This scholarly article proposes a novel, integrated architectural framework that synergistically combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to address critical, large-scale challenges in the global retail sector. The framework, termed the Cognitive Retail Mesh (CRM), is designed to create self-optimizing retail environments that significantly enhance operational efficiency, hyper-personalize the customer experience, and enable unprecedented supply chain resilience. Moving beyond incremental improvements, the CRM framework represents a fundamental shift from reactive to predictive and autonomous retail operations.
This article details the architecture's layers, its innovative integration of edge AI with IoT sensor networks, and its application in solving persistent industry problems such as inventory distortion, dynamic pricing, loss prevention, and customer engagement.
