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

Des Moines retail workers should care about AI because the technology is already shifting who gets hired and what entry-level work looks like: an AP‑NORC poll on AI usage among U.S. adults found 60% of U.S. adults use AI to search for information, while a Honeywell survey of retailers' AI plans reports more than eight in ten retailers plan to increase AI to streamline returns, inventory and customer service - changes that can automate routine checkout and stocking tasks.

Iowa's government adoption - the Legislature used an AI program to analyze and track more than 2,000 bills during the 2025 session - signals broader statewide uptake, and national coverage links generative AI to over 10,000 job cuts in early 2025 and hiring slowdowns for new grads.

The practical takeaway for Des Moines workers: learn hands-on AI skills to move from repetitive tasks to oversight, quality‑checking, and customer-experience roles (see Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work bootcamp registration for a structured path).

"We are truly in the midst of a new era for the retail sector where evolving AI capabilities will make a positive impact on the shopper's journey, the employee experience and the retailer's supply chain operation," - David Barker, Honeywell Productivity Solutions and Services

Selection began with Microsoft's occupational study and its AI applicability framework, then focused on roles actually found in storefronts: customer service reps, counter & rental clerks, demonstrators/product promoters, retail salespersons and market‑research tasks most common to Des Moines shops.

The core dataset - 200,000 anonymized Copilot conversations mapped to the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET activities - yields three metrics (coverage, completion, scope) that form an AI applicability score; see a concise methodology summary in Microsoft Copilot study of 200,000 conversations methodology and a readable Top‑40 breakdown in Forbes report on Microsoft's Top 40 AI-safe jobs.

Each candidate job was then re‑ranked by the study's national employment figures and cross‑checked against common Des Moines retail tasks (checkouts, returns, in‑store demos) so the list highlights where routine information work - not manual stocking - creates the clearest near‑term automation risk and therefore the most urgent reskilling need.

“Our research shows that AI supports many tasks, particularly those involving research, writing, and communication, but does not indicate it can fully perform any single occupation. As AI adoption accelerates, it's important that we continue to study and better understand its societal and economic impact.” - Kiran Tomlinson, Senior Microsoft Researcher

Customer service representatives in Des Moines are especially exposed because AI already handles the predictable, repeatable work that fills most entry‑level shifts: AI-powered chatbots and virtual contact center operators for customer support can answer common requests around the clock, trim wait times, and automate post‑call summaries, while McKinsey contact-center analysis on hybrid human-AI models shows a fast move to hybrid models that preserve humans for complex, emotional, or high‑risk cases.

The practical pivot for Des Moines reps: shift from answering routine queries to supervising AI (agent‑assist skills), interpreting real‑time sentiment data, and owning escalations and relationship sales - skills employers are prioritizing as AI takes over transactional volume.

Train on AI co‑pilot tools and simulated scenarios now - McKinsey reports simulation‑led onboarding can cut training time by 20–30% - and focus on emotional intelligence, prompt engineering for knowledge‑base accuracy, and documented escalation workflows so human reps remain the differentiator when AI reaches its limits.

"The future of customer care is AI-driven but balancing AI with human agents is critical." - McKinsey

Cashiers, counter and rental clerks in Des Moines are no longer facing an abstract threat - retailers are actively rethinking checkout: Hy‑Vee removed or converted self‑checkout lanes at some Iowa stores (Urbandale Hy‑Vee example), and national chains are limiting or removing kiosks as theft and customer friction rise; see national reporting on retailers pulling back and tightening limits on self‑checkout use for context at USA TODAY coverage of the self‑checkout pullback.

The so‑what: stores that lean on unstaffed kiosks face materially higher shrink - about 31% higher on average and up to 60% higher when unstaffed kiosks are above average - so employers often prefer staffed express lanes or associate‑assisted checkout, keeping human roles that require age verification, theft prevention, troubleshooting, and relationship selling.

For local cashiers the smart adaptation is concrete and immediate: learn kiosk supervision and loss‑prevention protocols, own the customer‑service moments kiosks can't handle, and position front‑end skills toward verification, quick problem resolution, and personalized upsells that machines can't replicate.

“We just want to provide a better customer experience in several of our stores by bringing back the face-to-face interaction with our employees that we had pre-COVID.” - Tina Potthoff, Hy‑Vee spokesperson

Retail salespersons in Des Moines face a clear shift: AI now recommends products, narrows choices, and captures many impulse conversions, so the human advantage is no longer transaction speed but creating memorable, trust‑based experiences.

