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Reasons to Read

Discover how AI, data and operational innovations are transforming the retail landscape—from in-store experiences to fulfillment strategies and marketing approaches.

Read this report to uncover answers to these and other critical questions:

How is AI reshaping in-store physical retail, improving associate workflows and enhancing customer experiences?
What are the hidden costs in fulfillment and delivery, and how can AI help reduce these expenses?
How are technologies like drone delivery, agentic platforms and human-generated content transforming the marketing and customer experience landscape?
How can brands strategically balance physical and digital retail to build lasting customer relationships?

Companies mentioned in this report include: The Vitamin Shoppe; Tecovas; Burq; Wing; Pipe17; SuperCircle; PebblePost; Statusphere; The Home Depot; Victoria’s Secret; Adobe; PebblePost; Wing; OpenAI; Algolia; Botify; Google; Shopify; Sephora.

Find all of our coverage of Shoptalk Spring 2026 here.

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Reasons to Read

Discover how ultra-high-net-worth individuals are becoming the decisive growth engine of a slowing luxury market, reshaping demand as wealth concentrates at the top and younger VICs redefine what “luxury” means. Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

How is the global UHNWI population evolving in size, wealth concentration and regional mix, and what does this imply for luxury brands’ VIC strategies and growth planning through 2030?
How is Asia-Pacific—particularly China and emerging ultra-wealth hubs—re-centering luxury demand, and how should brands recalibrate store networks, assortments and clienteling to capture this shift?
How are VIC-driven spending, premiumization and prime real-estate acquisitions enabling maisons such as Chanel, Hermès, Kering, LVMH and Prada to offset aspirational softness and protect margins?
How is the rise of Next Gen UHNWIs, from Millennials to Gen Alpha, changing luxury values and behaviors, and what does Coresight Research’s Fast Luxury model reveal about on-trend drops, resale and cultural influence?
What are the strategic implications for brands, retailers and technology vendors—from VIC-centric operating models and Asia-focused expansion to AI-enabled clienteling, authentication and resale infrastructure?

Data in this research report include/are: Global personal luxury goods market size and growth forecasts through 2030; UHNWI population, wealth and regional distribution from Wealth‑X; US luxury store traffic and VIC exposure from Placer.ai and Coresight Research; and generational and behavioral insights underpinning the Fast Luxury model.

Companies mentioned in this report include/are: Chanel, Hermès (EPA: RMS), Kering (EPA: KER), LVMH (EPA: MC), Prada (HKEX: 1913), and Qiandao.

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Reasons to Read

Discover how AI, data and human insight are reshaping the future of retail—from discovery to loyalty.

Read this report to uncover answers to these and other critical questions:

How is agentic commerce and AI-driven personalization transforming product discovery, shopping interfaces and retail operations?
How are retail media networks and first-party data integrations driving measurable, full-funnel performance?
Why are emotional connection, merchant instinct and community-driven insights becoming more valuable in an AI-powered retail landscape?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Pinterest; OpenAI; The Home Depot; Behr Paint Company; Google; The Kroger Co.; Reddit; Gap Inc.; Sephora; Anthropic; Ocado; Gallo; Orium; Newell Brands; Sierra; Nordstrom; Commerce Ventures; LFX Venture Partners; Azoma; Bayezon AI; Flock AI; Autolane; SocialQ AI; Coframe; Ethosphere; MerchKit; RateRunners; ShopSight; and Anthropologie.

Find all of our coverage of Shoptalk Spring 2026 here.

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Reasons to Read

On March 24, 2026, Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder of Coresight Research, emceed the Shoptalk Spring 2026 “Shark Reef” Startup Pitch competition and served as lead judge.

The event featured 10 early-stage retail-technology innovators competing across two categories: technologies reinventing customer experience and technologies driving operational efficiencies. The winners of the Judges’ Choice award received a $100,000 prize from Commerce Ventures. The winners of the Audience Choice award received a prize of $100,000 in services from Coresight Research.

Coresight Research is a research partner of Shoptalk Spring 2026.

