Retailing in 2026: Five forces at play
"Value-seeking" is a solid priority for shoppers, while retailers are moving quickly with AI.
After wrapping up a challenging 2025, the goal for retailers in 2026 boils down to one word: adaptability.
This requires retailers to recognize and accept how consumers are prioritizing their shopping needs and behaviors in the New Year and suitably adjusting their product mix, prices, selling tactics and sourcing strategies, according to a new 2026 Retail Industry Global Outlook report on Thursday from Deloitte.
The report is based on a survey of 330 retail industry executives conducted from Oct. 13 to Nov. 19, 2025 (including C-suite and senior executives).
“Our survey indicates that 2026 could prove to be a watershed moment, forcing retailers to flex their adaptability muscles in new and challenging ways. The industry faces significant shifts in commerce, customer engagement, and operational discipline, with AI at the core of these disruptions,” the report said.
With this in mind, Deloitte’s industry outlook highlighted five trends expected to shape retailing in 2026:
Value-seeking is here to stay: Nearly seven in 10 retail executives said consumers are consistently searching for deals, trading down, shopping value channels, or swapping convenience for savings. They pegged this behavior as a structural change and no longer a temporary response to inflation.
Deloitte said its own research shows that four in 10 Americans now adopt deal-driven or cost-conscious habits, and even higher-income households are reassessing what “value” means to them. It’s not always about finding the lowest price but also factors such as product quality, customer service, ease of checkout and loyalty programs.
The survey showed that retailers plan to expand value-priced assortments in stores, private-label offerings, and strengthen their loyalty programs.
AI to boost customer experience: Two-thirds (67%) of retail executives polled said they expect to soon have AI-driven personalization capabilities so that brands can offer tailored shopping experiences that adapt to individual customers.
Using AI to sell: Most of the retail executives surveyed said consumers expect AI’s role in shopping to become mainstream before 2028, as more people become comfortable with allowing AI to make purchases on their behalf. With that in mind, retailers are actively looking to deploy agentic AI for operational and enterprise activities within the next 12 to 24 months, the report said.
Sourcing close to home: Retailers anticipate rising costs from trade policies, such as wide-ranging tariffs on imported goods into the US, to persist. As companies look for ways to manage these rising business expenses, executives indicated that reimagining the supply chain is under serious consideration.
“The urgency for [supply chain] transformation is underscored by the 66% of respondents who plan to restructure their supply chains through measures such as onshoring, nearshoring, and diversifying their supplier base if input costs rise in 2026,” the report said.
Here come price increases: As retailers strive to offset jumps in business costs, respondents cited using tactics that would require shoppers to spend more to offset those increases. For example, 67% foresee an increase in the threshold for free shipping, 72% plan to shift their product mix toward higher-margin or value-added items, and 73% intend to gradually increase store prices this year.