Artificial intelligence in retail marketing: research agenda based on bibliometric reflection and content analysis (2000–2023)

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming the marketing landscape, enabling significant progress in customer engagement, personalization, and operational efficiency. The retail sector has been at the forefront of the AI revolution, adopting AI technologies extensively to transform consumer interactions, supply chain management, and business performance. Given its early adoption of AI, the retail industry serves as an essential case context for investigating the broader implications of AI for consumer behavior. Drawing on 404 articles published between 2000 and 2023, this study presents a comprehensive bibliometric and content analysis of AI applications in retail marketing. The analysis used VOSviewer (1.6.20.0 version) and Bibliometrix (version 4.3.1) to identify important contributors, top institutions, and key publication sources. Co-occurrence keyword and co-citation analyses were used to map intellectual networks and highlight emerging themes. Additionally, a focused content analysis of 50 recent articles was selected based on their relevance, timeliness, and citation influence. It revealed six primary research streams: (1) consumer behavior, (2) AI in retail marketing, (3) business performance, (4) sustainability, (5) supply chain management, and (6) trust. These streams were categorized through thematic relevance and theoretical significance, emphasizing AI’s impact on the retail sector. The contributions of this study are twofold. Theoretically, it integrates existing research on AI in retail marketing and outlines future research in areas such as AI’s role in the domain of consumer behavior. From an empirical standpoint, the study highlights how AI can be applied to enhance customer experiences and improve business operations.