In each presentation, we outline the following:

Startup Pitch history—past winners
Event format, featuring rapid-fire, three-minute founder pitches followed by live Q&A with an expert judging panel
Expert judging panel
Startup selection criteria
The 5 participating innovators driving innovation across AI, agentic commerce, store intelligence, content generation and retail infrastructure
Choosing the winners—the live audience voting process and evaluation criteria

Other relevant research:

Retail 2026: 10 Trends in Retail Technology
Visit the Coresight Research Retail Technology Hub to explore reports, data and competitive landscapes on technology.

More on Shoptalk Spring:

For highlights from the Startup Pitch event and to find out which companies won, view our Shoptalk Spring Day 1 Recap.
Essential Guide to Shoptalk Spring 2026: Retail in the Age of AI—Balancing Automation and Human-Centric Experiences
Catch up on insights from all Shoptalk events here.

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Reasons to Read

Discover how US consumers are reacting to shifting economic conditions, inflation pressures and tariffs in the new year.

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

How is consumer sentiment diverging across income groups—and what does this mean for premium versus value retail performance.
To what extent are shoppers still concerned about tariffs and how are those concerns reshaping spending habits?
Which categories are seeing pull-forward demand and where might retailers expect softness later in the year?
How entrenched is trading down and what specific inflation-related behaviors are dominating in food and nonfood purchases?

Data in this research report include: Consumer sentiment by income and time; consumer tariff concerns and behavioral responses; shopping changes due to inflation; and retailer and category-level shopping data.

Other relevant research:

Coresight Research US Consumer Survey Databank provides additional insight into US consumer behaviors from our weekly surveys.

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Reasons to Read

Discover how AI can transform retail operations and boost productivity across the supply chain.

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

How can warehouse management platforms improve operational efficiency and reduce costs?
What technologies help retailers forecast demand more accurately and optimize inventory levels?
How can loss-prevention technologies combat shrink and improve inventory accuracy?
What role do shelf-monitoring and store intelligence solutions play in reducing out-of-stocks?
How can AI-driven merchandising and space optimization technologies enhance retail profitability?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Afresh, Aptos, Balls Foods, Board, Centric Software, Checkpoint Systems, Competera, Digital Wave Technology, Dematic, DoorDash, Flaconi, Hibbett, Honeywell, Hot Topic, Impact Analytics, Invent.ai, Kroger, Macy’s, Malachyte, Manhattan Associates, MoEngage, RELEX, Revionics, Simbe Robotics, Sensormatic, Onebeat, Oracle, Zebra Technologies, Zalando

This report is made available to non-subscribers of Coresight Research through its sponsorship by Alvanon, Gain, GGP, Intel, Malachyte, Onebeat and UDig.

Other relevant research:

Artificial Intelligence in Retail
Visit the Coresight Research Retail Technology Hub to explore reports, data and competitive landscapes on technology.

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Reasons to Read

Discover how in-store retail media is emerging as retail’s next high-impact growth and monetization engine.

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

How are retailers elevating in-store retail media as a strategic priority—and what’s driving near-universal investment?
Why is in-store retail media expanding beyond incrementality to full-funnel strategies, including brand building and product launches?
What does the in-store retail media maturity gap signal about untapped growth opportunities for retailers and advertisers?
Why does measurement continue to challenge retailers, and what’s holding back standardization and ROI visibility?
How are high costs and fragmented technology infrastructure limiting scale, and what must retailers do to overcome these barriers?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Albertsons; Ahold Delhaize; Circana; Comscore; Costco; CVS; Kroger; Nielsen; Rockbot; Sam’s Club; Target; The Home Depot; Vitamix; Walgreens; Walmart.

Data in this report include: global retail media market size and growth forecasts; retailer foot traffic and dwell time benchmarks; prioritization and investment trends; advertiser objectives and demand drivers; adoption and maturity levels; dynamic in-store media capabilities; retailer objectives and revenue impact; measurement challenges and methodologies; hardware cost estimates; barriers to scaling in-store retail media.

This report is made available to non-subscribers of Coresight Research through its sponsorship by Rockbot.

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Reasons to Read

Discover how agentic AI and physical AI are transforming industries with breakthroughs in AI hardware, open-source models and robotics at NVIDIA’s GTC 2026.

Every Analyst Corner also includes a roundup of research and data published that week.

