This report highlights the trends in data, AI, and analytics to watch for in 2026, based on a survey of data and technology enterprise leaders. Large enterprises have invested heavily in modernizing analytics and preparing for AI at scale. Yet despite this sizeable financial outlay, fragmentation is rampant and the execution gap is wide. Leaders understand that the path forward must include semantic consistency, governed AI, and portable data foundations. 

Personalization was meant to make marketing smarter, not slower. But somewhere along the way, it started to drag. By 2026, customers are moving faster than the systems built to serve them. They expect relevance right now, but most marketing personalization strategies still run on overnight data, scattered tools, disconnected channels, and approval cycles that take too long.

The result is a widening gap between what customers experience and what brands deliver.

A growing share of EU online shopping is flowing to marketplaces based outside the European Union. Greece has emerged as an extreme example of this shift. Recent survey data shows that roughly 80 percent of Greek consumers have purchased from at least one non-EU e-commerce platform, with Temu and Shein standing out as the most frequently mentioned marketplaces.

This development is more than a short-term consumer trend. It reflects bigger structural changes in European e-commerce, affecting price expectations, competitive dynamics, logistics, and regulatory priorities across the EU.

Revenue growth management (RGM) continues to be a top priority for consumer goods companies. The topic consistently ranks in the top three or four most commonly cited areas of interest by executives across the consumer goods industry, according to a Deloitte analysis of data from the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference. 

A well-executed RGM strategy helps companies navigate this volatility in today’s complex omnichannel environment. The disproportionate growth of e-commerce within CPG means that pricing, promotions, assortment and pack sizes — the four main pillars of RGM — must be optimized across multiple digital channels, in addition to retail shelves.

From Gen Z to boomers, adoption is accelerating across all age groups, reshaping how consumers live, shop, and interact. But as AI becomes mainstream, concerns around trust is rising. From hype to habit: How consumers are embracing AI, the latest research brief from the Capgemini Research Institute, explores this evolving landscape, drawing insights from a survey of 10,000 consumers from 13 countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The results reveal how attitudes toward AI have shifted over the past two years, and what this means for businesses aiming to innovate responsibly. Key findings include:

ChatGPT e-commerce referrals is still small. Let’s get that out of the way. Google, ads, and marketplaces are still doing most of the heavy lifting. But something interesting is happening at the edges. Early data and hands-on testing suggest that conversational AI may be concentrating shopping traffic around the same platforms that already dominate online retail.

According to recent reporting, referrals from ChatGPT to retail apps jumped 28% year over year during Black Friday. That doesn’t mean AI is taking over e-commerce. However, it does show people are starting to ask AI where to buy things. And once people start asking, defaults matter.

The 2026 Retail Promotions Study reveals how US shoppers engage with various incentives, including coupons, discounts, and loyalty programs, and how these behaviors are evolving across online and in-store shopping environments.

Read XCCommerce’s infographic to gain insights on:

Key shopper behavior motivators

What establishes long-term customer loyalty

How influences such as the economy, technology, and consumer sentiment are redefining retail promotion strategies

Unified commerce is a modern retail strategy that integrates all sales channels and back-end systems into a single, cohesive platform. In practice, this means combining everything from online storefronts and mobile apps to physical-store point-of-sale (POS) systems, inventory management and customer relationship management (CRM) tools under one roof. All customer, product and inventory data is stored in one system and updated in real time, giving businesses a 360° view of operations without juggling multiple disconnected applications. By eliminating siloed systems, companies create a single source of truth for transactions and customer interactions. The result is smoother operations and faster decision-making, since every team, from sales to marketing, works from the same live dataset.