{"id":16621,"date":"2026-01-27T09:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T09:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/retails-risky-ai-commerce-bet\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T09:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T09:54:18","slug":"retails-risky-ai-commerce-bet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/retails-risky-ai-commerce-bet\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail\u2019s risky AI commerce bet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/online-workshops-list\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-496\" src=\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90.png\" alt=\"Retail Online Training\" width=\"729\" height=\"91\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90.png 729w, https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90-300x37.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><\/a><\/p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.retaildive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">9 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/text-to-speech.divecdn.com\/newspost\/810202\/2026-01-26_09.37.55\/retails-ai-bet-risks-data-market-share.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In 2026, retailers are placing bigger bets on agentic AI commerce \u2014 even at the risk of losing direct access to customers and control over their data.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Just in the first month of 2026, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Etsy<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span>, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Target<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span> and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Walmart<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span> have continued their move to bring merchandise offerings onto external platforms by partnering with Google\u2019s Gemini and Microsoft\u2019s Copilot.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>All three companies joined forces with OpenAI&#8217;s ChatGPT last year to make products available for purchase on the platform. That&#8217;s on top of the efforts by Amazon and Walmart to popularize the AI consumer-facing assistants they built, named <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Rufus<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span> and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Sparky<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span> respectively.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The rapid evolution of agentic AI \u2014 and the shift it poses to direct consumer access \u2014 is likely game changing for the retail industry.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cI kind of think that this is going to shake up retail just like the internet did,\u201d Kartik Hosanagar, marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told Retail Dive.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Retail executives agree, as many took to the stage at the National Retail Federation\u2019s 2026 Big Show in New York City earlier this month to discuss the impact of AI. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Industry <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>leaders<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span> like Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman and REI CEO Mary Beth Laughton told audiences at the event that AI will likely impact every aspect of the business.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The argument for joining forces with the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini is that retailers want to meet their customers where they are.\u00a0Walmart&#8217;s incoming CEO John Furner emphasized the sentiment while speaking at NRF.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>AI-driven U.S. e-commerce traffic grew 758% year over year between Nov. 1 and Dec. 1, according to Adobe\u2019s 2025 Holiday Shopping report. AI traffic to U.S. retail sites specifically on Cyber Monday increased 670%.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWhat we expect is that consumers will deepen their engagement,\u201d Katherine Black, a partner at Kearney leading food, drug and mass market retail, told Retail Dive via email. \u201cMore consumers will use it for shopping and for more types of shopping. As retailer capabilities become more prominent, that will encourage more usage as well.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Meeting your customer where they\u2019re at doesn\u2019t necessarily come without a price, according to some industry experts.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Data ownership and the potential disintermediation of retailers are chief among the risks that external AI commerce poses to the industry in 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span>Data and disintermediation<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>When a customer makes a purchase or casually peruses a retailer\u2019s e-commerce site, a series of data points can be collected about their journey. Retailers can learn more about the needs and wants of a shopper by seeing what they searched for, which products they clicked to learn more about, how long they viewed each listing and more.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>But what if that journey starts and ends within an external AI platform?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cIt also shifts the locus of power,\u201d Wharton\u2019s Hosanagar told Retail Dive. \u201cWhoever controls the agents now has the power.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Deloitte\u2019s 2026 Retail Industry Global Outlook released earlier this month found that 81% of surveyed retail executives think generative AI will weaken brand loyalty by 2027.<\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>On stage at the NRF conference, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai showcased a new suite of retailer commerce tools for its AI chatbot Gemini.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The executive outlined how Gemini can take part in the customer journey, from discovery to decision and final purchase.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cHe&#8217;s talking about Google owning and collecting all of the data that happens around all three of those touch points,\u201d Nikki Baird, vice president of strategy and product at retail technology provider Aptos, told Retail Dive. \u201cAnd even if they share \u2026 if they&#8217;re not sharing everything that happened that led to the discovery, that led to the decision, that led to the delivery, then the retailer loses so much context because it&#8217;s outside of their realm.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Pichai, however, insisted on stage that collaboration between Gemini and retailers was key.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWhat we have learned from the last 27 years of working with retailers is that we only succeed together,\u201d Pichai told the conference audience. \u201cWe want to use our full stack approach to help you shape this next chapter of retail.