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

How does NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin platform enhance AI performance and cost-efficiency across industries?
How are Nemotron open models reshaping multi-agent tasks and offering businesses a new way to manage long-context workloads?
What role does physical AI play in robotics, as seen with Disney’s lifelike Olaf robot, and how does it impact retail and logistics?
How is NVIDIA’s OpenClaw operating system laying the foundation for agentic AI as a service (AGAS) and enabling personalized agent creation?

Companies mentioned in this report include/are: NVIDIA, Disney, Mistral, Perplexity, Cursor (members of the Nemotron Coalition)

Other relevant research:

All Analyst Corners

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Reasons to Read

Gain valuable insights into the US retail sector’s performance and future outlook. Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

What is the growth outlook for the US retail sector in early 2026, and what factors are contributing to the strong retail sales growth projections for February and March?
How will key economic indicators—such as wage growth, consumer sentiment, and inflation—affect retail sales and consumer behavior in the coming months?
What is the impact of rising mortgage rates and their effect on discretionary spending, particularly in sectors like home improvement?
How are shifts in consumer behavior, including the demand for convenience and premium services, influencing retail strategies for higher-income consumers?

Data in this report include: US retail sales forecasts; model-predicted vs. actual retail growth; labor force, wage, and inflation metrics; consumer sentiment and disposable income trends; housing market data.

Alongside this report, you can access the data behind key charts and tables in the Excel download above.

Other relevant research:

Coresight Research’s monthly reports keep you up to date on retail sales (in total and by sector) and key consumer indicators in the US.
All our coverage of tariffs
The US Retail Sales Databank features retail sales values and year-over-year growth, in total and by sector, by year and by month. This Databank is updated monthly.

The Coresight Research US Consumer Survey Databank provides additional insight into US consumer behaviors from our weekly surveys. Our Weekly US Consumer Sentiment infographic series complements our survey reports with selected findings on consumers’ financial and economic expectations each week.

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Reasons to Read

Discover the startups redefining retail innovation as they compete at Shoptalk Spring 2026’s “Shark Reef” pitch event.

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

How will the Shark Reef Startup Pitch competition work at Shoptalk Spring 2026?
Who are the industry experts judging the competition—and what expertise do they bring?
Which major areas of retail disruption are these startups tackling?
Which 10 early-stage retail-technology innovators are competing for the Judges’ Choice and Audience Choice awards?

Other relevant research:

Catch up on insights from previous Shoptalk events and look out for our daily coverage of Shoptalk Spring 2026 here.
Essential Guide to Shoptalk Spring 2026: Retail in the Age of AI—Balancing Automation and Human-Centric Experiences
Retail 2026: 10 Trends in Retail Technology
Retail Technology Hub

Executive Summary

On March 24, 2026, the “Shark Reef” Startup Pitch at Shoptalk Spring 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada, will see 10 innovators compete to win the Judges’ Choice and Audience Choice awards.

Coresight Research Insights

Event Format

The event will comprise two sessions, each featuring five companies presenting for three minutes, followed by a Q&A with the judging panel.
The judging panel will select the Judges’ Choice winner, who will receive an optional $100,000 in funding from Commerce Ventures. The audience will have the opportunity to rate each company to determine the Audience Choice winner.

Judging Panel

The event will be emceed by Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder of Coresight Research, who will also participate as lead judge. Joining Weinswig on the expert panel of judges are Brent Murri, Partner at M13; Kamanasish Kundu, SVP, Head of Digital and Ecommerce at Kendra Scott; and Matt Nichols, General Partner at Commerce Ventures.

Areas of Retail Disruption

We categorize the 10 participating innovators into two areas of retail disruption: technologies reinventing customer experience; and technologies driving operational efficiencies.

Participating Innovators

The competing innovators are Azoma, Autolane, Bayezon AI, Coframe, Ethosphere, Flock AI, Merchkit, RateRunners, ShopSight and SocialQ AI.

Introduction

Coresight Research is a research partner of Shoptalk Spring 2026, which will take place during March 24–26 in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. Shoptalk Spring is an annual conference that unites executives from retailers, consumer-facing brands and technology vendors across physical stores and e-commerce to discuss the latest trends, innovations and challenges in the industry

At the event, the “Shark Reef” Startup Pitch will see 10 early-stage retail-technology innovators compete across two themed sessions: “Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience” and “Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies,” competing to win the Judges’ Choice and Audience Choice awards. In this report, we preview the competition, covering its format and the judging panel as well as an introduction to each participating innovator.

