Top 5 Jobs in Retail That Are Most at Risk from AI in Chile - And How to Adapt

Chile's retail floor is changing fast: a Stanford Impact Labs deep dive shows generative AI could accelerate more than 30% of routine tasks for millions of Chilean workers, unlocking productivity but also putting task-heavy roles at risk; at the same time, real-world pilots like Walmart Chile's Shopic smart carts demonstrate how computer-vision carts can recognize thousands of SKUs at >95% accuracy and cut checkout time from minutes to under a minute, directly reshaping cashier and self-checkout work.

These twin forces - task-level automation and in‑store computer vision - mean retail employers and workers need practical reskilling pathways now, not later; short, work-focused programs such as Nucamp's 15-week AI Essentials for Work bootcamp teach prompt-writing and tool use to boost on-the-job productivity and prepare staff for higher-value, human-centered tasks.

Practical policy, employer-led pilots, and targeted training together offer a route to a fair, Chile-specific transition in retail.

“At Walmart Chile, we are committed to helping our customers save money and live better. Implementing new technologies that save time for our customers is one of the ways we bring this mission to life. We are happy to expand into five new districts in the Metropolitan Region, bringing innovation closer to more people, enhancing their shopping experience, and putting a smile on our customers' faces with every visit.” - Frank Eckert, Central Operations Manager at Walmart Chile

Roles were chosen by mapping the specific tasks Chilean retailers perform against three concrete, local signals: where task-level generative AI already automates clerical work (like data entry and reporting), where in‑store computer vision pilots change point‑of‑sale workflows, and where customer-facing monitoring shifts to automated systems.

This meant prioritizing jobs made up largely of repeatable inputs and outputs - scanning, tallying, tagging, routine chats and report generation - because research on how task-level generative AI in Chilean retail saves Chilean teams hours, plus lessons from the Walmart Chile Shopic computer-vision cart pilot that demonstrates how computer-vision carts can compress checkout tasks into seconds; finally, roles exposed to automated reputation and interaction tracking were flagged using real‑time sentiment and experience intelligence in retail.

The result: a shortlist focused on task vulnerability in Chilean stores, anchored by real pilots and measurable automation wins - if a smart cart can read thousands of SKUs and shave minutes off checkout, any job whose core is

scan, record, repeat

faces the clearest disruption.

Cashiers and point‑of‑sale attendants in Chile face clear, near‑term pressure as in‑store computer vision and self‑service shift front‑end work from human scanning to smart devices: Walmart Chile's rollout of Shopic's clip‑on smart cart - a two‑camera unit that recognizes thousands of SKUs with over 95% accuracy and lets shoppers bag items as they go - can compress a typical 9‑minute cashier wait into a sub‑minute, changing the very tempo of checkout and customer interaction; at the same time, local robotics like the UC‑built Zippedi robot are automating shelf checks and price verification overnight, reducing tasks that once kept cashiers and supervisors tied to routine audits.

For cashiers, the “so what?” is immediate: fewer barcode scans and more exceptions-to-handle (age checks, returns, complex customer needs), so reskilling toward customer experience, loss‑prevention oversight, and on‑device troubleshooting matters - roles that blend empathy with tech literacy.

Employers can lean on targeted, short courses to shift staff from repetitive scanning to high‑value service, while pilots and staged deployments give teams time to learn where human judgment still wins.

“At Walmart Chile, we are committed to helping our customers save money and live better. Implementing new technologies that save time for our customers is one of the ways we bring this mission to life. We are happy to expand into five new districts in the Metropolitan Region, bringing innovation closer to more people, enhancing their shopping experience, and putting a smile on our customers' faces with every visit.” - Frank Eckert, Central Operations Manager at Walmart Chile

Inventory clerks and stockroom pickers in Chile are squarely in the path of today's warehouse automation wave: the Chile supply chain automation market is already valued at about USD 1.8 billion as firms adopt IoT and AI to speed replenishment and tracking, and small but growing logistics robotics deployments are replacing long, repetitive pick-and-pack shifts (many pickers once “walked miles each day” pushing heavy carts) with autonomous mobile robots, goods‑to‑person systems and AS/RS that cut travel time and errors.

That means routine cycle counts, shelf scans and tote moves - tasks that defined these jobs - are most exposed, while new on‑site roles will center on robot supervision, exception handling, RFID/IoT troubleshooting and interpreting real‑time inventory analytics; employers can use phased Robotics‑as‑a‑Service and wearable/voice‑picking pilots to preserve jobs while shifting skills.

For Chilean retailers planning next steps, the implications are clear: invest in hands‑on operator training and simple digital literacy (barcode/RFID, WMS basics, AMR safety) now so stockroom teams move from mileage‑making pickers to high‑value, tech‑savvy inventory stewards.

Learn more about the market forces and tech trends shaping these changes in the Chile supply chain automation market report and analysis, the warehouse automation trends for 2025 guide, and how AMRs reshape order picking in practice at how AMRs reshape order picking and warehouse robotics.

