Retail executives shift from AI experiments to defining actual strategy
The conversation around artificial intelligence at retail conferences has fundamentally changed. Two years ago, vendors and executives debated AI's risks and benefits. Last year, they discussed efficiency gains. This year, the focus moved to proving results and building coherent AI strategies.
At Shoptalk Spring 2026, brands and retailers stopped pitching AI as a productivity tool and started defending their AI playbooks. The shift reflects a maturing market where experimentation gives way to execution.
From "what we could do" to "what we're actually doing"
Joe Yakuel, CEO of digital marketing agency Within, identified the gap that still exists. "My question is always, 'Don't just tell me about what you think you can do with AI and what you're trying to do with AI, but: What are you actually doing with AI?' The chasm between those two things is massive."
David's Bridal launched Pearl, an AI-powered wedding planning platform that increased time on site. Macy's introduced "Ask Macy's," a shopping assistant that early testing showed drives 400% higher spending among users who adopt it. These aren't concepts - they're deployed systems with measurable outcomes.
Strategy now means rethinking entire processes
Companies are moving beyond using AI as a work assistant. They're asking how AI lets them build products and services they couldn't build before, at speeds previously impossible.
E.l.f. Beauty structured its AI approach around four pillars: making humans more productive, establishing authority in large language models, reimagining organizational processes with AI, and identifying workflows ready for end-to-end automation. Chief digital officer Ekta Chopra emphasized that change management remains underexamined in retail AI implementation.
"You have to treat AI like a big change for your organization," Chopra said. "You almost have to think about how your workforce is going to evolve, the new titles they might have or the new roles that they have to play."
Reality still lags behind expectation
ChatGPT recently abandoned Instant Checkout, a feature that let shoppers complete purchases within the chatbot. Retailers discovered that consumers weren't ready for that use case, regardless of the technology's capability.
A recent poll found that 73% of respondents use AI for work, but only 6.6% use it for shopping. Jessica Ramirez, co-founder of The Consumer Collective, said the industry is still in adjustment mode on how AI affects jobs, skills, and profitability.
"We are still in a time of adjustment in our industry," Ramirez said. Consumers are "still trying to figure out what they like about AI usage and what they don't like."
The debate over what works continues
No consensus exists yet on what a proper AI playbook looks like. That openness has a benefit: industry professionals are sharing failures and successes more openly than before.
Sarah Engel, president of media agency January Digital, said the AI boom has broken down silos across retail. "I kind of love that AI is forcing this issue in this industry of people saying, 'I don't know, what are you trying? What have you seen?' or 'I'm just going to test it. Maybe it won't work, and that's OK.'"
For executives building AI strategy, the message is clear: experimentation continues, but the focus has shifted to measurable outcomes and organizational readiness. The conversation now centers on what's actually working, not what might work.
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