Abstract:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognized as a transformative technology with the potential to substantially change various aspects of society, life, firms, and employment [1]. Described by the World Economic Forum as central to the current technological revolution, AI, alongside other new technologies, is laying the groundwork for significant business advancements that enhance consumer shopping experiences and the retail value chain [2][3]. The field of AI-based technologies is continuously and rapidly growing, expanding within itself and being applied to an ever-increasing number of other disciplines [4].

Many industries, including healthcare, banking, the auto industry, education, and retail, have already experienced significant changes due to AI [5]. In particular, the retail industry has witnessed a surge in innovation enabled by increased digitalization, capturing the attention of marketing scholars [5]. This rapid development has been further accelerated by events such as the Covid-19 crisis [5]. Consequently, there is a growing academic interest in investigating the unique characteristics of digitalization-enabled retail business model innovation and understanding how digitalization influences changes to the retail business model innovation dimensions [5].