Rethinking Retail: AI Strategies to Combat Employee Burnout

The burnout crisis in retail is creating a ripple effect across the industry. As employees struggle under mounting job expectations and opt to leave, retailers are facing $19 billion in annual turnover costs. Business leaders and managers are now asking: How can organizations break this cycle?

This question is particularly urgent in contact centers, where conversational artificial intelligence is emerging as a dual-purpose tool, helping to reduce employee strain while ensuring round-the-clock customer support. Intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) offer a promising solution, allowing retailers to tackle burnout and turnover head-on.

The Burnout Epidemic: Causes and Costs

Burnout among retail professionals stems from multiple factors. Fifty-five percent of retail workers report experiencing burnout due to repetitive tasks, understaffing, and rising customer demands. In contact centers, employees juggle heavy workloads, managing payment disputes, tracking orders, and handling a constant stream of customer inquiries.

The pressure to deliver fast, high-quality customer experiences (CX) takes a toll on worker well-being. As experienced employees leave, recruitment and training costs rise, and operational inefficiencies increase. Those who remain face even greater pressure, struggling to meet customer expectations while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Retail contact centers are now seeking comprehensive CX solutions that improve the agent experience while enhancing customer service.

Related story: 10 Ways AI is Revolutionizing Customer Service

Empowering Employees, Elevating Experiences

IVAs are designed to handle repetitive, time-consuming tasks, allowing employees to focus on more complex and rewarding responsibilities. For example, IVAs can automate routine inquiries such as “Where’s my order?” or “Can I return this item?”

By automating these basic tasks, IVAs enable employees to dedicate more time to high-value interactions, such as managing loyalty program upgrades or providing personalized styling advice. This shift reduces the burden of repetitive work while enhancing employee job satisfaction.

3 Key Ways IVAs Support Retailers

1. Customer Support: IVAs streamline returns and order tracking, reducing wait times. They also handle FAQs in multiple languages and can auto-populate customer data, helping retailers reduce average handle times.
2. Sales Optimization: IVAs suggest complementary products during customer interactions (e.g., “This dress pairs well with these shoes”), increasing upsell opportunities. They can also guide shoppers to in-store inventory via geolocation, boosting foot traffic without increasing staff workload.
3. Employee Training: IVAs support onboarding and workflow automation, providing real-time answers to employee questions and reducing the complexity of training new hires.

Beyond automation, IVAs also serve as collaborative tools. During peak hours, they provide real-time support to agents by suggesting responses based on customer sentiment and context. For example, some retailers use chatbots to manage loyalty program queries, allowing human agents to focus on in-store consultations and nuanced customer interactions.

While IVAs automate repetitive tasks, true job satisfaction depends on how these changes are implemented. To maximize benefits, retailers must provide proper training on AI tools, clarify role transitions to avoid confusion, and create opportunities for employees to engage in meaningful, high-value work.

A Win-Win for Retail

Prioritizing employee well-being isn’t just ethical, it’s profitable. By deploying IVAs, retailers can reduce burnout, cut costs, and empower agents to deliver seamless, 24/7 service. The future of retail belongs to brands that not only leverage AI to enhance efficiency but also foster an environment where employees feel valued, supported and empowered.

Matt Whitmer is chief revenue officer and senior vice president of marketing at Mosaicx and TeleVox, part of West Technology Group.