How trends in delivery, AI and resale will shake up retail this fall

Seasons change, and so do retailers’ technology initiatives.

The fall is here, and along with football-themed promotions and the insertion of pumpkin spice flavor and aroma into virtually every product, it marks the arrival of retail technology trends worth keeping an eye on.

Based on industry activity during the past few months, I have identified three retail technology trends shaping up to have an impact on enterprise activity this fall – automated delivery, proprietary artificial intelligence, and resale.

Automated delivery

The idea of delivering online orders via robotic vehicles, with or without human supervision, is nothing new. However, the automated delivery space heated up during the summer and doesn’t look like it will cool down as temperatures drop and retailers prepare to fulfill what should be a large spike in holiday season e-commerce (which now begins in early October).

Drone technology is one of the most talked-about automated delivery solutions, and now that Amazon has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) permission to fly its Prime Air delivery drones beyond the visual line of sight of the pilot and Walmart is enabling select drone delivery orders directly in its app, other retailers will surely follow.

Some smaller retailers already have, such as quick service restaurant chains Panera Bread and Jet’s Pizza recently launching delivery via Zipline drones in select markets.

Sidewalk robots are also a burgeoning automated delivery platform, as evidenced by recent rollouts from entities including Shake Shack, Uber Eats and Grubhub. And as driverless vehicles continue evolving, expect more pilots like Uber Eats’ ongoing testing of Waymo robotaxis.

Proprietary AI

AI is an undercurrent through almost everything happening in retail right now, but one particular emerging aspect of retail AI poised to shake things up this fall is the increasing popularity of retailers developing their own proprietary platforms.

Amazon and Walmart were both early proprietary retail AI players and have been steadily building upon their AI foundations. But they are operating in an increasingly crowded environment. 

Notably, Apple recently unveiled a proprietary AI system called Apple Intelligence that the company is positioning as focused on the needs of individual users. Apple said the new platform combines generative AI with "personal context" to deliver "useful and relevant" capabilities, using on-device processing.

[READ MORE: Apple takes personal approach with new AI platform]

And China-based global e-commerce giant Alibaba plans to debut an AI-powered conversational sourcing engine aimed at small-to-midsized businesses this month. Alibaba is following the footsteps of Chinese direct retailer JD Group, which utilized the Yanxi AI platform developed by its JD Cloud division to create an industrial version of the AI-based open-source ChatGPT solution called JDChat,

Even global cosmetics conglomerate Estee Lauder is getting in on the action via a recently launched initiative with Microsoft to create an AI Innovation Lab to develop solutions for Estee Lauder’s more than 20 beauty brands.

Resale

Whether motivated by sustainability concerns or a desire to save money (or both), consumers keep turning to an expanding roster of resale providers that should only grow bigger as the holidays approach.

As with proprietary AI, Amazon and Walmart both offer robust used good marketplaces. But Dick’s Sporting Goods has been building on its collaboration with SidelineSwap, an online marketplace for new and used sporting goods, and even stately Bloomingdale’s has entered the resale market via an omnichannel partnership with luxury resale platform Rebag.

A resale sub-trend worth keeping track of is retailers adding star power to their resale efforts by joining forces with celebrities emptying their closets. Recent examples include rock icon Elton John partnering with eBay in a charity resale event called "Rocket Man Resale" that benefited the Elton John AIDS Foundation during Pride Month, as well as used furniture platform Kaiyo selling more than 100 pieces of furniture from Sonja Morgan, who is featured on the Bravo TV reality series "Real Housewives of New York."