Shoptalk Spring 2026 “Shark Reef” Startup Pitch: Preview

Event Format

The Startup Pitch competition will feature two sessions, each with five companies, on the Technology Stage on the first day of Shoptalk Spring.

Within each session, each Founder/CEO will present for three minutes, then answer tough questions from the judging panel. Attendees will rate each presentation to determine the winner of the Audience Choice award. The competition spans two back-to-back sessions, each focused on one of two areas of disruption (which we detail later in this report):

March 24, 9:30 a.m.–10:10 a.m. PT (local time of the event)—Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience
March 24, 10:20 a.m.–11:00 a.m. PT—Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies

The judges will then reveal the Judges’ Choice winner, who will receive an optional $100,000 in funding from Commerce Ventures. The Audience Choice winner will be determined based on audience ratings.

Judging Panel

Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder of Coresight Research, will emcee the pitch competition and will serve as lead judge. Weinswig is an award-winning global retail analyst and a specialist in retail innovation and technology. Weinswig is a member of the Advisory Board of several accelerators and is involved in early-stage investing through the Hong Kong Business Angel Network (HKBAN) and Golden Seeds. She serves on the board of directors for Primaris REIT, American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and Xcel Brands, Inc. Weinswig is an Executive Board Member of The Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona and an Advisory Board Member of the World Retail Congress. Weinswig also serves as an e-commerce expert for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC’s) Research Task Force and was a founding member of the Oracle Retail Industry Strategy Council.

Weinswig will be joined on the judging panel by three experts:

Brent Murri, Partner at M13: Murri is a Partner leading early-stage investments in software and marketplaces, with a focus on commerce enablement, vertical SaaS, and the creator economy. His investments include Pietra, Rebuy, Passport, interviewing.io, Doorvest and Bounty, among others. Prior to M13, he was at Battery Ventures, focused on growth-stage enterprise software, and before that worked in strategy and business development at Samsung NEXT. Murri joined M13 in 2017 as the firm’s first investing hire and was later promoted to Partner.
Kamanasish Kundu, SVP, Head of Digital and Ecommerce at Kendra Scott: Kundu joined Kendra Scott in 2023 and has oversight for all aspects of the e-commerce business including P&L, analytics, long-term digital road map and offering a best-in-class connected omnichannel experience. Kundu has nearly two decades of experience in digital, e-commerce, retail and engineering. Previously, he was at Pandora where he launched Pandora’s US e-commerce website in 2015, headed the e-commerce business and oversaw the omnichannel programs and Amazon.com marketplace partnership.
Matt Nichols, General Partner at Commerce Ventures: Nichols has been an investor in and operator of early-stage technology companies for more than 20 years. He leads the firm’s commerce infrastructure and retail technology investment team and is a member of the management committee, serving on the boards of several portfolio companies including Pensa and Instock. Prior to Commerce Ventures, he was the CEO of Gemvara, a disruptive jewelry e-commerce business that was sold to Berkshire Hathaway.

Source: Coresight Research

Innovative Solutions Across Two Areas of Disruption in Retail

The participating startups satisfy the following selection criteria:

Business-to-business (B2B) solution
Pre-Series A—funding of less than $10 million
Founded since 2021
Scalable—addresses a major retail challenge or opportunity
Highly differentiated—unique or highly differentiated technology or business model

We categorize the 10 startups into two areas of disruption in retail, as detailed below.

Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience

This category comprises startups whose innovative solutions can help retailers and consumer brands deliver compelling shopping experiences and exceptional customer service.

Startups: Azoma, Autolane, Bayezon AI, Flock AI, SocialQ AI
Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies

From the supply chain to marketing teams, this category comprises startups whose technology solutions can drive efficiencies and boost productivity across retailer and consumer brand organizations.

