Toast unveiled AI‑powered retail features within its Toast IQ assistant on January 8, 2026, giving retailers instant visibility into inventory, margins and catalog health directly inside the Toast platform.
The new capabilities let retailers ask natural‑language questions such as “When should I reorder SKU 1234?” or “What are the margin implications of raising the price of product X?” and the assistant returns real‑time insights on restocking, pricing, seasonal demand and SKU management, all within the existing Toast ecosystem.
By moving beyond its core restaurant operating system, Toast is positioning itself to tap a $100 billion retail‑tech market. The company’s offline‑first architecture and integrated hardware create switching costs that rival established retail‑tech vendors, while its AI layer differentiates it from competitors that rely on static dashboards.
Toast’s recent financial performance underscores the strategic fit. In Q3 2025 the company generated $1.63 billion in revenue, up 25.1% YoY, and reported a net income of $105 million, a 35% adjusted EBITDA margin, and more than $2 billion in ARR. The company achieved GAAP profitability for the first time in 2024, and the Q3 results beat analyst expectations for revenue and margin, reinforcing confidence in its growth trajectory.
The announcement comes as the retail industry accelerates AI adoption, with 83% of food‑and‑beverage retailers planning to increase AI tool usage in 2026. Toast’s new features are expected to accelerate that trend by providing a “right‑hand” AI partner that can interpret inventory flows as naturally as a store manager.
Omri Traub, Toast’s COO for Retail, said the AI assistant “acts as a real‑time partner that understands inventory flow and pricing dynamics, enabling retailers to make faster, data‑driven decisions.” CEO Aman Narang added that the expansion into retail is a key component of Toast’s long‑term strategy to diversify revenue streams and capture a larger share of the growing retail‑tech ecosystem.
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