How Leading Retail and Ecommerce Brands Are Actually Using AI
In January, I attended the New York Fashion Ecommerce Summit, where I had the honor of moderating the "Fashion Forward Technologies" panel.
The discussion brought together leaders from major retail brands to explore how AI, AR, and other emerging technologies are reshaping the fashion landscape.
The amazing group of panelists included:
- Maddie Katz, Director of Ecommerce at Retrofête
- Marie Prune de Batz, Performance Marketing & Merchandising Director at Adore Me
- Sabrina Wong, Head of UX at Tapestry
- Mike Coble, IT Director Digital and CRM Technologies at Eileen Fisher
- Jeff Mergy, VP of Growth, Partnership and Strategy at Bold Metrics
(and then there’s me – Nihal Mandanna C.P., Head of Growth at MobiLoud).
Here are the top insights I took away from the panel, and the first-hand experience shared by these ecommerce leaders.

How are brands integrating AI into their existing workflows?
I kicked off our panel discussion with what's probably on everyone's mind right now - AI and how brands are actually using it in their operations. I was particularly curious about how they're introducing it both internally and in customer-facing roles.
Sabrina from Tapestry shared a fascinating example of how they're approaching AI implementation. Rather than going all-in on cutting-edge tech, they're focusing on using AI as an assistive technology, particularly for their store associates.
"We are training our LLM with customer data, and we were inspired to create our own AI app for store associates."
What made this really interesting was the practical example she shared from this past holiday season.
"When we're testing our AI app at the store, one customer came in and told our store associate that the music in the store didn't feel that festive. So the store associate used our AI app to message it and then with AI, we were able to immediately change the music in the store to customize the experience."
But it goes beyond just in-store ambiance. Sabrina explained how they're using this technology to make data-driven decisions in their international markets:
"Japan is going through high tourism at the moment, and we've been able to track tourist customer profiles - what they like, what they don't like, shopping behavior - and immediately change the assortment strategy on the floor."
Mike from Eileen Fisher offered a different perspective on AI implementation, noting how it's often happening in ways that might not be immediately obvious.
"If you ask many of the business people that work there, they'll say, you know, where does AI fit in the company and many of them will say, well, I'm not exactly sure. But we have a lot of AI initiatives going on that might be a little bit below the radar."
He shared a concrete example of their partnership with Veesual:
"We take our Tech Packs and we give them the tech pack information and what they are able to do is to show what a garment would look like on various models. So when you go to the PDPs and you sort of click around, you can get an idea of what a garment would look like on your body type."
What struck me most from this part of our discussion was how these brands are finding practical, focused ways to implement AI - whether it's improving store operations, enhancing the customer experience, or solving specific business challenges.
It's less about the AI itself and more about how it can support and enhance existing business operations.
How do brands build personalized shopping experiences with AI?
I was curious which way the panelists would go on this topic, since AI has the potential to create hyper-personalized shopping experiences, or miss the human element that’s so crucial for engaging customers.
Marie from Adore Me shared honest insights about the challenges, particularly in terms of building personalization at scale:
"Everyone talks about having a website created at customer level. The difficulty isn't knowing what customers want - we're data driven. It's implementing it in the tools and having enough tech resources."
She outlined specific challenges:
- Losing merchandising visibility
- Difficulty tracking and fixing issues
- Complications with automated product feeds
- Challenge of replicating problems when they occur
- Integration difficulties with platforms like Google Retail API
"Today, our merchandising is made automatically but with supervision from merchandisers that know the products perfectly. Tomorrow, if it's 100% data driven by AI, we won't have any control, and if there's an issue, we won't know."
But, from another perspective, AI and AR could have a positive impact when it comes to reducing returns.
It's estimated that returns cost brands $550 billion annually - largely because 70% of online shoppers struggle to find clothes that fit, and many new customers, unsure of what their ideal size is, tend to buy 2-3 sizes at once and return those that don’t fit.
Several panelists shared how they’re using technology to cut down on returns and, more importantly, make customers feel more confident about picking the right fit from the website.
For Adore Me, with 67 sizes, it's been crucial for first-time buyers, as Marie explained to us:
"The most challenging part with intimate shopping online is often fit. If you're not sure about your size or have no idea how a garment will look on your body, it's hard to shop intimates online."
This is a problem that Bold Metrics are trying to tackle. They’re helping brands move past traditional size metrics which, as Jeff put it, are often ignored:
"Only half a percent of shoppers click size charts, and they're not going to measure themselves."
Bold Metrics are using AI to calculate measurements from simple questions, then maps to brand-specific sizing. They helped Retrofête implement special AI-assisted sizing on their site, which not only recommends the ideal size for customers, but also gives unique, personal insights into how different sizes will fit, as Maddie told the panel:
"This gives customers the ability to enter certain dimensions of their body. Then we can say 'this size will fit perfectly' or 'if you size up, it may be loose here and tight there.'"
How important is the human element in the age of AI?
It’s always been important for brands to cultivate personal connections with their customers, so I was interested to see what the panelists thought of this, and what they were doing in terms of human interactions to build loyalty.