Startups: Coframe, Ethosphere, Merchkit, RateRunners, ShopSight

Figure 1.
Shoptalk Spring “Shark Reef” Startup Pitch: 10 Innovators Across Two Areas of Retail Disruption

Source: Shoptalk/Coresight Research

The Competing Innovators

We introduce each innovator in alphabetical order below. Our Innovator Profiles provide more detail on each company

Autolane

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Ben Seidl, Co-Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience
Download the Innovator Profile for Autolane here.

Autolane provides curbside infrastructure that enables retailers, restaurants and commercial property owners to coordinate autonomous vehicle pickups, drop-offs and deliveries at high-traffic destinations. The company combines curbside hardware with cloud-based software to authenticate vehicles, assign parking stalls and automate pickup workflows, enabling operators to manage autonomous vehicle arrivals and order handoffs with less manual intervention.

Autolane enables property owners to manage autonomous vehicle pickups at retail destinations
Source: Autolane

Azoma

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Max Sinclair, Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience
Download the Innovator Profile for Azoma here.

Azoma is a technology platform that helps retailers and brands optimize product data for visibility across AI-driven search and agentic commerce environments. The company provides tools that enable retailers to analyze how AI systems interpret their product listings and structure product information for accurate referencing within AI-assisted shopping experiences.

Azoma enabled David Protein to boost its visibility across AI-driven search platforms
Source: Azoma

Bayezon AI

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Rajan Balasundaram, CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience
Download the Innovator Profile for Bayezon AI here.

Bayezon AI provides an agentic commerce platform that enables retailers to deliver conversational, AI-driven shopping experiences, improving product discovery, recommendations and customer engagement. The platform uses real-time AI and enriched product data to support conversational search, product recommendations and automated support within digital shopping journeys.

Bayezon enabled City Beach to power AI shopping assistants that improved product discovery and conversion
Source: Bayezon AI

Coframe

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Josh Payne, Co-Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies
Download the Innovator Profile for Coframe here.

Coframe offers an AI-powered experimentation platform that analyzes user behavior and automatically generates and tests website variations based on performance outcomes. The platform integrates directly with a company’s website to produce and test multiple versions of page elements including copy, layouts and visual components, enabling teams to iterate on website changes more frequently.

Coframe’s platform automatically tests multiple website variants to maximize conversions
Source: Coframe

Ethosphere

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Evan Smith, Co-Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies
Download the Innovator Profile for Ethosphere here.

Ethosphere offers a voice AI platform that captures and analyzes in-store conversations between retail associates and customers, providing retailers with visibility into frontline store operations and employee engagement. The company converts in-store conversations into structured insights that store managers and retail leaders can use to evaluate performance and guide employee coaching.

Ethosphere provides AI-generated insights into store interactions and associate–customer conversations
Source: Ethosphere

Flock AI

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Vita Mallela, Co-Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience
Download the Innovator Profile for Flock AI here.

Flock AI is an AI-native visual content platform that enables retailers to generate brand-consistent product imagery at scale without relying on traditional photoshoots. The company trains AI models on a brand’s existing creative assets and visual guidelines to produce large volumes of visual content for product listings, marketing campaigns and digital storefronts across different audiences and channels.

Flock AI enables retailers to showcase beauty products across diverse skin tones without traditional photoshoots
Source: Flock AI

Merchkit

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Bijan Vaez, Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies
Download the Innovator Profile for Merchkit here.

Merchkit streamlines product data management and merchandising workflows for retailers and brands, enabling teams to organize catalog information and coordinate merchandising activities across channels and systems from a single platform. The company automates the extraction and standardization of product attributes, generates product titles and descriptions from structured data, and prepares listings for use across sales channels and marketplaces.

Merchkit transforms raw supplier data into structured product information
Source: Merchkit

RateRunners

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Karolina Smith, Co-Founder & President
Area of Disruption: Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies
Download the Innovator Profile for RateRunners here.

RateRunners automates parcel billing reconciliation and provides visibility into shipping cost data for brands, 3PLs and carriers, connecting them through a shared system that aggregates parcel billing information and enables organizations to review and reconcile shipping invoices. The platform enables users to analyze shipping charges, identify discrepancies between billed and contracted rates and monitor parcel costs across carriers and logistics partners.