“Our most recent MHI industry report highlighted how AI is transforming supply chain management around the entire material handling industry by optimizing everything from routing to demand forecasting. This technology is enabling companies to build stronger, more resilient supply chains that can quickly adapt to global disruptions and keep up with ever‑shifting customer demands.” - Christian Dow EVP, Industry Leadership & Workforce Development

Inbound/outbound truck drivers and last‑mile couriers in Chile are at a crossroads as electrification, telematics and smarter routing reshape day‑to‑day work: the broader Chile transportation technology market tops USD 12.6 billion, reflecting big investments in urban logistics and smart mobility, while fleet telematics and data platforms are turning routing, fuel and safety checks into near‑real‑time dashboards that favor data‑savvy operators over routine mileage.

At the same time, the country's electrification push has already moved beyond mining - operators such as Sotraser have integrated over 50 Foton eAuman 2554 electric trucks and Walmart Chile runs more than 45 electric trucks from its Santiago hub - so drivers who once logged long diesel runs are increasingly piloting quiet, plugged‑in rigs on urban routes and coordinating charging windows at “electro‑logistics” terminals that can power several trucks at once.

The net effect for workers: fewer manual route tweaks and more emphasis on telematics literacy, EV charging coordination, on‑route climate‑control for perishables, and exception management - skills that targeted short courses and employer‑led reskilling can realistically teach while firms phase in new tech.

Learn more about the adoption of electric trucks in Chile adoption of electric trucks in Chile and why data matters for fleet leaders in the data‑driven future of trucking.

“Wialon's Top 10 Partners ranking reflects our global presence, and our focus on developing telematics software solutions easily scalable for both small and large fleets. Wialon is used in numerous projects across different sectors, including transportation, construction, logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, security, and smart city development.” - Aliaksandr Kuushynau, Head of Wialon

Phone and chat agents in Chile are already feeling the nudge from multilingual conversational AI and real‑time translation: platforms that can handle routine FAQs, live speech‑to‑text and language switching are turning many first‑contact tasks into automated flows, freeing humans for complex escalations and empathy‑led service.

24/7 multilingual hubs and AI voicebots reduce wait times and standardize responses across channels, while human‑in‑the‑loop models keep cultural nuance and complaint escalation where it matters; the result is a shift from volume handling to quality management, exception resolution and oversight of AI assistants.

For retailers this means frontline CX teams must gain prompt and tool literacy, quick judgment for handoffs, and skills in multilingual quality assurance - training that pairs well with localization partners and AI playbooks like those described in the Convin review of multilingual conversational AI platforms and Atento's multilingual hub approach supporting 24 languages.

Imagine a frustrated caller falling silent the moment a system instantly switches back to their native language - that tiny, immediate relief is exactly why hybrid models matter in practice.

Merchandisers who still spend long shifts installing planograms and tagging prices face rapid change as AI-driven planogram tools automate shelf layouts, verify execution with image recognition, and push store-specific updates in minutes - turning manual installs into exception‑handling and on‑floor coaching roles.

AI-powered planogram automation can lift category sales by double digits and slash the time teams spend on routine merchandising: Matellio reports sales uplifts of 10–30%, an 80% reduction in stockouts and up to 40% lower labor costs from automated planogram workflows, while NielsenIQ's Spaceman shows automation raises category update frequency and enables store‑level tailoring that keeps shelves aligned with demand.

Tools that simulate visual impact before a single shelf is moved let retailers A/B test layouts and maintain compliance at scale, so the human “so what?” is clear: merchandisers must trade repetitive installs for tech supervision, shopper‑insight interpretation, and rapid in‑store fixes to stay indispensable.

Learn more about AI planogram gains at Matellio, NielsenIQ's Spaceman Automation, and InContext's virtual testing approach.

“A state-of-the-art software that fits smoothly with your space management processes.” - Jonas Parmhed, Commercial Business Lead Merchandising Western Europe

Chile's transition away from routine retail tasks will succeed only if employers, policymakers and training providers move in concert: adopt Visier's data‑driven three‑step playbook to target the skills most exposed to automation, pair that with Shift Learning's call to make reskilling strategic (leadership-backed, role‑specific and measured against clear outcomes), and scale practical, bite‑size learning so workers can train between shifts - microlearning, on‑the‑job coaching and mobile modules keep learning real and reachable.

Real-world models show this works: large retailers are redirecting cashiers into higher‑value technical roles (think drone technicians and robot supervisors) rather than cutting staff, proving internal mobility and mapped career paths are central to a just transition.

For Chilean retailers, the roadmap looks concrete - map tasks to gaps, fund phased pilots with hands‑on retraining, measure promotions and redeployments not just course completions, and partner with local hubs to place displaced workers into logistics, EV‑fleet support, or AI‑assisted CX roles.

Short, employer‑friendly programs that teach prompt literacy and tool use can accelerate this shift; one practical option is Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work bootcamp, while broader strategy guidance is available from Visier's reskilling framework and the strategic insights in Shift Learning's reskilling brief.

The “so what?” is simple: with targeted, short, measurable training and internal mobility, Chilean retail can keep people working - and turn automation from a threat into a ladder to better jobs.