reducing device downtime so retail operations are not disrupted.
• Merchandising agent thatcombines advanced on-device image recognition technology to assess shelf health and augment workflows for frontline teams to address merchandising issues, such as shelf gaps, misplacements and planograming issues, and inaccurate pricing and signage.

Thomson will be joined by Christoph Enzinger, Head of Sales Development and Support, Mpreis for a dedicated presentation (Tuesday 18 February, 12:00 – 12:20 CET, Blue Stage, Hall 10 G65). They will explore where AI is already working, how it will impact frontline worker productivity and deliver new levels of loss detection, and at the same time, lead to experiences that will delight the most demanding shoppers.

Business leaders are keen to tackle loss with new AI solutions. According to Zebra’s Global Shopper Study, 43% European retail decision-makers say they’re already using generative AI, and 38% are using AI-driven prescriptive analytics to tackle loss prevention. Looking ahead over the next three years, 90% of retail leaders think generative AI will have an extremely significant or very significant impact on inventory management and demand forecasting.

Zebra’s experienced retail team will also discuss how retailers can address ongoing macro trends in the industry by leveraging partner expertise and its broad portfolio of software and hardware solutions, including the new PS30 shopper self-scanner solution, EM45 RFID, KC50 Kiosk System, and Workcloud™ Sync which offers text, voice, notification, and video communication tools in a single application.

The Zebra team will be joined by around 15 members of its PartnerConnect ecosystem, who bring complementary retail hardware and software solutions that help deliver the Modern Store framework for customers.

WHEN: 18-20 February 2025, Dusseldorf Messe, Germany.
WHERE:  Zebra booth Hall 10 Stand A66. Presentation with Mpreis: Tuesday 18 February, 12:00 – 12:20 CET, Blue Stage, Hall 10 G65

Last Updated on 4 hours by News Desk 1