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Risk goes beyond the potential loss of data about consumers, however.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cThe risk is that as these systems start to offer instant checkout and so on, I am doing all of my product research, discovery, understanding, including purchase not on Walmart&#8217;s website, but on OpenAI&#8217;s website,\u201d Hosanagar said. \u201cYou&#8217;re giving away the customer interactions, the brand experience, all of that, and then you become like a fulfillment company.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>This may be why Amazon \u2014 who has not yet announced any plans to sell its products on ChatGPT like competing retailers \u2014 has put so much effort into its own agent initiatives, Hosanagar added.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>e-commerce giant this month debuted<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span><span><span> a dedicated website for its generative AI-powered Alexa+ assistant meant to help users research and plan out purchases conversationally.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Still, participation in external AI platforms\u2019 commerce initiatives may be a necessity and less of a choice moving forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"storylines-carousel-wrapper hide-small show-large\" id=\"desktop-carousel\"\/>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>When OpenAI debuted its Instant Checkout shopping feature on ChatGPT in September, the company noted that the functionality could impact result rankings for queries.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>The tech company said it considers several factors \u2014 including the enablement of Instant Checkout, quality and price \u2014 when ranking merchants that sell the same product.<\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Looking at Walmart\u2019s decisions, the company is hedging its bets by hopping onto external agentic commerce and aiming to become the retailer of choice on the new channel, according to Hosanager.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cI don&#8217;t see a retailer building their own agentic platform as a way to avoid participating in the agentic platforms,\u201d Kearney\u2019s Black added. \u201cAnd of course, they would love for consumers to go to their brand directly and shop. But in reality, I think most retailers realize that there&#8217;s a trend moving to these multi-retailer agents<strong> <\/strong>and so they have to be relevant in that space.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Bringing product catalogs to AI chat platforms is just the beginning of the potential change to come in a customer\u2019s shopping journey.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span>Early innings<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>About half of retail executives anticipate the collapse of the current multistep customer shopping journey by 2027 as the process shifts to a singular single AI-driven interaction, per Deloitte\u2019s report.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The industry is just in the early stages of seeing e-commerce evolve with agentic AI, according to Hosanager.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWhere it gets interesting is where the buyer is actually using an agent to do the shopping, versus going to Gemini or going to ChatGPT and interacting with that system,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"storylines-carousel-wrapper show-small hide-large\" id=\"mobile-carousel\"\/>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>For a frequent flyer who travels regularly for work, as an example, the future of agentic commerce may become more streamlined. An AI agent could learn the users preferences \u2014 such as preferred airlines and times of day \u2014 and proactively research the available flights that fit those needs. The AI agent could make the flight purchase on a customer\u2019s behalf automatically, book applicable hotel accommodations and check the weather to help inform packing decisions \u2014 all without the user even opening the AI chat platform to get this process started.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In the future, this scenario could play out between AI agents, where the user\u2019s agent is interacting with an AI agent from the airline, for example.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>A similar situation could play out in the world of retail, Hosanagar noted, and that could mean a drastic shift in how businesses interact with customers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cFor the retailer, you are increasingly going to interact with the end customer less and less, and you&#8217;re interacting with their representative, which is the AI agent, which is now a new class of customer,\u201d he said. \u201c It evaluates information differently. It needs information presented in a different format in order to understand it well. It can be persuaded, but it&#8217;s persuaded differently than how you persuade humans.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>AI agents can also play a role in how customers shop in stores, according to Aptos\u2019 Baird.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>When Apple first launched the iPhone in 2007, retailers dealt with a massive change in how customers shopped in stores, Baird said. Consumers were searching online to check product reviews and competitors pricing while standing in store aisles.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Customers are now able to access the intelligence of ChatGPT right from their phones, which is providing more researched and instantaneous insights to them.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cIt&#8217;s not that you have the whole world wide web at your disposal while you&#8217;re standing in the store,\u201d Baird said. \u201cIt&#8217;s that you have a store associate who&#8217;s an expert in all stores.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The moment may call for equipping employees with their own AI technology in stores so they can get instant insights about a customer they\u2019re interacting with, such as their clothing preferences or whether or not they\u2019re a frequent product returner.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Or a retailer\u2019s own AI agent could proactively reach out to customers on behalf of a store associate to inform the consumer when a product they like is back in stock at the location, encouraging a sale.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cThe point is to let the store associates shine,\u201d Baird added.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/online-workshops-list\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-496\" src=\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90.png\" alt=\"Retail Online Training\" width=\"729\" height=\"91\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90.png 729w, https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90-300x37.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><\/a><\/p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to the article 9 min This audio is auto-generated. 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