All members of the panel, while excited about the possibilities of AI and data-driven technology, were simultaneously increasing the human touch, particularly for their top customer segments.
(this was one of our top predictions for ecommerce in 2025 - that brands will need to prioritize human experiences alongside AI)
Eileen Fisher hosts exclusive WebEx sessions where they will have a talk and show for their top 100-200 customers, discussing new products and sustainability practices. They're also curating social influencers as brand ambassadors with dedicated website spaces.
Maddie said that Retrofête found success with in-house VIP stylists.
"Whether it's an in-store shopping appointment or via texting, [stylists] can access customer data across any channel. Once customers build a relationship with the stylist, they keep coming back for any event."
While Sabrina explained how Tapestry's Coach brand combines tech and tradition:
"We have a robust loyalty profile called Coach Insider with exclusive bags and promotions. Through Coach Insider data, we discovered Gen Z customers really liked bag charms, so we started pushing more targeted promotions."
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These insights reinforce that AI is simply a tool for ecommerce brands, and goes best if it's hand-in-hand with a human touch.
Your customers are still real people, and loyalty is a human characteristic.
Brands should find ways to use AI to elevate their retention marketing strategy, without replacing the parts of your strategy that appeal to human emotions and desires.
Alongside the insights and automation provided by AI, leaning into retention-focused channels like email, mobile apps and push notifications will help you build a brand that customers love, while using tech to streamline more of your backend operations.
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How do brands balance AI with their unique brand identity?
We finished up the panel by inviting questions from the audience.
One attendee raised a question that I found very interesting: How do brands balance personalization with their design aesthetic, especially when certain products are designed to fit a specific way?
Mike from Eileen Fisher offered a few ideas, and believes that AI is not going to take over the A to Z of the entire process just yet.
"Think of AI like hiring an intern. You never have them churn out the final product. You say this person's going to help me get stuff done quicker."
He suggested using AI to generate initial options - like 50 different outfit combinations from existing products - but having merchandisers make final decisions.
Sabrina added her insight and reinforced this perspective:
"AI is assistive technology meant to help you with your work but never replace your creativity. It always has to amplify human creativity and human connection."

What does the future hold for AI and ecommerce?
We’re all interested in what’s next, especially with a phenomenon as fresh and fast-moving as AI.
So, of course, I had to put this question to the panel and ask for their predictions on what we’re going to see from the future in terms of AI in ecommerce.
Really loved these takeaways from each panelist:
Major shifts in the online shopping experience
Marie wondered if technology will bring more disruptions to the traditional online shopping experience, and perhaps change the way we look at ecommerce websites:
"Ecommerce websites haven't really been disrupted since creation. Virtual try-on is the first real disruption because you lose the notion of category pages. You just see products on models and swap around. I'm sure within weeks we'll see more disruption of this traditional funnel."
The rise of AR/VR experiences
Sabrina is excited about the potential for AR to bring the fashion show experience straight to the consumer:
"Imagine watching a runway in your living room with AR glasses. You don’t have to go to an exclusive runway show anymore, you can just put on your AR glasses and watch it."
AI becoming more embedded in the customer journey
Maddie is optimistic about the future role of AI in improving the customer experience especially as it gets more refined over time:
"It's hard to know for sure, but I believe AI-powered tools will have a major role to play in improving the overall customer experience and reducing operational challenges."
Forecasting and predicting logistical issues will become easier
Mike is hopeful that AI will become a "crystal ball" of sorts, helping brands improve their forecasting and reduce the impact of unforeseen logistical issues:
"I imagine we'll end up in a situation where AI is a "crystal ball" that anyone on the team can go to for a temperature check on any upcoming issues we might face as a business."
Personalized, on-demand custom clothing
Jeff predicted that brands will be able to use customer data to take personalization to a whole new level - not just personalized marketing, but personalizing the products themselves.
"In five years, brands will use shopper body data to design products. It's not going to be 'I have to decide between a medium and large and make a sacrifice.' Some players will move to mass-producing custom clothing."
Key takeaways on AI for retail and ecommerce
There were so many incredible insights shared from these industry leaders, and I’m already looking forward to the next one.
I'm incredibly grateful to the Retail Summits team for the opportunity to be a part of it, and to the panelists themselves for sharing their time and insights.
If I had to boil down the panel into five bite-sized takeaways regarding AI for ecommerce, here’s what I’d say:
- Focus on specific problems: returns, sizing, customer service
- Keep humans supervising AI decisions
- Build tech incrementally - don't try to personalize everything at once
- Remember top customers still need human connection
- Consider implementation costs and resources before chasing full personalization
As Sabrina emphasized, AI is there to help you, not replace you. It’s a tool, not something that’s going to run your business by itself.AI can provide a whole lot of value, and all ecommerce brands, big or small, should be exploring ways to use AI to improve their business and workflows.
However, as we’ve seen from the insights of these industry leaders, it’s about using AI as a means to an end.
And that end is, ultimately, to provide a better customer experience for the humans that are buying your products.
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Looking for more high-level insights from the ecommerce & retail world?
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