Amid a severe labor shortage in Georgia’s retail sector, companies are increasingly focusing on process automation and the adoption of artificial intelligence. Industry representatives say the shortage of workers is pushing businesses to introduce modern technologies and self-service checkout systems more actively.
Sophio Kashakashvili, head of the Retail Association, said the sector is facing a significant staffing challenge, partly because new professions allow young people to work remotely. “The labor shortage in the retail sector is quite severe. Our sector is trying to address this problem in different ways, including through AI and modern technologies to replace certain workforce functions, whether through self-service checkouts or other technologies,” she said.
According to Kashakashvili, the technological transformation is already well underway, with self-service systems becoming increasingly common in large retail chains. She added that AI and automated systems could eventually also be introduced in smaller neighborhood stores.
Although wages in the sector are rising by an average of 20–25% annually, retaining employees remains difficult. Alongside technological solutions, the Retail Association is working on a new employee training model. “Recent years have shown us that it is necessary to retrain employees according to unified standards. We are working to obtain state accreditation and, together with a partner educational institution, we will be able to train our first groups this year,” Kashakashvili said.
