How retailers are thinking about omnichannel in the age of AI

Omnichannel retail has evolved to include artificial intelligence and agentic agents, but stores still need to focus on customer experiences and brand loyalty in order to drive traffic, executives from Ulta, Stitch Fix and other companies said during a Wednesday panel at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York.
In order to meet consumers where they are, retailers need to understand how consumers are shopping, said Kimberly Shenk, CEO of marketing technology firm Novi, during a panel covering the future of omnichannel retail. “Most consumers are shifting discovery to agents, agentic platforms, ChatGPT, Gemini,” she said, adding that as a result, brand identity has to be consistent across every touchpoint.