Dallas Market Center has launched Retail Ready as a new AI training program for independent retailers. Following requests from retailers, sales reps and exhibitors, Retail Ready is an AI education program tailored to the unique needs of independent retail. The program will take place via social media, email, videos, webinars and the company’s website as well as activations and hands-on training during January 2027 markets.
The program, open to all retailers with no special signups, will help retailers learn practical tools to solve problems and save time. Dallas Market Center says Retail Ready is being created and managed by a leadership council of industry professionals, including Alison Dodson, owner of A. Dodson’s of Suffolk, Virginia; Trudi Bartow, vice president of business growth and business strategy with the Unemployed Philosophers Guild and founder of TRB Insights; and Cole Daugherty, senior vice president of marketing communications at Dallas Market Center.
“We’re going to keep it simple,” says Daugherty. “Each week, we’ll present one real problem independent retailers face and one practical way AI can help via short demonstrations, real retail examples and AI prompts to copy and try.”
Some themes of Retail Ready include:
- Buying: Sales analysis, vendor comparison, assortment gaps, trend research and market planning
- Selling: Retail merchandising, cross-selling techniques, staff product knowledge and promotions
- Promoting: Email, social media, events content calendars and customer messaging
- Operations: Scheduling, procedures, vendor communications, meeting notes and repetitive administration
- Growing: Business analysis, competitive research, customer trends and strategic planning
- At Market: Planning, discovery, making appointments, comparing lines and finding merchandising stories
“Retail Ready is not designed to turn retailers into AI experts. It’s designed to create better retailers,” Dodson adds. “I hear from my store-owner peers every week asking for help with AI, and this is the best way to support one another.”
Bartow says these techniques can help to improve day-to-day retail operations.
“AI tools have changed — you no longer need to know how to code or understand complicated technology,” says Bartow. “Instead, you can simply type a question, talk, take a photo or upload a file. That means AI can now help with some very ordinary — and very time-consuming — parts of running an independent retail business.”
Some of the Retail Ready content is now available online, with more details to follow at www.dallasmarketcenter.com/retailready.
