Reasons to Read

Discover the five forces set to redefine global retail in 2026—from fragmented consumer resilience and agentic AI adoption to experiential retail, supply chain agility, and the rise of retail media as a core profit engine.

Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

• How are retailers across the US, UK, India, and China adapting to uneven economic conditions and increasingly value-conscious consumers while sustaining growth?
• Why is agentic AI becoming a baseline capability in retail, and how are leading players using it to drive conversion, automate operations, and improve decision-making at scale?
• In what ways are physical stores evolving into experiential, technology-enabled environments—and how does this shift differ across mature and emerging markets?
• Why is supply chain agility emerging as a critical competitive differentiator, and how are global retailers investing in AI, automation, and localized fulfillment to stay ahead?
• How are retail media and data monetization reshaping retailer economics, and which regions are moving fastest to unlock high-margin, asset-light growth?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Alibaba Group, Amazon, DMart (Avenue Supermarts), Estée Lauder, Flipkart, JD.com, John Lewis Partnership, Reliance Retail, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges Group, Target, Tesco, Walmart and Zara (Inditex).

Data in this report include: Global and regional retail sales forecasts and YoY growth; consumer spending and inflation trends across major markets; adoption and impact of agentic AI in retail operations; experiential retail performance indicators; supply chain investment and automation trends; and retail media market size, growth rates, and monetization models across regions.