Market Snapshot
Unified Commerce in an AI World
Q1, 2026
95% of enterprise generative AI pilots fail to deliver demonstrable ROI — not because the models are wrong, but because the infrastructure underneath them was never built for machine-speed decisions. Retailers deploying AI on top of legacy systems with batch updates, channel-specific logic, and siloed data aren't gaining efficiency. They're accelerating the same broken workflows at greater scale. And while 38% of retailers say their transformation initiatives are in advanced stages, only 17% rate themselves as leading in unified commerce maturity.
This report examines what actually separates retailers that are realizing AI's potential from those still chasing it. It explores why "well-connected" middleware isn't the same as true unification, what a zero-reconciliation data architecture requires, and what becomes possible when AI operates on a single source of truth across pricing, inventory, and fulfillment. Retailers with advanced unified commerce maturity are already seeing results: 23% faster inventory turnover, 22% lower acquisition costs, and up to 3x revenue growth.
FOUR KEY B2C COMMERCE IMPERATIVES
Incisiv
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As consumers continue to reshape their expectations,
enterprises must contend with a uniquely challenging landscape.
The consumer technology landscape is forever changing.
From Pinterest to TikTok, WeChat to Instagram, new experiences can rapidly gain consumer adoption and relevance.
From augmented reality to voice, smartwatches to chatbots, consumers are constantly embracing new interaction paradigms.
Commoditized convenience is eroding loyalty and margin.
Consumers expect convenience. If you can't deliver it, they'll go elsewhere - e.g. next day shipping becoming the new standard.
Walmart will reportedly lose USD 1 billion on eCommerce revenue of USD 21 billion this year as it faces challenges in its bid to complete against Amazon – from trouble integrating its DNVB acquisitions to impact on margin from its next-day delivery operations.
Consumers value experiences that are curated to fit their lives better.
They want to engage, be served, and transact at their time, their pace, their place. They have little patience, infinite choice and the freedom to swipe left at the slightest hint of friction.
