AI shopping assistants such as Amazon's Alexa for Shopping (formerly Rufus), Walmart's Sparky, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini are reshaping how consumers discover and evaluate products. Retailer-owned assistants are already lifting order values and conversion, while standalone AI platforms struggle to convert recommendations into purchases. This FAQ covers how AI shopping assistants work, what they mean for brand loyalty, and how brands earn a place in AI-generated recommendations.

Recent earnings reports from the nation's largest retailers gave a peek behind the curtain for how they aim to improve AI offerings, and where they value it most in their business.

Amazon's rapid expansion into artificial intelligence, advertising, and supply chain services is prompting analysts to reconsider what kind of company it has become, even as its core retail operations continue to fuel growth across all divisions. "Is Amazon even a retailer anymore?" said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers." "It started as a bookstore. It turned into a marketplace. Then it became AWS, and then they started selling their fulfillment services, and then advertising, and now they're making AI chips."

Google considers Gemini ads: After ruling them out, Google eyes chatbot ads to offset AI costs and prove Gemini can rival ChatGPT for budgets.

Amazon’s AI ad engine: Q1 ad sales rose 24% to $17.2 billion as automation and first-party data power full-funnel buys.

This FAQ covers what agentic commerce is, who the key players are, and what brands and advertisers should do about it.

A leaked Amazon deck positions its Rufus AI shopping assistant as a high-intent retail media channel with CPC pricing on the horizon.

AI is reshaping how people discover, evaluate, and buy products. As assistants and emerging agents take on more of the shopping journey, retailers must rethink how they surface products and compete for influence in the purchase journey.

While categories like payments, back-end infrastructure, and in-store systems remain relevant, AI has emerged as a defining force in retail tech for 2026.

UK ecommerce is entering a steady, mature phase—but there are still opportunities for growth.

“Returns are in, brands are sharing how the holidays really performed on investor calls, and before we know it, we're going to start planning for the next cycle,” said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of “Reimagining Retail.” As retailers wrap up their analysis of the 2025 holiday season and begin planning for 2026, here’s how consumer behaviors are evolving across channels and what this means for future holiday strategies.

Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol promises a common standard for agentic commerce. But AI-driven checkout will remain small for the foreseeable future, keeping the focus on how AI influences discovery rather than where transactions are completed.

The growing role of AI in shopping is forcing retailers to rethink discovery and decision-making. Walmart, for example, is embedding its ecommerce capabilities into external AI assistants like Google’s Gemini. Meanwhile, Amazon is keeping AI-led discovery and decision-making inside its own ecosystem with tools like Rufus.

While we were right that retailers would offer richer in-store experiences to attract shoppers, we were wrong about how Amazon, discount retailers, and dollar stores would evolve their physical and digital strategies. From AI tools that stayed online to unfulfilled marketplace ambitions, here’s how we did with our 2025 predictions.

Amazon's recent business moves, examining corporate layoffs, AI-powered shopping features, and new smart glasses technology for delivery workers paint an interesting view of its immediate future and what it could mean for consumers.

An OpenAI leak indicates that ads are coming to ChatGPT in the near future, according to computer engineer Tibor Blaho. Advertisers should anticipate a future where ads become a core part of the ChatGPT experience and act quickly to test and learn before competitors, but should remain agile in their strategies and remain informed about developments in consumer behavior.

Mobile will account for nearly half of US online sales in 2026 and become the dominant channel in 2027. To make the most of this shift, retailers and brands should enhance integration of their shopping apps and loyalty programs.

As AI increasingly powers everything from holiday ads to product recommendations, retailers face a critical balancing act between efficiency and authenticity. "The question isn't if retailers will use AI, it's how they'll keep using it and maintain the human touch along the way," said host Suzy Davidkhanian on a recent episode of “Behind the Numbers.”

Google has officially begun showing ads in its AI Mode search engine after announcing a rollout earlier this year. Google’s early testing of ads in AI Mode suggests that AI-driven search placements are beginning to take shape and may ultimately unlock new revenue potential. But with performance still unproven, advertisers should track developments closely while resisting the urge to invest heavily before the format demonstrates clear value.

Amazon quietly introduced agentic shopping capabilities to its Rufus chatbot last week. Customers can now ask Rufus to monitor products and make a purchase when an item reaches a target price or discount level. Amazon’s “Auto Buy” feature could make Rufus more useful for deal-seeking shoppers this holiday season—provided they know the option exists and trust the chatbot’s accuracy. Over the long term, adding more agentic features to Rufus—which has been used by 250 million active customers this year alone—could enable Amazon to satisfy shoppers’ desire for AI assistance without ceding ground to platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity.