AI in Category Management: The Promise, the Blind Spot, and What’s Changing
See how AI is reshaping category management, and how leading retail teams are closing the gap between the plan and the shelf with real feedback.
Almost every retail tech vendor now claims to be “AI-powered.” The phrase shows up on every site and trade show banner, but when you look closer, most systems still do what they did years ago: collect data, show charts, and wait for someone to act on it.
According to Gartner, 91% of retail IT leaders plan to prioritize AI initiatives by 2026, yet most of those projects stop at dashboards and diagnostics. The real leap comes when AI isn’t just spotting what’s wrong but fixing it before a person ever needs to ask.
The new generation of retail AI tools is detecting, deciding, and acting in the moment. It flags issues, recommends fixes, and learns from what happens next.
The best companies offering AI-powered retail solutions are giving field teams and HQ the same view of reality.
Most “AI-powered” retail systems still act like reporters: they tell you what happened, but they don’t fix it.
Vision Group is the first platform built for full retail execution. It turns shelf data into decisions and decisions into action, in real time.
Vision Group uses computer vision, AI, and retail execution software to plan, continuously detect shelf issues, decide on the right corrective action, and deploy it to field or digital teams.
This results in fewer out-of-stocks, faster recovery, and tighter alignment between HQ plans and store reality.
Enterprise retail and CPG teams who need to move faster than traditional dashboards allow, turning AI insights into immediate, measurable results at shelf level.
Go-live in 2–4 weeks with dedicated onboarding. Integrates easily with existing retail data systems and execution workflows.
Vision Group is designed for complexity. It’s not a point solution; it’s the infrastructure for teams managing large-scale, multi-region execution.
Blue Yonder has long been the go-to for predictive planning. Its AI engine models demand, replenishment, and assortment down to individual stores, giving supply-chain teams a strong forecasting backbone.
For retailers that live in long planning cycles, it’s a trusted tool that helps balance inventory and logistics at scale.
Enterprises managing complex, multichannel supply chains that need end-to-end planning, forecasting, and fulfillment visibility, from demand to delivery.
Rollouts are typically led by internal IT and consulting partners.
Blue Yonder shines when the priority is forecasting accuracy and inventory balance, not necessarily fast in-store response.
RELEX brings AI and machine learning to the realities of retail inventory. It forecasts demand, automates replenishment, and connects merchandising with space planning so what’s forecasted actually fits the shelf.
Many retailers use RELEX as the planning backbone that then connects with execution tools for visibility at the shelf.
Retailers and consumer goods manufacturers focused on optimizing demand forecasting, replenishment, and assortment planning to align supply and merchandising decisions.
Global rollout and support through direct and partner-led teams.
RELEX is ideal for retailers running centralized planning teams who want stable forecasting before layering on store-level execution tools.
Trax helped define computer vision in retail. Its image recognition and data capture tools give brands a detailed look at shelf conditions across stores and regions.
If the goal is visibility—knowing what’s on-shelf, what’s missing, and whether displays match the plan—Trax delivers that with precision.
Brands and retailers that need shelf visibility, using image recognition to detect product placement, out-of-stocks, and display compliance in real time.
Enterprise-grade deployments, typically managed market by market through service programs.
Trax suits companies that need broad imaging and audit coverage across large footprints, especially when field capacity is limited.
Neurolabs takes a new approach to shelf recognition. Instead of collecting endless real photos, it builds synthetic ones—AI-generated images that train computer vision models faster and at lower cost.
That lets teams test recognition models and automate audits without massive data-collection efforts.
Retail and CPG teams experimenting with or embedding visual AI to capture shelf data and automate in-store audits using synthetic image recognition.
Fast to pilot and simple to expand. Often used by innovation or R&D teams running AI trials before scaling to enterprise deployments.
Neurolabs not a full retail execution platform—it’s a complementary technology layer for teams building their own vision stack.
|
Company |
What It Offers |
Best For |
Keep in Mind |
|
Vision Group |
Real-time shelf and asset intelligence that turns data into instant field action |
Retailers and CPGs focused on execution speed and visibility |
Built for retail operations to scale |
|
Trax Retail |
Shelf imaging and analytics for market-wide visibility |
Brands needing extensive image coverage and compliance audits |
Ideal for teams outsourcing field coverage |
|
Blue Yonder |
Predictive planning and assortment modeling |
Retail HQs focused on forecasting and supply alignment |
Designed for long-term planning cycles |
|
RELEX Solutions |
Forecasting, replenishment, and space planning powered by AI |
Centralized retail planning teams |
Requires coordinated IT rollout |
|
Neurolabs |
Synthetic image generation for faster computer vision training |
Innovation teams and AI R&D units |
Complements other execution tools |
Retail teams choose Vision Group because it keeps planning, execution, and field action aligned. When a product goes missing, a cooler stops tracking, or an assortment underperforms, teams don’t wait for reports. They see it, fix it, and move on.
The Senior Director Category Strategy & Capabilities at a top 10 global CPG brand said it simply:
“Efficiency and ease of use—that’s what we gained with Vision Group.”
Vision Group’s AI tools have helped brands achieve 22% fewer out-of-stocks, saved 600,000+ field hours, and cut asset downtime by 20%. That’s the difference between retail AI that observes and retail AI that acts. And it’s why top brands and retailers in over 55 countries use Vision Group to keep their shelves on plan and every store accountable.
Book a demo to see how Vision Group can help your retail teams move from tracking problems to proving results.
See how AI is reshaping category management, and how leading retail teams are closing the gap between the plan and the shelf with real feedback.
Learn how adaptive, AI-driven assortment optimization helps retail and CPG teams react faster, and keep shelves aligned with demand.
Learn top strategies to make stronger space planning decisions in retail.