Agile technology support solutions and real-time data are the foundation of multi-unit retail operations in today’s economic and consumer landscape. The enormous challenge is developing a strategy compatible with each retailer’s mission, brand, and needs while balancing costs with outcomes. This is true whether they are getting started with automation in retail or building on an established technology foundation. Each one brings its own set of challenges to implementing smart support solutions that truly streamline operations.
Technology modernization in any form complicates things for multi-unit retailers, regardless of size. It’s difficult to transition from legacy systems whether it’s done through gradual integration or as part of a single-project timeline. Even with a central tech team, it’s difficult to coordinate across all systems while making the change smooth for staff and consumers. Invidia's latest AI in retail survey shows that 90 percent of respondents are adopting or piloting AI, but their approaches and solutions differ widely.
Automation and AI are a big part of the multi-unit retail sector in 2025 with sensor-based checkouts, self-service kiosks, and mobile self-checkout solutions. This has still led to uneven achievement of ROI in the form of speed, convenience, cost-cutting, and security goals. Multi-unit retailers need well thought out and proven solutions, vendor choices, implementation strategies, and research on successes with similar environment rollouts to avoid:
Knowing when, where, and how these technology approaches make sense requires a lot of historical data analysis from similar operations. Most retailers lack this data since they don’t have the means to gather it, and other retailers keep it a closely guarded secret.
While efficiency, cost control, scalability, and error reduction are prime drivers of AI and automation in multi-unit retail operations, they all service customer experience (CX). It’s vital to gather, store, and analyze customer data in ways that augment and improve a CRM system.
This combination of CX data and technology gives retailers the power to anticipate and pivot to meet changing market, supply chain, and consumer needs. The challenge is determining what solutions will fit each retailer’s current legacy integration needs and tomorrow’s future expansion and technology changes.
This is where the right third-party integration and technology modernization partner comes in. A partner with a long history of understanding what works in the multi-unit retail sector can p help determine the right approach for each specific retailer’s needs.
The ideal approach is to embrace automation across the entire operation, from inventory management to logistics and fulfillment. An example would be AI-driven inventory and warehouse automation via computer vision and robotic process automation (RPA) to:
This doesn’t mean they all have to be implemented at the same time. The goal is to have a partner that can help plot the entire journey with implementation milestones. A focus on greatest need and return also factors in costs and change management. RPA for specific back-office processes may be the best place to start for immediate viability in terms of efficiency, cost reduction, and overall ROI.
Confirming that viability requires understanding the cost and time of staff for back-office processes across all retail units. This enables the retailer to calculate projected savings balanced against implementation costs and project time.
Some automation processes are tough to cost-effectively scale. There can be minimum levels of implementation needed to justify costs and get sufficient savings analysis from their use.
AI and automation/RPA rollout can still happen gradually in many cases. Pilot projects determine what works, the costs, ROI delivery, and needed improvements for further rollout at other locations.
Once again, the right partner can help determine which technologies, vendors, and implementation plans fit within budgets to achieve specific cost, time, and ROI goals. One of the best ways to meet these criteria is through centralized technology integration.
Centralizing technology integration in the multi-unit retail sector brings clear advantages in control, visibility, and scalability. But it also brings challenges with the different needs of each unit and the costs of implementing, managing, and updating these systems.
The cloud may provide a baseline solution, but it often requires the use of effective edge solutions, AI, automation and more to deliver on every advantage for different retailer needs. Just some ways this plays out in real scenarios include:
Edge computing is on the rise in the retail sector to support everything from POS, personalized experiences, and inventory management, to security and resilient operations. This works with Agentic AI and the cloud to make systems:
Giant retailers like Walmart have successfully created this consolidation in recent years by:
Nordstrom did something similar in their massive multi-unit retail operation by:
Most multi-unit retailers are operating on a drastically smaller scale and budget. What they can learn and adapt from these mega retailers is finding the right technology consulting partners to create an implementation strategy with their teams overseeing external vendors.
These centralized technology rollouts can take years with no guarantee of future-proof compatibility, but the right partner can reduce that to months. A Solugenix case study for an automotive services client with 2,000 locations shows how that doesn’t need to be the case.
AI, IoT, cloud-based and edge solutions also play a part in centralization for retail. These technologies allow retailers to monitor, manage, and secure their spaces. They can then position their organization for scalability, real-time analysis, and proven ROI through:
AI-driven video analytics using AI-powered cameras to:
Cloud and edge technologies can work together for multi-unit retailers to provide scalability, security, and cost-effective data storage and analysis through:
Implementing these types of POS uptime and incident response solutions isn’t just for the largest multi-unit retailers. Smaller multi-unit retailers can and have adopted these approaches on a smaller but still effective scale by equipping associates across its multi-unit network with handheld mobile devices.
These devices would have a mobile POS application connected to a centralized cloud-based inventory and order management system. This maximizes inventory visibility, order accuracy, productivity, and CX by reducing manual errors through real-time stock access and efficient order placement.
Understanding where, when, and how technology helps centralize data and automation shows the benefits of proactive support partnerships. Retails then have the expertise and experience needed to develop the ideal strategy for the best ROI.
The QSR sector of multi-retail operations has been among the earliest adopters of smart solutions to combat economic uncertainty and customer demands. Many smart support solutions rely on real time or constantly updated data to be effective. This type of consumer data gathering and analysis for QSR in the age of third-party delivery is more difficult. The means to gather that data through the order lifecycle requires smart support solutions on the retailer end, like:
Automation and data integration must be highly strategic to deliver fast and cost-effective ROI in the QSR sectors, which can include solutions like:
These AI-driven systems streamline operations and significantly reduce delays. This includes real-time demand pattern forecasting to optimize inventory levels, staff scheduling, and food preparation.
As these technologies change and grow, the ongoing challenge for small to large multi-unit retailers is how to tell hype from real solutions that deliver ROI. This includes how to differentiate and choose what vendors, implementation plans, and future-proof approaches fit both legacy and future integrations in a cost-effective way. Some retailers may start with highly targeted AI and automation implementations, while others are best served by multi-unit retail help desk support.
Smart support solutions are only as good as their fit to the specific retailer’s markets, products, services, customers, budgets, and brand. The goal is to have a partner that can help your organization make the right decisions about future-proof and scalable solutions that continue to drive ROI by:
Having a partner like Solugenix enables every multi-unit retailer to have access to over 50 years of experience in innovation across technology, integration, consulting, and services, with much of it focused on the retail sector.
To learn how Solugenix can help you streamline your multi-unit retail operation with smart solutions, click here.