RateRunners turns messy shipping invoices into clean, reconcilable data
Source: RateRunners

ShopSight

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Nick Davis, Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Driving Operational Efficiencies
Download the Innovator Profile for ShopSight here.

ShopSight offers a generative AI-powered platform that connects brands with consumers during product development, enabling shoppers to submit ideas, vote on concepts and engage with emerging product trends. The company aggregates signals from consumer participation to help brands assess consumer demand, identify emerging product concepts and refine product strategies before committing to large-scale production.

ShopSight enables shoppers to generate and customize new product designs using AI
Source: ShopSight

SocialQ AI

Presenter at Shoptalk Spring: Anna Liang, Founder & CEO
Area of Disruption: Technologies Reinventing Customer Experience
Download the Innovator Profile for SocialQ AI here.

SocialQ AI offers an AI-powered platform that enables brands to generate and manage social media content, creating posts, captions, images and videos tailored to different social platforms while maintaining consistent brand voice and messaging. The platform automates content creation workflows, enabling organizations to plan and publish social campaigns and adapt content to different platforms and audiences at scale.

SocialQ AI’s marketing agent enables unlimited social posts for organic growth
Source: SocialQ AI

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Reasons to Read

Discover the latest trends in UK retail store openings and closures for 2026, and gain insights into the evolving market landscape.

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

How many store closures and openings have UK retailers announced year to date in 2026, and how do these totals compare with the same period in 2025?
Which retailers are driving the latest changes in our 2026 major UK store closures and openings tracker?
How do full-year 2025 store closures and openings compare with 2026 year-to-date trends?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Christy, Dyson, Footasylum, Grape Tree, Homary, Home Bargains, LEGO, Nobody’s Child, Pets at Home, ProCook, Quiz, Roksanda, The Original Factory Shop, Toolstation, Whole Foods Market and Wickes

Data in this report include: week-by-week comparisons of UK store closures and openings for 2026 and 2025; rankings of major retailers by total store closures; rankings of major retailers by total store openings; tabulated confirmed versus planned store activity by retailer and sector.

Other relevant research:

The full collection of Store Tracker reports, including our US-focused series
The US and UK Store Tracker Databank is the definitive resource for information on store openings and closures by sector in the US and UK retail industries.
The Corporate and Financial Developments Databank includes details of management changes, financial guidance updates, retail and tech layoffs and capital raised by major retail companies.
The Retail Bankruptcies Databank details bankruptcies of US and UK retail companies, restaurants and gyms since March 2020.

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Reasons to Read

Uncover the latest shifts in the retail landscape and stay ahead of key trends that impact store openings, closures, and the broader consumer market.

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

What are the top store openings and closures in the US for 2026 so far?
Which retailers are expanding in 2026, and which brands are downsizing?
How do store closures and openings compare between 2025 and 2026 in key retail sectors?

Companies mentioned in this report include: Bape; Camping World; Academy Sports and Outdoors, Bass Pro Shops, Boden, Citi Trends, Cotopaxi, Daiso, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Fossil Group, H Mart, Kohl’s, Mango, Meijer, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Primark, Sleep Number, Target, The Buckle, Tilly’s, Ulta Beauty, Vera Bradley, Wawa, Yellow Rose.

Data in this report include: weekly totals of US store closures and openings for 2026 and 2025; retailer-level breakdowns of announced versus confirmed closures/openings; total store counts by retailer; total US retail bankruptcies year to date.

Other relevant research:

The full collection of Store Tracker reports, including our UK-focused series
The US and UK Store Tracker Databank is the definitive resource for information on store openings and closures by sector in the US and UK retail industries.
The Corporate and Financial Developments Databank includes details of management changes, financial guidance updates, retail and tech layoffs and capital raised by major retail companies.
The Retail Bankruptcies Databank details bankruptcies of US and UK retail companies, restaurants and gyms since March 2020.

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How are US consumers reacting to the March 2026 Middle East energy crisis? We draw on consumer sentiment data, shopper traffic metrics and economic projections to explore the consumer impacts and implications in this Premium Subscriber Call presentation from March 19, 2026.

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Reasons to Read

Discover how US consumers are reacting to shifting economic conditions, Iran conflict, inflation pressures and tariffs.

