Report Profiles Advanced AI Solutions in Retail
A Coresight Research report profiles advanced AI solutions being adopted in retail, including personalized recommendations, automated inventory management, and conversational commerce bots. The analysis indicates a global trend of AI shifting from a back-office tool to a key customer-facing differentiator, even within emerging markets.
- The global AI in retail market was valued at USD 11.61 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to USD 40.74 billion by 2030, with the Asia Pacific region expected to see the fastest growth. In India, the conversational AI market is predicted to expand from USD 455.4 million in 2024 to USD 1,846.0 million by 2030. - WhatsApp is a dominant platform for conversational commerce in India, with conversion rates of 45-60% compared to 2-5% for traditional e-commerce. This is driven by India's 535.8 million active WhatsApp users and a preference among 90% of digital-native Indians for messaging-based business interactions. - As of July 2025, Meta shifted WhatsApp Business API pricing in India from a conversation-based model to a per-message billing system for marketing, utility, and authentication messages sent outside of a 24-hour customer service window. User-initiated service conversations within the 24-hour window remain free. - The Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Meta in November 2024 for its 2021 privacy policy update, which expanded data sharing between WhatsApp and Meta for advertising purposes. India's Supreme Court is reviewing the case, which includes a proposed five-year ban on this data-sharing practice. - WhatsApp Payments leverages India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI), allowing businesses to send order details and receive payments directly within the chat from any UPI-enabled app the user has. This integration is critical as UPI accounts for 84% of all retail digital payments in India. - Indian hyperlocal delivery platforms like Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto heavily utilize AI for inventory management and route optimization to power 10-minute delivery services. This market is growing at over 50% annually, reshaping supply chains by collaborating with local kirana stores. - Small businesses in India have seen significant gains using WhatsApp for commerce; one Jaipur-based food company increased its order conversion rate from 8% to 52% after adopting the platform. Another analysis of over 500 Indian SMEs showed a 70% reduction in customer service costs compared to call centers. - Urban Indian women are a key demographic, with rising disposable incomes and social media influence shaping purchasing decisions in the women's wear market, which was valued at USD 14.78 billion in 2024. E-commerce platforms are seeing higher demand from tier 2 and 3 cities, driven by smartphone and internet penetration.
