Boone, NC — January 22, 2026 — ECRS® announces the release of Chat with Cognition, an advanced AI-driven insight and summarization tool built directly into CATAPULT® Cognition’s cloud-based platform. This new capability empowers retailers to instantly converse with their operational data, receive automated insights, and streamline decision-making without requiring specialized analytics expertise.
Designed with independent grocers, natural/organic retailers, food coops, and convenience operators in mind, Chat with Cognition simplifies the discovery of meaningful trends, anomalies, and opportunities buried deep within daily performance metrics. Retailers can now ask natural language questions, receive AI-generated explanations, and even schedule automated reports enhanced with AI summaries.
Conversational Intelligence for Retail Data
Chat with Cognition builds on Cognition’s cloud-based data visualization and analytics tools by introducing a conversational interface that transforms data into clear, actionable insights. Retailers can point the AI to any dataset and ask plain language questions to quickly interpret results, identify patterns, or dig deeper into areas of interest.
Automated AI Summary Reports Delivered to You
Beyond real-time interaction, Chat with Cognition is also integrated into Cognition’s alerting and scheduled reporting capabilities. Retailers can configure dashboards to be emailed at a set time, or based on an event, and quickly digest the information with built-in analysis.
Imagine opening your Monday morning digest to a concise, practical, AI-driven summary of what changed last week and why it matters to your business. With Chat with Cognition, actionable insight comes to you, ready to inform smarter decisions instantly.
Detailed Analysis Without Complexity
“Independent retailers deserve the same analytical horsepower as national chains, but without complexity or overhead. Chat with Cognition lets retailers talk directly to their data and get immediate, meaningful insights. Whether you’re reviewing a dashboard, checking KPIs, or receiving your weekly sales report, Cognition can now analyze what matters most and enables you to act faster than ever.” – Daniel Smith, Analytics & Reporting Business Unit Manager, ECRS
A Major Step Towards the Future of Retail Decision Making
Cognition has already helped retailers save thousands of labor hours by simplifying reporting and unifying data across the enterprise. Chat with Cognition represents the next major leap, bringing fast, intuitive AI interpretation to front office, back office, and executive workflows.
A Commitment to Independent Retailers
ECRS remains steadfast in its commitment to remaining at the vanguard of retail automation solutions for Independent Retailers. With tools like CATAPULT Cognition’s practical AI for reporting and analytics, edge optimized architecture for modern scalability, and omni-channel unified solutions, ECRS is committed to helping modern independent retailers scale, compete, and succeed.
About ECRS
Family-owned since 1989, ECRS is a Certified Evergreen® retail transactions and artificial intelligence solutions provider, offering simple, practical solutions that unify operations and empower independent retailers to thrive. ECRS’ revolutionary CATAPULT® POS platform, powered by Unified Transaction Logic®, is the market’s only truly unified transaction platform that seamlessly connects all retail touchpoints. With CATAPULT, all retail touchpoints—including point of sale, back office, self-checkout, deli scale, fuel pump, pharmacy, inventory, loyalty, eCommerce, and enterprise management—share one single transactional logic. Unifying hardware, software, and services, ECRS offers friction-free, cost-saving solutions that make advanced automation accessible while transforming the consumer experience.
Contact
Ryan Reynolds
For Public Relations
800.211.1172
newsroom@ecrs.com