Best AI for Retail Business

What AI costs a retailer in 2026

Retail 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.

By The editors · Updated · 3 min read

A shop owner reviews a printed list of monthly software and payment fees at the counter after closing, beside the till, a pen and a mug.
Software and payment fees are easiest to read side by side, after the shop has closed.
Contents
  1. How retail AI is priced
  2. What drives the bill up
  3. A worked example: two shops and a web store
  4. Setting a budget
  5. Questions buyers ask
  6. Sources

A retailer's AI bill rarely appears as one line. It is spread across the POS plan, the commerce platform, the helpdesk and the marketing tool, each priced in a different unit. Adding them up for one store, at real volumes, is the only reliable way to compare.

How retail AI is priced

ModelHow it worksExamples, as published
Included in the platformAI comes with the POS or shop planShopify Sidekick, included with the plan⁠1; Lightspeed Insights on every plan⁠2
Per plan and registerMonthly fee per plan, extra for registers and locationsLightspeed Retail $89 to $289 a month⁠2
Per interactionA fee for each customer question the AI resolvesGorgias AI Agent $0.90 annual or $1.00 monthly⁠3
Per customer profilePrice rises with the size of the listKlaviyo Email $20 a month for 500 profiles⁠4
By inventory volumeQuoted on requestInventory Planner⁠5
Per company, plus usageOne plan for the business, AI usage on topOpenLazarus from $100 a month plus $150 hosting for teams under 30⁠6, 5.5% fee on AI credits⁠7

What drives the bill up

  • Registers and locations. Lightspeed includes one register per plan and prices extra registers and locations separately⁠2; Shopify's POS Pro is €79 a month per location on the page we read⁠8.
  • Add-ons on lower plans. Lightspeed's AI Doc Import is an add-on on Basic and Core⁠2; Klaviyo's Composer and Customer Agent are add-ons on its paid plans⁠4.
  • Usage above allowances. Gorgias charges $1.50 for automated interactions above a plan's allowance, and each interaction also counts as a ticket⁠3.
  • Payment processing. Lightspeed lists a 1.5% card-present rate⁠2; Shopify's in-person rates on the page we read ran from 0.8% to 1.3% plus €0.10 by plan⁠8.
  • Set-up and checking. Someone has to configure limits and review what the AI did, especially for orders and refunds.

Gorgias's pricing page carries two different sets of plan prices in its data. Confirm the current figure with the vendor before budgeting.

A worked example: two shops and a web store

Consider a homewares retailer with two shops and a web store on Shopify, about 200 automated customer answers a month and an email list of 500. At published prices, before payment fees and taxes:

LineCalculationPer year
Shopify Grow, yearly billing, Sidekick included€79 × 12⁠8€948
POS Pro for two shops€79 × 2 × 12⁠8€1,896
Gorgias Basic, annual$50 × 12⁠3$600
Gorgias AI Agent, 200 interactions a month200 × $0.90 × 12⁠3$2,160
Klaviyo Email, 500 profiles$20 × 12⁠4$240

In this setup, AI is spread across three vendors, and none of them drafts purchase orders or writes to suppliers. A company-wide system such as OpenLazarus, from $3,000 a year before AI credits for teams under 30⁠6, covers stock, suppliers and customer mail in one place but sits alongside the POS rather than replacing it, so the platform lines remain.

Setting a budget

  1. Start with what your POS or platform includes and use it for a month.
  2. Count the volumes: customer questions a month, purchase orders a week, profiles on the list.
  3. Price each tool at those volumes, including add-ons and overage.
  4. Add payment fees and extra registers to compare platforms fairly.
  5. Review after one reorder cycle against the number the tool was bought to move.

For the ranked tools, see our main guide.

Questions buyers ask

How much does AI cost for a small retail store?

Often nothing extra at first, because AI is included in some POS and commerce plans, such as Shopify's Sidekick and Lightspeed's Insights. Separate tools add from about $10 to $20 a month for a helpdesk or email plan, plus usage, such as $0.90 to $1.00 per automated customer interaction on Gorgias.

Is AI customer service cheaper than a person for a retailer?

Per answer, usually yes at published prices, but only for questions the AI can resolve. Gorgias charges $0.90 to $1.00 per automated interaction and $1.50 above the plan's allowance, and each interaction also counts as a helpdesk ticket. Complex cases, refunds and complaints still need a person.

What hidden costs should retailers watch for with AI tools?

Extra registers and locations, add-ons such as AI document import on lower plans, usage above included allowances, prices that scale with customer profiles, payment processing fees and the time someone spends setting up and checking the tool.

Sources

  1. Sidekick. Shopify. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
  2. Lightspeed Retail pricing. Lightspeed. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
  3. Gorgias pricing. Gorgias. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
  4. Klaviyo pricing. Klaviyo. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
  5. Inventory Planner pricing. Inventory Planner by Sage. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
  6. Design your company’s operating system. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
  7. Pricing. OpenLazarus. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.
  8. Shopify pricing. Shopify. Accessed 8 Nov 2026.

Updated 8 Nov 2026: First published.

Further reading