AI

2026 will be the year of agentic AI

Retail experts share predictions of retail CX tech and trends arriving in 2026.

Photo: Generated by AI. Adobe Stock.

January 26, 2026 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

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With 2025 in the mirror RetailCustomerExperience.com reached out to retail leaders and industry watchers to get perspective on what's coming for retail customer experience in 2026.

The big trend mentioned nearly by every expert? Just two words: Agentic AI.

Agentic AI combines memory, reasoning and tool use to act semi- or fully autonomously across the shopping journey. It is poised to disrupt retail yet 50% of consumer remain cautious of fully autonomous purchasing, according to a Bain & Company report, "Agentic AI in Retail: How Autonomous Shopping Is Redefining the Customer Journey."

"By orchestrating multiple specialized agents, each designed to analyze data, predict demand and coordinate decisions, [agentic AI] helps retailers move from reactive automation to proactive intelligence," explains Padmanabhan Venkatesan, senior corporate vice president of consumer tech at Persistent, in a blog.

The backbone of the supply chain

Mike Svatek, chief product officer at SPS Commerce, predicts agentic AI will finally become the backbone of the supply chain control inventory, automating order processes, predicting demand and coordinating vendors at machine speed.

"We can expect AI to reduce errors, prevent delays, fix issues and ensure retailers strict compliance rules are fulfilled. There will finally be a shared operational language that any system can plug into between selling channels and the world of fulfillment updating in real time," he shared in an email.

Agentic AI will lead to agentic commerce

Agentic commerce is changing the way we shop, according to Ibotta's Chief Revenue Officer Chris Riedy.

"We know AI-driven purchases are most common in groceries and consumer packaged goods, two of the biggest growth areas for agentic commerce. AI bots aren't looking at display ads, but are looking at the inherent quality and metadata of the product, including its price," he shared in an email.

To succeed in 2026, Riedy said CPG brands will need to adjust their marketing and promotions strategies to take into consideration how AI-driven decision-making is both responding to and shaping consumer behavior.

AI driving retail personalization

By 2026, artificial intelligence will be the driving force behind truly personalized retail experiences that empower both consumers and store associates, according to Tony D'Onofrio, president at Sensormatic Solutions.

"Retailers will use AI to analyze real-time data on customer preferences and behaviors, delivering individualized offers and recommendations that enhance loyalty and engagement," he shared in an email.

D'Onofrio expects store associates to leverage AI powered tools to better anticipate shopper needs and boost productivity.

"As retail leaders continue prioritizing AI, the divide between digital and physical experiences will narrow, creating a more intelligent and human-centered shopping journey."

AI agents mark reflection point

DeepL's Chief Marketing Officer Steve Rotter said 2026 will mark a historic inflection point — the year when AI agents stop merely augmenting work and start reengineering it.

"For marketers, this unlocks incredible potential with the ability (for the first time ever) to deliver fine-tuned, personalized marketing at scale. Which ultimately means greater relevance and better marketing," he wrote in an email.

AI agents clearly have the potential to help marketers overcome barriers, he added.

About Judy Mottl

Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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