91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that serve relevant product recommendations, and two‑thirds say relevance matters for first purchases, meaning shoppers expect intelligent suggestions but still want human validation and context (AI-powered product recommendations for retail).

Local sellers who pair those algorithmic prompts with storytelling, fit checks, demoing product combinations, and follow‑up service keep customers in‑store and raise spend - one merchant's cross‑sell strategy lifted average order value by 18.65% when paired with targeted recommendations (AI product recommender case studies and benefits).

Practical moves for Des Moines sales staff: learn to read and question recommendation logic, coach customers through curated bundles, own loyalty and post‑sale touchpoints, and use local insights (see predictive, searchless shopping tactics for Iowa storefronts) to turn AI suggestions into sustained relationships (Predictive searchless shopping tactics for Iowa storefronts).

Demonstrators and product promoters in Des Moines face a double‑edged shift: generative AI can now bulk‑create polished product descriptions, targeted email copy, social posts, and even short training videos - work that once justified in‑store demo teams - so stores that lean on automated content risk reducing headcount unless staff add supervision and localization skills; Nurix's case studies show GenAI routinely generates marketing content and immersive videos for training, and 75% of retail executives already view GenAI as a must‑have while 93% plan to increase investment, signaling fast adoption that will push routine demo copy into automation (Nurix generative AI retail case studies for retail marketing and training).

The practical pivot for Des Moines promoters is concrete: stop competing with templates and start orchestrating AI - master prompt craft, localize assets for Iowa shoppers, integrate demo scripts with in‑store predictive shopping cues, and own live experiences and troubleshooting that AI can't perform (Predictive searchless shopping strategies for Des Moines storefronts); employers will value people who turn automated content into local, hands‑on sales moments.

Market research analysts rank among the Microsoft study's vulnerable roles because modern AI can ingest surveys, parse transaction logs, spot patterns, and even forecast demand - tasks that once formed the bulk of junior analyst shifts - so Des Moines shops relying on routine reports face concrete change: the study lists Market Research Analysts in its Top‑40 and Interesting Engineering records the occupation with an AI applicability score of 0.35 and roughly 846,370 workers nationwide, signaling that off‑the‑shelf dashboards could replace basic reporting at scale (Microsoft generative AI occupational impact study (Fortune), AI job risk analysis for market research analysts (Interesting Engineering)).

The so‑what for Des Moines: analysts who double as AI orchestrators - designing localized surveys, validating model outputs, owning data‑quality rules, and translating insights into actionable merchandising or seasonal promotions - will be retained, while those who only prepare routine tables risk displacement; practical local moves include mastering AI oversight, building proprietary panels tied to Iowa seasonality, and using demand‑forecasting with local data to prove unique value (AI Essentials for Work bootcamp - demand forecasting with local data).

“Our research shows that AI supports many tasks, particularly those involving research, writing, and communication, but does not indicate it can fully perform any single occupation. As AI adoption accelerates, it's important that we continue to study and better understand its societal and economic impact.” - Kiran Tomlinson, Senior Microsoft Researcher

Concrete next steps for Des Moines retail workers and employers start with two parallel moves: strengthen local training pipelines and acquire practical AI oversight skills.

Employers should explore sponsoring or expanding Registered Apprenticeship pathways - Iowa's recent workforce push included Iowa Workforce Development $3.4M Registered Apprenticeship grants and formal SAA oversight - while partnering with community providers (DMACC's growing pre‑apprenticeship network already enrolls about 2,350 central‑Iowa students) so entry roles become earn‑and‑learn ladders, not dead‑end jobs; see DMACC pre-apprenticeship programs.

For frontline staff, a short, applied course in AI co‑pilot work - like Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work bootcamp (15-week) - teaches prompt craft, agent supervision, and demand‑forecasting with local data so humans own exceptions, loss‑prevention, and relationship selling when AI handles routine tasks.

The so‑what: combine funded apprenticeship slots with a concrete AI skill path and retail employers in Des Moines can retain experienced staff, reduce shrink, and keep customer‑facing value human.

“Iowa made an investment to provide financial support to grow Registered Apprenticeship programs when these programs were created over 10 years ago. Today, we continue to see the return on that investment with increases in the number of apprentices and programs across the state as well as the expansion of this training model into nontraditional fields.” - Beth Townsend, Executive Director of Iowa Workforce Development