Artificial Intelligence (AI)

E-commerce is evolving in ways that most retailers aren’t prepared for. The next wave of online shopping won't happen primarily on websites, it will happen through artificial intelligence agents that browse, compare and recommend products on behalf of consumers. Companies that lack the data architecture to serve these agents will become invisible to an important…

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond the pilot phase in retail. Most major retailers now use AI across their operations, with 92 percent of retail marketers reporting active AI adoption this year alone — and more than half planning to increase their investment. The global AI retail market is projected to reach over $160 billion by…

Your best customer has a question at 10 PM on a Saturday. They need to know if that jacket runs small before they buy. They wait for a response, but nothing comes. So they close the tab and order from someone else. This happens every day. HubSpot's 2024 State of Service report found that 63…

Retail’s most decisive revenue moment doesn’t stretch across the full holiday quarter; it happens in a condensed, high-stakes two-week window. As inflation keeps shoppers cautious and competition intensifies, the period between Black Friday and mid-December separates retailers that simply react from those that lead. Success now hinges on data agility, precision strategy, and artificial intelligence-driven…

The $472 billion global retail luxury market faces an interesting tension. Shoppers crave the kind of deeply personal experiences that artificial intelligence makes possible, yet they’re cautious about how much data they share. Once loyalty was all about collecting points or signing up for discounts; now it's something more emotional. People don’t want to be…

The traditional e-commerce website, defined by search bars, filters and static product grids, is increasingly misaligned with how consumers want to shop. According to a new report from Total Retail, From Website to AI Storefront: How Retailers Are Preparing for Agentic Commerce and the Future of Online Shopping, consumers now expect to describe their needs…

Global online sales rose 4 percent year-over-year (YoY) in Q2 2025, powered by a 6 percent YoY surge in online traffic volumes, according to Salesforce. Digital sales are now projected to reach a staggering $1.25 trillion this year, with artificial intelligence- and agent-referred traffic driving one in five holiday purchases worldwide. For retailers, that’s both…

In the U.S. alone, Adobe predicts the 2025 holiday shopping season is expected to bring in $253.4 billion in online sales this year, up 5.3 percent year-over-year (YoY). Cyber Monday is expected to be the biggest shopping day of the year (up 8.3 percent YoY) and Black Friday a close second, seeing growth (up 4.9…

The retail industry is transitioning to the use of autonomous decision systems, which create adaptive workflows that exceed traditional analytical capabilities. The combination of modern technology with governance systems enables retailers to handle complex processes while achieving operational speed and expanded business scale. Closing the Loop: Beyond Traditional AI Autonomous systems perform a complete observational…

Holiday shopping is a season of tradition. Families gather, retailers roll out promotions, and consumers search for the perfect gifts. Yet in 2025, traditions are colliding with a dramatic shift in how products are discovered, recommended and purchased. A growing share of shoppers, especially Gen Z and millennials, are kicking off holiday shopping on artificial…