Welcome to Retail Evolution!
After chronicling the biggest retail shifts of our time for 15+ years, I’m still in awe of global retail’s rapid evolution, especially since the pandemic. That’s why I started a new monthly newsletter, Retail Evolution.
Retail transformation is change management on crack
My mission is to bring clarity to the chaos of retail transformation. That’s why I’m sharing the exact frameworks that have helped me grasp and articulate retail mega-trends and strategy (and what they mean for you).
Retail stakeholders are confused
Me too! It’s hard to absorb all the dramatic, concurrent shifts taking place in retail.
Thousands of global retail community members (retailer and brand executives, retail technology leaders, retail associations, media, academics and investors) follow me on social media. They tune in because I explain complex retail concepts in abstract terms and connect the dots to uncover retail patterns that most people miss.
Let’s get the Retail Evolution party started
Here’s one example of an abstract framework that helped me make sense of the recent, rapid and seemingly pervasive emergence of both conversational commerce and agentic shopping.
For details on each stage of retail evolution from e-commerce to conversational commerce and agentic shopping, see my full post on Retail’s AI Evolution. Members of the AI in Retail community shared it on social media in part to help non-experts understand why AI is permeating global retail and changing retail strategy.
Here’s a high-level framework to help all of us go from chaos to clarity as global retail evolves with AI.
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🛍️🛒 E-commerce
We all know e-commerce lets customers search for products.
Skip the store: The store comes to us via digital catalog.
Skip the line: E-commerce includes mobile apps, for instance enabling my Tim Hortons addiction by getting my sweet, glorious coffee into my veins faster.
E-commerce is the foundation for AI in retail.
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🛍️👁️🗨️ Conversational Commerce
Conversational commerce is real-time conversations between customers and retailers or brands, via messaging apps, chatbots and voice assistants (like WhatsApp, ChatGPT and Alexa).
Conversational commerce builds upon the e-commerce foundation.
AI = Sales Associate
Customers ask questions. (E.g. What popular side dish should I serve at Thanksgiving?)
AI acts as an attentive curator of recommended products by answering our questions with efficient, personalized retail solutions.
Beyond answering questions, conversational commerce is adding instant checkout, giving us the potential to discover, like and buy in seconds.
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🛍️🤖 Agentic Shopping
Agentic shopping uses AI to act autonomously on customers’ behalf by setting goals, making decisions and performing tasks with minimal human intervention.
It builds upon the conversational commerce foundation.
AI = Personal Shopper
Customers provide goals and constraints, and delegate shopping tasks to the AI agent in this done-for-you model.
AI acts as an empowered digital helper takes shopping tasks off customers’ plates.
E.g. AI agents can compare prices and order the best deal automatically on the shopper’s behalf.
Agentic shopping represents the future of retail.
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Why is AI exploding in retail right now?
📈 AI benefits companies: Retailers and brands achieve higher conversions and lower support costs.
😍 AI delights customers: Shopping evolves with greater personalization and efficiency for a superior customer experience.
❤️ AI is popular: AI referral to retail websites jumped 4700% YoY in July – and it’s expected to rise by an additional 520% this holiday season. [Adobe Analytics]
🛍️ AI is changing the shopping journey: AI-driven recommendations go straight to product pages (and bypass the full range of competitors’ offerings, so customers do less browsing across a category), thereby streamlining consideration and conversion
🎯 AI is changing retail strategy: For all these reasons, the fusion of e-commerce and AI is shattering retailers’ and brands’ traditional retail strategy paradigms and investments.
How is your company adapting to the explosion of AI in retail?
It’s not just AI
Each month we’ll examine global retail’s most influential factors, including retail media, consumer behavior shifts and retail giants’ moves. Also, my quarterly roundups will give you proof of the top factors shaping retail’s evolution.
Free subscribers get to see what’s changing and strategic implications. A paid subscription also includes practical applications as next steps for your team.
Hope you stay tuned to Retail Evolution! Upcoming editions include Retail Media Essentials (including an emerging trend making CFOs swoon) and Q3’s Top Retail Trends.
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🔔🛍️ Follow me for more retail trends & strategy:
Follow me on LinkedIn
Subscribe to my YouTube channel
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Related:
AI-Driven Retail Brings Us Together (event recap)
OpenAI is a Retail Superconnector
Retail Shifts Defining 2026
2026 Retail Tech Trends
Why Finance is Driving Retail Strategy
OpenAI’s Retail Collaborations
Retail’s AI Evolution
The Race to Conversational Commerce
AI Permeates Retail Categories
AI Permeates Retail Processes
AI Permeates Global Retail
Build Brand Trust in the Age of AI
Short video: 3 Ways AI Meets Consumer Needs