9 in ten retailers globally are planning to boost their spending on synthetic intelligence (AI) to optimise their e-commerce operations over the subsequent 12 to 24 months, with on-line supply execution a key space of focus.
That’s a key statistic from analysis launched on 4 February 2026, which suggests retailers view AI as a key lever to drive development and achieve a aggressive market. A complete of 38% of European retailers determine pace, monitoring and proactive communication across the supply course of as areas the place AI can ship the best influence.
The report by Retail Economics, on behalf of supply platform Metapack, which was launched to coincide with the tech firm’s annual The Supply Convention (TDC) in London, reveals retailers with a turnover of £500m or extra usually tend to level to abilities gaps and the complexity of integrating AI with legacy programs (54%) as a problem to AI adoption.
Smaller retailers, with a turnover of beneath £100m, cite excessive growth prices (35%) and knowledge safety or compliance issues as a notable barrier to utilizing AI.
Alongside the 400-strong retailer research, the Ecommerce supply benchmark report 2026 additionally surveyed 8,000 shoppers about their use of AI.
It discovered that globally, 78% of customers used AI instruments corresponding to ChatGPT previously 12 months, rising to 93% amongst these beneath the age of 35. Some 30% of adults are open to AI appearing as a private purchasing agent, recommending merchandise, checking supply and returns choices, and even guaranteeing purchases on their behalf as soon as preferences are set.
By 2030, 48% of customers count on AI to behave as a useful assistant throughout the purchasing journey, whereas an additional quarter of customers anticipate it evolving right into a trusted co-shopper that automates some choices. Retailers corresponding to JD Sports activities and Etsy, within the US, have developed tech integrations and began permitting customers to transact straight by means of AI platforms, in recognition of the rising site visitors volumes on these channels.
Certainly, the supply benchmark report argued that AI-based platforms are rising as a serious retail channel, producing 50.2 million month-to-month shopping-intent visits within the UK, which ranks it alongside the most important e-commerce websites.
Which AI shopper persona are you?
Retailers and types are all the time eager to enhance the digital buyer expertise (CX), and senior leaders within the business usually discuss up the significance of inserting the consumer on the coronary heart of technique.
For instance, New Look CEO Helen Connolly mentioned of the appointment of retail director Mark Matthews in December 2025 that he brings “a customer-first mindset”. US division retailer chain Bloomingdale’s employed Kirsten Miller as chief expertise officer in January, and the brand new recruit discover posted on-line mentioned she was becoming a member of a staff with a “buyer first, all the time” mentality.
If retailers adopting this strategy are true to their phrase, they’re going to want to become familiar with what an AI-enabled buyer means for his or her enterprise.
The Ecommerce supply benchmarkreport identifies 4 distinct AI-driven shopper personas, reflecting the assorted methods shoppers are adopting AI when purchasing.
It mentioned there are “AI delegators” (17% of customers), who’re prosperous, time-poor customers, as a rule millennials, who’re comfy letting AI take the lead for product discovery, comparability and buying, to save lots of effort and time.
On the flip aspect, there are “AI sceptics” (23%), who’re cost-focused customers who make restricted use of this new expertise, prioritise low supply costs over pace or innovation, and keep on with what’s acquainted to them within the purchasing course of.
The commonest kinds of new-age customers, although, are both “AI collaborators” or “AI selectors”. Every representing 30% of immediately’s customers, the previous is a younger, digitally savvy client who makes use of AI continuously as a trusted co-shopper whereas retaining closing management themselves, whereas the latter is usually older and makes use of AI sometimes for info or reassurance.
The report notes that retailers seeking to AI to determine pace, monitoring and proactive communication across the supply course of will seemingly have essentially the most success in interesting to the delegator persona.
What’s the retail group saying about AI?
Retailers and corporations working within the on-line supply ecosystem took to the stage on 3 February 2026 for this 12 months’s TDC, the place AI was a sizzling subject. They shared how it’s being deployed in a number of methods to assist their efforts in enhancing service ranges and effectivity.
