Retail’s Next Chapter: Data Dominance and AI’s Trust Test
The global retail landscape is poised for a dramatic transformation over the next 18 months, a period predicted to be more impactful than any seen in the last decade. This warning comes from Akeneo, a France-based product information technology company, as they release their 2025-2026 commerce outlook. The report highlights the converging forces of artificial intelligence (AI), evolving regulations, and the growing popularity of circular shopping behaviors as key drivers of this change, fundamentally altering how consumers discover, assess, and purchase products.
A central theme throughout Akeneo’s analysis is the critical importance of product information. The report emphasizes that brands prioritizing accurate, consistent, enriched, and transparent product data will be the ones to succeed in this evolving market. Investing in these areas is no longer a competitive advantage, but a necessity for visibility and sales.
While AI-powered commerce has seen rapid adoption among larger retailers, Akeneo CEO Romain Fouache points to a growing “trust phase” for the technology. Recent research indicates that only 27% of shoppers who’ve used an AI checkout intend to repeat the experience, underscoring the need for transparency and clear communication regarding how these tools operate. Fouache notes that AI’s effectiveness is directly tied to consumer trust, and brands that successfully demonstrated how AI enhanced accuracy, convenience, and value thrived during the 2025 holiday season.
Looking ahead to 2026, Akeneo predicts a significant shift in consumer shopping habits. The report suggests that over half of consumers plan to make purchases through third-party applications rather than directly on brand websites. This trend signals an erosion of the traditional model of driving traffic to owned channels. As platforms like Google, Amazon, and ChatGPT evolve into competing conversational storefronts, high-quality, consistent product information effectively becomes a brand’s primary sales representative.
Fouache elaborates on this point, stating that shoppers may now complete their entire purchase journey – discovery, evaluation, and purchase – without ever visiting a brand’s website. Consequently, incomplete or inconsistent product data will result in a brand being overlooked. Ensuring product information is comprehensive and accurate is crucial for maintaining visibility in this fragmented landscape.
Interestingly, Akeneo’s report also identifies a “surprising resurgence in physical retail.” With Gen Z increasingly frequenting malls and previously online-exclusive brands rapidly establishing brick-and-mortar stores, there’s a possibility that e-commerce may have lost ground during the recent holiday season. Despite the perception of better deals online, consumer disappointment with products failing to meet expectations contributes to high return rates associated with major online sales events.
To rebuild consumer trust, Akeneo stresses the importance of improving product data – specifically its accuracy, completeness, and consistency across all channels. While investment in AI is booming, with over 1,300 start-ups now valued at over $100 million, the current market is largely speculative. However, even if consolidation occurs, the infrastructure developed during this period will lay the foundation for future innovation.
