IBM Sterling AI Boost Efficiency With AI-Powered Order Management

USA, 18th March 2025 – Today in the retail world, businesses are facing big challenges. Customers want things quickly, and it’s hard to keep up. But there’s good news: technology, especially AI, is helping stores solve these problems.

IBM has created a smart system called IBM Sterling Order Management. This system uses AI to help stores manage their orders better. It’s like having a super-smart assistant that knows where everything is and how to get it to customers fast.

The IBM Institute for Business Value found that stores are taking AI seriously. They say, “by 2025, retail and consumer products companies surveyed say they plan to allocate an average of 3.32% of their revenue to AI”. This shows that stores know AI can help them a lot.

One big problem for stores is knowing what they have in stock and where it is. Advance Auto Parts (AAP) is a good example. They have 2 million different car parts, but each store can only hold 20,000. It was hard for them to fill orders quickly.

AAP started using IBM’s system and another tool called OneRail. This helped them see what parts they had in all their stores. Ryan Grimsland from AAP said, “Partnering with another company that’s customer-centric is really important. IBM and OneRail sit shoulder to shoulder with you to figure out how to best serve your customer.“

This new system worked great for AAP. They could deliver orders on time 98% of the time, saved money on shipping, and sold more parts faster. Another store, Tiendas Del Sol – Woolworth in Mexico, also used IBM’s system. They have stores in over 70 cities and needed help managing orders. Rommel Flores from the company said, “Our customers are our reason for being, so we are leveraging our operation to deliver a better experience with Del Sol – Woolworth.“

The IBM system helped Tiendas Del Sol – Woolworth in a big way. Before, they had to cancel 10% of orders because items were out of stock. With the new system, this dropped to less than 1%.

IBM is also helping store workers who talk to customers on the phone. They made a new AI tool that helps these workers find information faster and solve problems quicker. This tool can even do things like add coupons to old orders or quickly sum up what a customer has bought before.

As of March 2025, more stores are using AI to make shopping easier and faster for customers. IBM’s smart order system is leading the way, helping stores keep up with what customers want and making sure they can deliver it quickly and correctly.

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