Akeneo's 2025-2026 commerce outlook explains these developments will have a significant impact on how consumers discover, evaluate, and purchase products, with reliable product information becoming increasingly important across all sales channels.

According to the report, AI is being adopted rapidly in retail, with major retailers such as Walmart implementing ChatGPT-assisted checkouts.

Despite this growth, Akeneo’s research shows some reluctance among shoppers with only 27% of those who have used AI checkouts intending to use them again.

Akeneo CEO Romain Fouache said: “AI doesn’t drive sales unless consumers trust it. In the 2025 holiday season, successful brands were those that could help shoppers understand how AI enhances accuracy, convenience and value.”

The outlook also highlights a major shift in shopping habits expected by 2026, with more than half of consumers likely to use third-party apps rather than brand websites when making purchases.

As platforms like Google, Amazon, and ChatGPT become prominent as conversational storefronts, Akeneo cautions that brands cannot depend solely on drawing customers to their own sites.

Fouache explained: “A shopper may now discover, evaluate and purchase your product without ever visiting your website. If your product data isn’t complete and consistent, you simply won’t show up.”

Looking ahead, Akeneo anticipates an increased role for agentic AI in managing purchases. The company observes that one third of US consumers are open to having an AI assistant handle transactions on their behalf, indicating a trend towards delegating purchasing decisions to AI agents.

Meanwhile, regulatory changes are expected to further complicate the retail environment. Akeneo draws attention to an upcoming US Supreme Court ruling on customs duties and anticipated changes to EU regulations that might ease some rules but enforce stricter border controls.

These regulatory shifts could encourage greater interest in resale markets and circular shopping by both brands and consumers.

Despite many brands investing in traceability systems to promote circularity, Akeneo notes that this information is often not integrated into customer-facing experiences.

Fouache stated: “In the age of AI and Digital Product Passports, transparency and storytelling matter more than ever.”