AI

Retail AI Council debuts protocol to boost customer relationships

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January 6, 2026

The Retail AI Council, a retailer-led organization dedicated to helping retailers embrace the transformative potential of AI, has formed the Shopper Context Protocol Working Group, a cross-industry initiative dedicated to ensuring that the future of commerce in the age of AI preserves what matters most: customer relationships.

With one-third of consumers using personal AI agents as part of their shopping journey, brands risk losing the direct relationships they've spent years developing, according to a press release.

SCP addresses this gap by enabling customers to choose where and how their shopping context is shared, ensuring that agentic commerce strengthens – not detracts from – their relationships with brands.

"AI isn't transformational unless it's grounded in a deep, real-time understanding of what shoppers want and why," Andy Laudato, co-founder and chair of the Retail AI Council and COO of The Vitamin Shoppe, said in the release. "The Working Group is a critical step toward building that foundation, prioritizing continuity of a shopper's experience with a brand while democratizing a retailer's access to context-rich AI."