80% of retailers expect business growth in 2026, although staffing costs, AI adoption and ongoing supply chain disruption are proving challenging
Fluent Commerce, the leading provider of distributed Order Management System (OMS), Fluent Order Management, today released the findings of our third annual Retail Resilience study, revealing that retailers remain surprisingly optimistic about the year ahead despite the difficult economic climate.
The survey of 100 retail professionals, conducted at the Retail Technology Show 2026, found that more than two thirds (70%) of retailers feel positive about the year ahead, while 80% expect business growth in 2026. Only 17% of respondents expect losses this year.
However, despite this renewed confidence, retailers continue to face significant challenges. Increased staffing costs were named the biggest pressure facing retailers in 2026 (44%), closely followed by keeping up with new technologies such as AI (43%). Rising operating costs (34%) and ongoing supply chain issues (30%) also ranked among the industry’s leading concerns.
“It’s heartening to see positivity in the retail sector after a tough few years,” said Rob Shaw, GM EMEA at Fluent Commerce. “While the industry continues to face significant operational and economic pressures, businesses are increasingly investing in technology and operational agility to help them navigate uncertainty and continue to grow despite outside challenges. These results suggest retailers are adapting to disruption.”
AI investment accelerates as retailers prioritise transformation
The research found that retailers are prioritising technology to support future growth and resilience. Over half (57%) of respondents said investing in AI would be a key strategic priority over the next five years, while 50% highlighted investment in new technologies more broadly.
Despite this growing focus, many retailers are still grappling with implementation challenges. More than four in ten (43%) respondents said keeping pace with emerging technologies and AI is one of the biggest challenges facing their business today, while 14% identified implementing AI specifically as their leading technology concern.
Other long-term strategic priorities identified by retailers included expansion into new markets (29%), sustainability initiatives (28%) and strengthening partnerships (26%).
Supply chain disruption continues to bite
Despite the growing optimism, supply chain disruption remains a major challenge, perhaps unsurprisingly given the recent tensions in the Middle East. Seven in ten (70%) retailers said they had experienced disruption to their supply chain over the last year, with nearly one fifth (19%) describing the disruption as severe.
Among the biggest concerns resulting from disruption were higher operational costs caused by rerouting orders (35%), stock being unavailable online (31%), and the need to increase prices (30%). One quarter (25%) of retailers also said supply chain disruption had contributed to customer order cancellations.
In response, retailers are continuing to strengthen operational resilience strategies. The most common approaches included diversifying suppliers (18%), improving forecasting and planning capabilities (18%) and implementing stronger risk management plans (17%).
Inventory visibility improves, but challenges remain
The study also revealed signs of progress in retailers’ ability to manage inventory visibility across their operations. More than two fifths (41%) of retailers said they now have real-time inventory visibility across their supply chain – an improvement on the 28% who stated the same in 2025.
However, inventory challenges persist for many organisations. Half of respondents said poor inventory visibility still creates operational difficulties, with 14% describing those challenges as significant.
Retailers also highlighted the growing pressure to deliver seamless customer experiences across channels, with nearly one third (32%) naming customer experience delivery as one of the biggest challenges facing their business.
“Customer expectations around fulfillment speed, availability and convenience continue to rise,” Shaw said. “Retailers that can access accurate, real-time inventory data across their operations will be in a much stronger position to respond quickly, improve fulfilment performance and deliver more consistent customer experiences.”
