Russian retailers are caught in a “digital fog” / Economic news of Krasnoyarsk and the Krasnoyarsk Territory / Newslab.Ru

“2025 will definitely be better than 2026” – the forecast for Russian retail, announced at the Connected Retail forum, shows that the industry is preparing for the next round of turbulence. The winner in this race will be the one who quickly finds a way out of the “digital fog” and tame the AI.

This was stated by Natalya Muravyova, head of the aSRM product for the T1 AI direction (T1 IT holding).

According to her, the problem of “digital fog” is growing in retail: there is more and more information about the client, but it is too fragmented and scattered. This prevents you from tracking the actual customer journey and achieving true personalization. As a result, the business loses audience and profit.

“It’s a common practice that online and offline data are not synchronized; each department of the company works in a separate IT system. As a result, the consumer does not have a “guide” who would accompany him during all communication with the brand, so at the slightest doubt or difficulty, the client, especially among the zoomer generation, simply makes a choice in favor of another company,” emphasizes Natalya Muravyova.

In a highly competitive market, traditional retailers need to accumulate all customer data using unique digital identifiers: email, phone number, social media accounts, cookies or device ID to maintain a share of sales and develop.

Bonus cards and application QR codes are suitable for offline identification. Thanks to the recording of each touch, a single map of customer routes is formed – from viewing an online catalog to direct contact with a store. End-to-end omnichannel and customer route management is becoming an important part of the digital development strategy of retailers. At the same time, AI is beginning to play an increasingly important role.

According to the Pulse of Digitalization study by T1 IT Holding, every fourth Russian retailer uses artificial intelligence. The dominant technology is computer vision, which is widely used to automate product identification processes, including at self-service checkouts, analyze customer flow and prevent theft.

“Retail trade is in second place in terms of the use of digital technologies among all industries, behind only representatives of the financial market. Retailer investments in digitalization increased by 20% at the end of 2024 and amounted to 105 billion rubles. We predict a further increase in business interest in Russian developments, including domestic CRM systems and AI modules,” said Natalya Muravyova.

“Russian retailers are actively using artificial intelligence. Intelligent decision support systems have found application in assortment management, pricing and demand forecasting. At the same time, technologies related to direct interaction with the client, such as natural language processing and speech recognition, are just beginning to gain popularity. The key competitive advantage is the speed of turning information and data into solutions. Those who are ready to quickly test hypotheses and launch innovations will become leaders in 2026,” noted Natalya Muravyova.