Bealls implements AI into retail company's planning process

Bradenton-based retail giant Bealls, which has more than 660 stores in the United States, recently deployed an artificial intelligence platform companywide to scale decision-making around areas like merchandise planning and inventory optimization.

Called Profitmind, the AI system was developed in 2024 to continuously analyze data, prioritize the highest-impact opportunities and recommend or execute actions linked to business goals, according to a statement.

When Bealls first piloted the program, it accepted 80% of the AI platform’s recommendations and found a 20% improvement in plan accuracy, according to the statement. Bealls used Profitmind to identify weekly profit drivers and monitor the real-time financial impact of merchandising and inventory decisions, the statement says.

“Bringing Profitmind’s AI into our planning process is like adding rocket fuel to the way we make decisions,” Bealls Chairman and CEO Matt Beall says in the statement. “It’s constantly crunching numbers from inside our business and from the market so we can zero in on the best opportunities, how much to spend and where to spend it.”

Bealls posted more than $1.9 billion in revenue in 2024.

In addition to speeding planning cycles, officials say implementing Profitmind will raise forecast accuracy, maximize inventory productivity and free up teams from manual analysis so they can perform higher-value work.

“For our planning teams,” Beall says, “it means less time buried in spreadsheets and more time thinking big, being creative, and staying ahead of what our guests want.”

Profitmind deploys AI “agents” to analyze areas like competition, pricing, promotions, inventory, planning, assortment, strategy and overall coordination/management.

“Adopting an Agentic AI operating model lets retailers scale expert decision-making,” Profitmind co-founder and CEO Mark Chrystal says in the statement. “Our platform turns complex data into prioritized actions and measurable outcomes. That combination is what moves a planning team from analysis to impact. Bealls is leading the way by using Profitmind to move into this new Agentic AI era.”

Companies that use Proftmind include other national retailers like Kirkland’s and Batteries Plus, a spokesperson for Profitmind says.

Implementing Profitmind typically takes one to two months, with a multimillion-dollar impact to users’ bottom line, according to a statement. The average customer reports 21% revenue growth, 14% profit increase, payback within the first month and 30 times the return on investment, according to Profitmind. Bealls did not immediately disclose the investment it made in the product.