Study reveals retailers optimistic for 2026 as they look to invest in new technology, but challenges with implementation remain.
LONDON, 1st December 2025 – Fluent Commerce, the leading provider of distributed Order Management System (OMS), Fluent Order Management, today released findings from its Agentic AI Survey 2025, revealing that retailers are betting big on AI. 71% of respondents were confident agentic AI will improve their operational efficiency by the end of 2026, and 12% are already seeing a strong impact from the technology.
The survey of over 100 retail professionals, conducted at Ecommerce Expo, found that 70% of retailers are either piloting or have already partially implemented agentic AI systems, revealing the scale of investment in the sector. However, only 8% have fully deployed AI across their operations and just 5% say their AI systems are mature and optimised.
“Retailers are clearly investing in AI, but the journey from pilot to full-scale deployment is proving more complex than expected,” said Nicola Kinsella, Chief Strategy Officer at Fluent Commerce. “The technology is promising, but without the right foundations, such as clean data, trust, and ability to integrate into existing technologies, it’s hard to unlock its full potential.”
When asked about the biggest challenges facing retailers in 2026, 44% named economic pressures, while 38% said the inability to keep up with the pace of technology change. International supply chain disruptions were also a concern for nearly one in five respondents. However, despite these hurdles, retailers remain cautiously optimistic. 41% said they feel positive about the retail landscape in 2026, with only 15% expressing pessimism.
AI scaling challenges
The study highlighted several barriers to scaling AI across retail operations. Ethical and regulatory concerns, along with customer trust and transparency, were each cited by 43% of respondents. Data quality and integration issues were named by 39%, and 36% pointed to a talent and skills gap. ROI justification and legacy systems compatibility also featured prominently.
Currently, the retail functions where the most retailers have implemented AI remain fairly limited, focused on customer service and chatbots (56%) and personalised marketing (46%). However, retailers are looking to expand this in 2026, with 30% planning to deploy agentic AI in inventory management and 32% in supply chain optimisation.
Looking ahead
As retailers prepare for the end of 2025 and beyond, the survey suggests a growing appetite for innovation, tempered by operational realities. While agentic AI is seen as important or very important to staying competitive by the majority of respondents (88%), it is clear that many are still working through foundational issues when it comes to implementation.
“Retailers understand that AI alone doesn’t solve their fulfillment challenges,” Kinsella said. “But when Agentic AI can see the full operational picture, such as order exceptions, processing speeds at each fulfillment location, delivery delays, location-level capacity, and how often orders ship from the ideal node, it can drive immediate efficiency improvements. These same signals also enable smarter in-season inventory allocation and rebalancing. With the right data and a thoughtful rollout, retailers can capture real, measurable benefits from AI.”
