It’s betting that Google’s protocols will funnel agentic payment volume to its BNPL platform.

Mastercard bets AI recommendations are the clearest near-term use case for banking clients.

Growing consumer adoption of AI tools is positioning AI platforms as an alternative shopping channel—but most AI-driven transactions are still completed on retailer websites.

Messy product data and system silos are stalling its plan to monetize ChatGPT through AI-driven commerce

Gemini creates targeted offers mid-chat, pushing brands to meet users where intent is forming

As AI agents gain traction, reliability will determine if consumers stick around.

Retailers faced a challenging year as economic factors, new technologies, and changing consumer behaviors reshaped the landscape. Here are our top five stories from this past year and what they meant to a tumultuous industry.

Industry leaders believe 2026 will be about the evolution of shopping. Consumers have changed the way they discover products and consider purchases, whether on social media or through genAI-powered conversational searches. In the upcoming year, retailers will be leveraging data to support more relevant in-store experiences and adapt dynamically to individual shopper journeys. Here are some important ways that marketing experts see this happening.

Here are four “Reimagining Retail” episodes to queue up for your holiday travel.

As consumers grow more comfortable with using AI, retail industry leaders see 2026 as a pivotal year in shaping how the emerging technology disrupts the way people shop.

PayPal merchants will now be discoverable within Perplexity, per a press release—right in time for Cyber Five. PayPal merchants stand to benefit from the rising tide of genAI adopters who are reinventing the research, product recommendation, and deal-seeking status quo. Merchants that cater to Gen Z should push to be early adopters of the new update: 47% of Gen Zers already have found a new brand or product through AI, per an Adobe survey. Early mover merchants could get a boost from genAI holiday volume this season.

Microsoft overhauled its Digital Direct Sales operation—responsible for selling all first-party products on Microsoft.com across 100+ markets—to run on an AI-first, agent-driven assistant model that drives the company’s ecommerce. The next battle for customer intent won’t happen on search bars or landing pages—it will happen inside conversations. The brands that train their AI agents to listen, reason, and personalize at scale will own those moments of intent. Every chat should be a transaction—brands need to train their AI agents to listen, reason, and personalize at scale.

OpenAI’s launch of Instant Checkout, which enables direct purchases through ChatGPT, has triggered a competitive push among ecommerce giants to streamline online shopping. Google unveiled AI Mode, allowing conversational product searches, Amazon introduced Add to Delivery for one-tap Prime orders, and Meta rolled out Business AI to enhance chat-based shopping across its platforms. While Instant Checkout currently supports only single Etsy purchases and lacks utility for everyday shopping, its debut signals the potential of AI-driven commerce. For now, Amazon and Google’s scale and infrastructure give them the edge, but the arms race to own the purchase path is intensifying.

AI shopping assistants are boosting discovery and personalization, but trust issues and fulfillment challenges could limit their impact on channel migration.

The news: Messaging ads are gaining traction as a key opportunity to reach customers at critical moments after Meta debuted ads in WhatsApp. In an exclusive conversation with EMARKETER, Grant Parker, president of omnichannel ad platform Innnovid, offered his take on the future of the messaging medium. Our take: The path forward for messaging ads relies on how well the format integrates with the user experience rather than interrupting it—necessitating that advertisers invest in this opportunity while accounting for consumer attitudes.

The news: PayPal is launching storefront-style ads that allow users to buy products directly within display ads on publisher sites, using PayPal or Venmo without leaving the page. Debuting in the US with partners like Business Insider and Vox Media, the units will later expand to include carousels and listings. This move strengthens PayPal’s financial media network footprint after its 2023 Ads launch. Our take: As FMN spend is set to reach $1.78B by 2027, PayPal is embedding commerce where consumers already are. These shoppable ads address friction, drive impulse purchases, and position PayPal as a safeguard against rising AI-driven agentic commerce.

Google has entered the AI shopping arena: The company’s AI Mode experience aims to assist consumers throughout every step of the shopping experience—from finding inspiration to buying at the right moment.

Now offering massages, art tours, and more without a home booking, Airbnb is turning into a full-service travel platform with a trove of first-party data.

WhatsApp’s importance to Meta goes well beyond social messaging: A forced divestiture could disrupt customer service, commerce, and loyalty worldwide.

Could OpenAI turn ChatGPT into a shopping hub? The company is reportedly partnering with Shopify in an effort similar to other genAI shopping efforts by Perplexity and Microsoft.