Read this report to discover answer to this question:

How is consumer sentiment diverging across income groups—and what does this mean for premium versus value retail performance?

Data in this research report include: Consumer sentiment by income and time; and retailer and category-level shopping data.

Other relevant research:

Coresight Research US Consumer Survey Databank provides additional insight into US consumer behaviors from our weekly surveys.

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The Coresight Research monthly China Consumer Survey Insights series takes a regular temperature check on Chinese consumers’ behaviors and sentiment, based on exclusive proprietary survey data.

In this research report, we present findings from our latest weekly surveys, with the most recent undertaken on February 23, 2026. We spotlight developments in consumer sentiment on the economic and financial outlooks.

Read this report to discover answers to these key questions:

How has consumer sentiment in China evolved in February, and what do the recent peaks in economic optimism suggest about consumer expectations for the year ahead?
What role did the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) play in shaping short-term optimism, and how do the post-event dips reflect evolving consumer confidence?
What are the key consumer behaviors and trends observed in February, and how might these shape the retail season ahead?

Data in this research report includes:

Consumers’ expectations for economic conditions and personal finances over the next 12 months, showing how optimism has evolved.
Changes in personal financial situations compared to 12 months ago, shedding light on shifts in consumer wealth perceptions.
Consumer activities over the past two weeks, highlighting engagement levels and emerging trends.
Purchasing behaviors, with insights into what consumers are buying in-store and online during the survey period.

Other relevant research:

Read the full series of China Consumer Survey Insights
The Coresight Research China Retail Sales Databank brings together retail sales data to help you understand the trajectory of retail in China.
Interested in more consumer survey analysis? Check out our US Consumer Survey Insights series.

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Reasons to Read

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Reasons to Read

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Reasons to Read

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Reasons to Read

Executive Summary

Coresight Research Insights

Event Format

Judging Panel

Areas of Retail Disruption

Participating Innovators

Introduction

Shoptalk Spring 2026 “Shark Reef” Startup Pitch: Preview

Event Format

Judging Panel

Source: Coresight Research

Innovative Solutions Across Two Areas of Disruption in Retail

Source: Shoptalk/Coresight Research

The Competing Innovators

Autolane

Autolane enables property owners to manage autonomous vehicle pickups at retail destinations Source: Autolane

Azoma

Azoma enabled David Protein to boost its visibility across AI-driven search platforms Source: Azoma

Bayezon AI

Bayezon enabled City Beach to power AI shopping assistants that improved product discovery and conversion Source: Bayezon AI

Coframe

Coframe’s platform automatically tests multiple website variants to maximize conversions Source: Coframe

Ethosphere

Ethosphere provides AI-generated insights into store interactions and associate–customer conversations Source: Ethosphere

Flock AI

Flock AI enables retailers to showcase beauty products across diverse skin tones without traditional photoshoots Source: Flock AI

Merchkit

Merchkit transforms raw supplier data into structured product information Source: Merchkit

RateRunners

RateRunners turns messy shipping invoices into clean, reconcilable data Source: RateRunners

ShopSight

ShopSight enables shoppers to generate and customize new product designs using AI Source: ShopSight

SocialQ AI

SocialQ AI’s marketing agent enables unlimited social posts for organic growth Source: SocialQ AI

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Reasons to Read

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Reasons to Read

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Autolane enables property owners to manage autonomous vehicle pickups at retail destinations
Source: Autolane

Azoma enabled David Protein to boost its visibility across AI-driven search platforms
Source: Azoma

Bayezon enabled City Beach to power AI shopping assistants that improved product discovery and conversion
Source: Bayezon AI

Coframe’s platform automatically tests multiple website variants to maximize conversions
Source: Coframe

Ethosphere provides AI-generated insights into store interactions and associate–customer conversations
Source: Ethosphere

Flock AI enables retailers to showcase beauty products across diverse skin tones without traditional photoshoots
Source: Flock AI

Merchkit transforms raw supplier data into structured product information
Source: Merchkit

RateRunners turns messy shipping invoices into clean, reconcilable data
Source: RateRunners

ShopSight enables shoppers to generate and customize new product designs using AI
Source: ShopSight

SocialQ AI’s marketing agent enables unlimited social posts for organic growth
Source: SocialQ AI