Attracting and retaining consumer attention has never been more challenging. Technology has changed rapidly over the last few decades, giving rise to new communication methods and consumer expectations for instant gratification. As AI becomes more business-critical and digital fatigue heightens among consumers, retailers’ AI roadmaps must present value to shoppers, address their priorities and foster loyalty long-term.

How each generation evaluates brands, responds to content, and decides who gets their business. Imagine facing a conference table filled with stakeholders from four different generations, each with unique expectations and communication styles. You’re under pressure to deliver campaigns that speak to them without coming across as intrusive or inauthentic. That pressure is real. B2B buying has evolved into a high-stakes, multi-generational maze where a single misfire can cost you credibility. Data Axle surveyed over 450 B2B buyers of varying ages to uncover trends in how each generation thinks about purchasing, trusts vendors, and responds to marketing tactics. The findings reveal how B2B buyer behaviors have changed, how they differ between generations and how you can work this invaluable information into both your long-term and short-term marketing program.

The RetailX UK500 2026 is our 12th annual report evaluating the performance of retailers, brands and marketplaces selling in the UK. Looking beyond simple turnover or traffic, the UK500 measures how retailers, brands and marketplaces deliver value across the entire retail ecosystem. It is a listing that takes into into account evolving consumer behaviour, economic headwinds and disruptive technologies such as AI.

Agentic commerce is reshaping how purchase decisions are made in digital retail. Instead of guiding users through linear journeys of product discovery and comparison, retailers are increasingly interacting with systems that can interpret intent, evaluate options, and act on behalf of the consumer, signaling a broader shift in agentic commerce consumer adoption. This transition redefines the role of the customer from active decision-maker to participant in a decision delegation model, where control is partially or fully transferred to AI. 

Tomorrow’s Commerce is VML’s annual future-gaze into the trends shaping the future of digital commerce. This year’s edition explores 20 future trends across two intertwined forces: Automated & AI-driven efficiency and Authentic Experience & Human Connection. Learn how to design for agentic AI and human-first retail, with clear next steps for brands. 

Consumer expectations have never been higher. In a world of mobile-first browsing, instant comparisons and AI-powered everything, retailers face a simple challenge: Make it effortless or lose the sale. The Pixel in conjunction with Athos Commerce ran a survey of 1,000 shoppers and here’s what the latest shopper behaviour data reveals about how people search, browse and buy online, and importantly what it means for your eCommerce strategy.

Beauty is the 3rd most popular spending category for Gen Zalpha, with 40% of young people who love to spend on beauty. Despite this desire, 29% of young consumers actively search for a discount before purchasing. How can beauty brands capture young people’s attention with value-driven messages, and successfully convert that attention into purchases?

This comprehensive study delivers both the hard numbers and the real-life qualitative insights you need to capture the youth market.

AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are now an integral part of how consumers research products. Shoppers use them to compare options, evaluate trade-offs, and clarify decisions during the buying process. But how much influence do these tools truly have? And where do they fit alongside traditional search engines? To answer that, we surveyed over 1,000 U.S. consumers with experience using AI to understand how they use it for product research. Here’s what we found.