AI in Retail Won't Be Your Edge, Trust Will | Doug Stephens

Doug Stephens, Founder of Retail Prophet, argues that AI in retail will never be a competitive advantage. Customer trust, earned through fairness to shoppers, staff and suppliers, is the edge that lasts.

Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Doug cover why only 15% of Americans had confidence in big business in 2025 (Gallup), why Warren Buffett treated trust as hard business capital, what Walmart's $1bn investment in pay and training in February 2015 teaches CEOs under pressure, and how to measure every quarterly decision by what it costs in business trust.

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