Will AI tell us what we can buy in stores and for how much?

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 03. 03. 11:51

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The Hungarian-developed retail artificial intelligence system that not only knows everything about a store, but is also able to provide direct, live decision-making suggestions regarding operations based on data and external information sources, debuted at the Future Store Innovations stand of the 2026 SIRHA Budapest exhibition. The solution called AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Data Assistant) provides advice on product selection, inventory levels and pricing, among other things, and its main impact may be to make competition between small and large players in the retail sector “fairer”.

“It is now clear that in a well-structured, data-based business environment, artificial intelligence can outperform humans many times over, not only in speed but also in accuracy. A retail unit is an ideal field for AI: the cash registers and back-end systems have everything you need to make optimal decisions, but due to the incomprehensible amount of data, there is no manager or consultant who can review all this in real time and make hundreds of decisions a day. We combined the invaluable power of technology in this field with Laurel’s more than 3 decades of experience and commercial best practices to create a retail-tailored, decision support assistant”

‒ Attila Bessenyei, CEO of Laurel, the leading Hungarian retail IT company, led the presentation of AIDA.

The groundbreaking innovation in Hungary and even at a regional level essentially provides a short answer to any complex business-related question. Typically, such suggestions include what caused the loss and profit, how to optimize purchasing so that neither shortages nor surpluses develop, or what products are worth keeping and at what prices, based on previous purchases, competitor prices, and even the income and age composition of the area, or where it is worth opening a new store.

According to Laurel’s calculations, the solution can increase the efficiency of trade by 15-25%, reduce administration by 70%, and speed up decision-making to an indescribable extent. Attila Bessenyei also emphasized that AIDA is not a general, public artificial intelligence, so the data cannot be released to an open web interface or leave the company’s controlled IT environment, which provides enhanced security. The solution also complies with GDPR regulations in every respect, and as an AI-based system, it is important to highlight that since it only works with real data, the risk of so-called hallucinations is zero.

The expert added regarding AIDA, which is already used by one of the players in the domestic retail market, that in addition to providing users with a significant competitive advantage, it can also create “equal opportunities” in retail, as it enables smaller units to have high-quality decision support and data-driven operations at a reasonable cost, which has not been available even to the largest multinational chains.