E-Commerce
fromForbes
20 hours agoWhy The AI Checkout Debate Misses The Real Shift In Retail
AI is reshaping retail by determining visibility and influencing consumer decisions through personalized insights and streamlined processes.
The mail will stop if the agency can't meet its obligations. That includes critical deliveries like prescription drug packages. Postmaster General David Steiner warned lawmakers this week that USPS could run out of cash in less than 12 months without congressional action.
"This was a natural next step in a relationship that's already delivering for our customers," Aldi COO Dave Rinaldo said in an email. "Customers get a more seamless shopping experience while Aldi remains focused on what we do best - delivering high-quality groceries at the lowest possible prices."
Walmart bought Vizio in 2024, and now it's taking the next steps to formally fold the TV maker into itself by phasing out Vizio accounts. Now, when you purchase a new Vizio TV, you'll be asked to sign in or create a Walmart account. Customers will have the option to merge their Vizio account, if they have one, with their Walmart account.
Surveys suggest customers want to use AI for shopping and to see AI tools from retailers. In a CI&T survey conducted in 2025, 58% of 1,040 U.S. consumers said retailers should use AI to improve the shopping experience, and almost 75% said they were already using AI tools at least occasionally in their path to purchase. In a separate survey from Gartner last March, 56% of millennials said they would be willing to let AI handle or assist with some of their shopping tasks.
Our customers are busier than ever and are looking for new ways to save time while keeping their households running. We saw an opportunity to use our unique operational expertise and delivery network to help make customers' lives a little easier while unlocking even more value for Prime members.
Nine in ten retailers globally are planning to raise their spending on artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise their e-commerce operations over the next 12 to 24 months, with online delivery execution a key area of focus. A total of 38% of European retailers identify speed, tracking and proactive communication around the delivery process as areas where AI can deliver the greatest impact.
You're scrolling through an online retailer, like Amazon, Shein or eBay, and spot a shirt on sale for $40. You add it to your cart, but at checkout, a $10 shipping fee suddenly appears. Frustrated, you close the tab. But what if that same shirt was priced at $50 with free shipping? The likelihood that you would have bought it without a second thought is much higher.
That's a problem. Without a doubt, a great website and top-level marketing will help generate new sales, but it's the delivery experience that warrants future ones. This is because today's consumer not only has options for where they'll buy but also a high set of expectations. What's more, they remember the way a product arrives at their doorstep more than how it was sold.
Remember grocery store runs? Amazon says those are going extinct. The company revealed that Prime members saved an average of 64 trips to physical stores last year by ordering basics online instead. That's a major shift. Groceries and household essentials now account for half of all fast deliveries to U.S. Prime members, compared to earlier years when fast delivery skewed toward purchases like electronics and clothing. Amazon has spent the past year integrating perishable groceries and prescription medications into its same-day delivery network.
The American Customer Satisfaction Survey rates hundreds of companies in dozens of categories. In its latest study, the Retail and Consumer Shipping Study 2026, Amazon.com Inc. ( NASDAQ: AMZN) topped the Online Retailer category. In all the studies, regardless of category, companies receive ratings of zero to 100. This latest study is based on 31,293 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between January and December 2025.
The resale market - which comprises roughly 8 percent of total fashion and luxury sales globally, per a 2025 Vestiaire Collective study - is becoming a potential growth frontier in beauty, too, as indicated by new data from Los Angeles-based live selling platform Whatnot. Launched in 2019 with a focus on selling collectible figurines via live video auctions, Whatnot has since expanded to other categories including sneakers, jewelry, electronics and beauty and fashion, with the latter two being the platform's fastest-growing categories.
Statistics from the 2025 holiday shopping season clearly show that AI is playing a huge role in how people shop. But new research from retail payment platform Adyen found that many consumers are ready for AI to become their personal shopper. Just over half-51%-said they're open to letting AI take over the entire shopping process, including making final purchases. Millennials are the most willing to let agents do their shopping, with nearly three in five saying they are ready for such a shift.