From Store Associate to Always-On AI Coach
DICK’S Sporting Goods has introduced Coach by DICK’S, an agentic AI conversational system built directly into its mobile app to support athletes across their entire sports journey. Instead of focusing solely on what to buy, the AI Coach blends product knowledge with training guidance, equipment education, and personalized support tuned to each athlete’s sport, goals, and preferences. Executives describe the experience as a way to scale the expertise typically found in physical stores into a digital environment that feels both trusted and personal. Powered by Adobe’s Brand Concierge platform and DICK’S proprietary sport content, the system is designed to adapt in real time to an athlete’s behavior and input, refining recommendations and advice as interactions grow. This reflects a broader trend in retail AI integration, where conversational systems are evolving from simple search or support tools into embedded, brand-specific coaching experiences inside consumer apps.
Beyond Transactions: Agentic AI Coaching as a New Retail Model
Coach by DICK’S illustrates a shift from transactional retail AI toward agentic AI coaching that accompanies customers before, during, and after a purchase. Rather than serving as a one-off shopping assistant, the system engages athletes in natural-language conversations, asking about sport, skill level, and objectives to offer tailored product suggestions alongside workout tips and equipment guidance. This moves retail AI integration closer to enterprise customer guidance, positioning the retailer as an ongoing partner in performance rather than merely a seller of gear. The agentic design lets the AI interpret intent, adapt to evolving needs, and guide users through decisions across multiple sessions. As capabilities expand, such agents can help orchestrate an athlete’s broader journey—training cycles, seasonal needs, and service bookings—creating longer, richer relationships that extend far beyond the moment of checkout and reframe what customer loyalty looks like in digital commerce.
Mobile App AI Features Power Continuous Engagement
Embedding Coach by DICK’S inside the existing DICK’S Sporting Goods mobile app is central to its strategic value. The app becomes a hub where athletes can explore products, receive training content, and ask real-time questions without jumping between channels. This tight integration allows the AI to learn from ongoing interactions—sports played, previous purchases, browsing patterns, and stated preferences—to refine personalization over time. Adobe’s Brand Concierge is trained on approved brand content and customer data, rather than the open web, enabling consistent, on-brand guidance across digital touchpoints. For the retailer, mobile app AI features create a feedback loop that links customer conversations with inventory systems, merchandising decisions, and marketing campaigns. The result is a more cohesive omnichannel experience, where in-store associates and digital agents share a common understanding of each athlete’s needs, reinforcing trust and deepening engagement with every interaction.
Implications for Enterprise Retail Strategy
DICK’S AI Coach rollout highlights how enterprise retailers are re-architecting their technology stacks around conversational, agentic experiences. Across the sector, companies are integrating customer profiles, product catalogs, and behavioral data into AI systems that function as digital advisors rather than static search bars. For DICK’S, the Coach builds on investments in AI-driven inventory management, RFID automation, and omnichannel infrastructure, pointing toward a unified AI operating model spanning customer engagement and back-end operations. As agentic AI coaching matures, retailers will likely measure success less by single conversions and more by lifetime value, repeat interactions, and depth of guidance delivered. Those that treat AI agents as long-term customer coaches stand to differentiate on expertise and trust, not just price or selection. In this emerging model, the most valuable retail apps will be the ones customers return to for advice as often as they do for purchases.