About this guide

Contents

1. Who it is for
2. How it is made
3. Ownership
4. Corrections

Most writing about AI in retail describes what large chains do with large budgets. This guide is for the retailer with a few shops and a web store, and it compares tools on what they publish rather than on what they promise.

Who it is for

Owners, store managers, buyers and operations leads at independent and mid-sized retailers, from a single shop to roughly 50 locations, often selling online as well. We assume the person choosing the tool also runs a store.

How it is made

Every profile is built from the vendor's own published pages, its pricing and plan details, and reputable public research such as the US Census Bureau's business surveys. Each fact carries a source with the date we opened it, and prices are shown in the currency the vendor's page displayed. The criteria are on the methodology page.

We update the main guide at least once a quarter, and sooner when a vendor changes prices or plans. Every page shows when it was last updated.

Ownership

This guide is published by the team behind OpenLazarus, one of the tools reviewed. OpenLazarus is assessed on the same published criteria as every other tool, its limits are stated as plainly, and the situation in which we rank it first is explained on the methodology page. Product names are used only to identify the tools compared; no vendor sponsors or endorses this guide.

Corrections

If a price, a feature or a ranking is wrong, tell us. We check the source, correct the page and record the change.

Further reading

• Guide · Choosing by jobAI in retail, job by jobRetail AI is sold by platform, but it is easier to choose by job. Six jobs cover most of the back office of an independent or mid-sized retailer.
• Guide · Forecasting and operationsDemand forecasting vs operations, where retail AI pays firstA forecast tells a retailer what to order. Operations decide whether the order is placed, confirmed and delivered on time. For most small retailers, the second is where the stock-outs come from.
• Guide · CostWhat AI costs a retailer in 2026Retail AI is priced per register, per interaction, per profile or per company. The total depends less on the headline price than on volume and on what the plan leaves out.