The Cheeky Panda’s co-founder, Chris Forbes, informed a story of Covid instances when large orders for his enterprise’s core lavatory roll product got here in and preliminary pleasure on the “large offers” was tempered as a result of the corporate inadvertently ended up taking inventory away from present prospects. He spoke concerning the significance of outlets making certain “steady supply”, particularly for organisations within the early phases of their development journeys.
“In supply and fulfilment, you must ringfence your stockholding so that you don’t get too excited while you get large offers – it’s all about steady supply.
“These days, we use AI in our inventory administration programs to ringfence it, so we don’t really have to over-manage it and over-analyse it regularly. We’ve bought controls and limits arrange, so it makes it so much simpler.”
Kristian Tottermar, logistics community strategic lead at H&M, didn’t speak about AI particularly, however underlined the significance of holistic provide chain funding to make sure profitable supply.
“We don’t speak about investing purely for supply,” he commented. “Should you optimise your provide chain – [for example, by making it] extra clear or optimising the end-to-end circulate – that may allow you to have higher availability and supply.”
Tobias Buxhoidt, founder and CEO of parcelLab, mentioned: “Once I take into consideration what AI will do – sure, it can make all of our lives simpler – the very first thing that may occur is it can dramatically change how buyer acquisition works.”
I don’t see a world the place AI isn’t taking up a big share of the standard [customer] acquisition channels we all know immediately Tobias Buxhoidt, parcelLab
Reflecting on the rising variety of folks utilizing AI to seek for merchandise or acquire details about manufacturers, as referenced within the benchmark analysis, he remarked: “This turns into crazily handy for the shoppers. It’s not the identical for all manufacturers and markets, however this can turn out to be a serious buyer acquisition channel, and it’ll be undifferentiated for manufacturers as they can’t management the acquisition anymore.”
Buxhoidt added that the main focus for retailers must be on retention and placing companies and techniques in place that hold prospects coming again, “as a result of the acquisition goes to get so rattling onerous”.
“I don’t see a world the place AI isn’t taking up a big share of the standard acquisition channels we all know immediately,” he warned.
Buxhoidt argued that in relation to retail returns administration on-line, AI might assist interactions between enterprise and buyer turn out to be extra conversational. Early-stage chatbots haven’t delivered what shoppers want, however the tech entrepreneur mentioned AI-powered on-line conversational commerce has the potential to assist tailor conversations to the second relatively than merely observe a pre-designated path.
Aura Hita Losa, lead on conversational AI at Swiss coach model On, mentioned that if AI is used on this space, it wants to unravel issues, not merely current additional info and content material to the shopper.
“Think about you place your founder on the cellphone to ship [the customer exchange]. She or he would all the time have the best factor to say or to do,” she famous. “When prospects attain out, they don’t need info – they need an answer, they usually need you to behave.”
Losa steered retailers and types want to make use of the newest expertise, analytics and insights software program to turn out to be higher at remembering prospects’ earlier issues, in order that once they current themselves at customer support – with a grievance or a question, for instance – they are often higher served.
One might argue that real-life people can present the required companies to take care of these exchanges, however retailers and types are more and more seeking to expertise and AI to tackle a lot of this workload.
Certainly, the convention had earlier kicked off with a debate about AI, human worth and retail, between TV superstar and retail artistic Mary Portas and Google DeepMind product administration developer Arka Dhar, hosted by Al Ko, CEO of tech firm Auctane.
Portas argued that AI must be used to make folks “extra human”, suggesting this as an space the place it may possibly have a strong influence.
Dhar mentioned AI will seemingly have a powerful function to play in serving to frontline employees collect complete product info, with AI brokers offering a few of the immediate questions that may assist retailer employees turn out to be more proficient at problem-solving for his or her prospects.
He steered there are nonetheless main hurdles to beat in getting AI to suppose and act like a specific model and in getting knowledge administration to a degree, internally, that may optimise use of the expertise.
Richard Lim, CEO of Retail Economics, says: “AI is reshaping retail technique, not simply the CX. Retailers clearly see the potential throughout conversion, supply and CX, and shoppers are more and more comfy with AI taking part in a job in how they store. In 2026, the main focus shifts from experimentation to execution, the place success will likely be formed by how successfully retailers can embed AI into their knowledge, programs and on a regular basis operations.”
