The most impactful retail tech developments this year aren’t flashy upgrades or abstract promises. They’re tools grounded in day-to-day problems: peak-hour chaos, employee safety, hidden losses, and inconsistent decision-making. Retail technology in 2025 is less about flash and more about function. The newest tools don’t just look smart but actually respond to real pressure points inside stores like inventory delays, staffing issues, fraud risks, and safety concerns.

Payment technology provider Worldpay is now supporting OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). As the company noted in a news release Wednesday (Oct. 29), this is an open standard for artificial intelligence (AI) commerce allowing AI agents, people and businesses to work together on purchases.

With ACP, the release added, U.S. users of OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be able to shop directly from participating Worldpay merchants using Instant Checkout.

If you can’t beat them, join them. That’s the approach some retailers are taking with a powerful new middleman in e-commerce: AI-powered agents. Earlier this month, Walmart announced a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, which launched its new protocol for funneling customers seamlessly from “ chat to checkout.” The announcement was the third in as many weeks, with Shopify and Etsy also striking deals with the AI juggernaut.

The industry is turning to AI to better understand the technology itself, all with the hope of capturing consumer attention. Consumers are increasingly using AI chatbots for shopping recommendations. The retail industry is working to catch up on generative AI as the technology evolves at a rapid pace. While plenty of companies are using it to drive efficiency, it’s also presented a change to how consumers discover new products.

Marketplaces have a huge power and reach in the European market. We look in at the overall sector and assess the performance of 15 key marketplaces in detail. While only 43 of the EU’s Top 1000 retailers are marketplaces, that belies the retail power and reach of these platforms in the region. Almost three quarters (72%) of Europe’s consumers shop on a marketplace at least once and month and 53% of these marketplaces generate up €10bn in revenue annually. A fifth hit closers to €100bn. As retailers, they are powerful.

AI is rewriting the rules of product discovery - and the affiliate marketing industry can’t afford to fall behind. Our latest report brings together insights from hundreds of US consumers to revel how AI is transforming the path to purchase and what it means for your affiliate strategy.

In case you were wondering what problem AI should solve next, Amazon has an answer: helping you decide what to buy next. Amazon introduced a new AI-powered “Help Me Decide” button that recommends products based on shopper browsing history and preferences. Amazon said the idea is to offer a clear product recommendation with explanations.

The goal is to help shoppers save time and offer confidence in their purchase decisions, Daniel Lloyd, Amazon’s VP of personalization, said in a statement. The tool taps into AWS tech like Bedrock, SageMaker, and OpenSearch to make those calls.

Amid rising customer expectations for personalization, Walmart, Nordstrom Rack, Five Below and other innovative brands and retailers are creating experiences that adapt in real-time based on where a shopper is, not just who they are. Location is more than a data point — it’s a foundational signal that can be used at every touchpoint and stage of engagement.

From pre-visit engagement through building lifetime value, brands and retailers are boosting traffic, conversions and loyalty with location intelligence. In this retail playbook, learn how to use geolocation to create frictionless customer journeys that drive revenue.