Customers are arriving at stores more educated than ever, but associates still need to support or build on what those shoppers learned from AI, experts say.

Retailers are rolling out branded AI chatbots and embedding the technology in their apps, while third-party AI tools assist consumers with inspiration and product comparisons.

But for all the talk of AI changing the online customer journey, the lion’s share of retail transactions still take place in the store, and many are in the hands of the associate. However, as customers tap AI for research and discovery before they make a trip to a store, the technology is changing customer expectations of the role people play in retail.

The impact is similar to the advent of the internet as branded websites became common, according to Nikki Baird, vice president of strategy and product at Aptos Retail. All of a sudden, customers had product information at their fingertips on retailers’ websites, and that knowledge led to a different kind of interaction in store.

“Back then, store associates were saying, ‘Customers come in, and they've already done all this research, and they know more about the products than I do because they have access to all this information that I don't have access to,’” Baird told sister publication CX Dive.

The role of the associate remained important, but it changed. Today, as customers use AI to comb through reviews and product details before heading to the store, the nature of in-store customer service is changing again.

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