从炒作到实践：2026年零售AI趋势

Less wow, more how.That is the sentiment of retailersgoing into 2026. And that shouldanchor your brand strategy forwinning in the fast‑shifting retaillandscape. After years of focusing on the potential of advancing technologies like AI, retailleaders are no longer leaning into the hype. Instead, they’re leading with a morepractical set of hows: How tomeasuresuccess. How toscale. How toexecute. We’ve reached a point in the growth curve of AI and innovation, that it is now onlyimpressive when it delivers value. And delivering value means moving beyondnovelty to usefulness, helping a service team clear a surge in calls, enabling asupply chain leader to get a step ahead of a literal storm, or supporting storemanagers to adjust prices based on local events. But what truly differentiates AI, is not any single use case but its ability to connectthe business through them. When applied across functions, AI can surface patternsno individual function could see on its own, thereby revealing how the sameweather event might trigger a spike in service inquiries, disrupt inbound logistics,and require rapid price adjustments. When AI becomes both ubiquitous throughout the business and unified acrossit—when it acts as the connective tissue for key functions, regions, and businessunits—it doesn’t just deliver isolated impact, it becomes a source of enterpriseadvantage. This shift is already materializing in retail. On the NRF show floor, it wasunmistakable: fewer one-off point solutions and more coordination across theenterprise; less pilots and more scalable programs; solutions that were trulyinteroperable, connecting systems, data, and teams and breaking the silos createdover years and decades.“ Alexander FleischerExecutive DirectorInnovation Ecosystem,Capgemini AIE AI is not the headline, but the wiring.We’re seeing the shift from AI as ‘afeature’ into AI as an operating layerinside the business. Trend 1: Agents get practical:Rewiring day-to-day retailexecution with AI Agentic AI continued to dominate the headlines at NRF. But unlike last year whenAI agents were impressing attendees with possibility and potential, this year’sconversations focused on the real value they can deliver today. Many retail leaders have been convinced that “AI can do everything.” Now theywant to know what it can do in the moment to make everyday work easier, faster,and more effective. Exhibitors that received the most traction at NRF were those that led not withpitches around raw intelligence, but real-world applicability, showing how AIagents can deflect customer service volume during peak seasons, enable fastermerchant and operations changes without long IT backlogs, and improve storeexecution through smarter task management, staffing, and issue resolution. For instance,7Learningsis a dynamic pricing software that uses AI to optimizepricing, performance marketing, and product ordering—and also synchronizeactions across the business. Similarly,Profitmindleverages AI agents to identifyspecific growth opportunities across pricing, inventory, and assortment and offerretailers a clear path to execution. On the customer side, the bar for AI is even higher. Unlike employees who mayinvest time learning a new tool or be required to use it, shoppers are purely value-driven. They’ll engage if the experience delivers immediately, and they’ll move onjust as quickly if it doesn’t. One strong example we saw of an effective customer-facing AI tool at NRF wasAsk Ralph,a conversational styling companion fromRalph LaurenandMicrosoft.This app-based chatbot delivers an experience that mirrors that of the flagshipstore, offering styling advice, outfit suggestions, and inspiration while preservingRalph Lauren’s tone, attitude, and aesthetic.“ Kacey BurdenInnovation Strategistand Operations Lead,AIE, Capgemini The most effective AI isn’t just fastor smart—it’s brand-right, trust-building, and genuinely enhances thecustomer experience. To draw out the full value from AI, retailers need to be more intentional about itsuse, not as a standalone solution but as the connective tissue across the business.NRF marked a clear shift from AI as a feature to AI as an operating layer embeddedacross the business. Rather than sitting on the surface, AI is being used to rewireretail organizations to move faster, operate more efficiently, and respond in realtime. At the same time, AI cannot connect what the organization has neglected.Scalability depends on having the right foundations in place—clean, trusted data,clear permissions and governance, and workflows that align with how teamsalready operate. Without those elements, even the most capable agents andadvanced solutions will struggle to deliver real impact. The key to AI adoption at scale: Trust The latest consumer research from the Capgemini Research Institute,What matters to today’s consumer 2026, reveals a critical issue: While AIuse has grown, trust in the technology has declined steadily over the pasttwo