As retailers embark on 2026, the industry collectively faces a convergence of regulatory pressures, operational innovation prospects and consumer expectations.
Seattle-based RFID technology provider Impinj predicts that 2026 will be pivotal for digital product transparency, supply chain integrity, and technology-driven operational efficiency.
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“With EU deadlines for textiles and tires looming in 2027, retailers will no longer be in wait-and-see mode – they are setting their plans not only to ensure compliance, but also to ensure their investments here generate broader operational benefits,” said Megan Brewster, vice president of advanced technology at Impinj.
According to the former senior advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the 2026 technology investments that retailers should watch are those focused on integrated labeling, item-level traceability, and supply chain intelligence.
“After years of choosing between durability and affordability, advances in labeling technology in recent years mean brands can finally implement labeling strategies that offer both,” Brewster said. “For apparel and other high-volume categories, integrated labeling will become the new standard, enabling visibility throughout the item lifecycle, smoother returns, easier recycling and future preparation for DPP requirements.”
That’s because counterfeiting and fraud have reached a tipping point, according to Brewster, as American consumers become more aware (and vocal) about fake products or dishonest deliveries.
“Because many shipments lack basic hygiene, such as advance shipping notices, brands often don’t know exactly what arrived when or from whom,” Brewster said. “That fragmentation creates perfect entry points for counterfeit and fraudulent relabeled products.”
While legislative momentum, such as the Combating Retail Organized Crime Act of 2025, has highlighted the urgency of item-level traceability, technological advances can give retailers the visibility needed to see (and prevent) fraud. These technologies, he continued, can improve inventory accuracy, support returns and recycling, and future-proof operations for regulatory compliance.
“Interestingly, the CORCA Act is gaining rare bipartisan momentum as organized retail crime and counterfeiting gain national attention,” Brewster said, noting that retailers have been battling increasingly complex, multi-step supply chains, plus an “expanding ecosystem” of 3PLs and e-commerce logistics partners; Policymakers are eager for proven and widely deployed technology.
“Item-level traceability makes it harder for bad actors to hide; technologies like RAIN RFID give supply chain partners shared visibility into authentic products, helping to expose counterfeits much earlier in the supply chain,” he continued. “For retailers selling premium, organic or ethically sourced products, this is even more important,” as “a counterfeit product can erase years of progress in sustainability and consumer trust in a brand.”
At the same time, DPP-as-a-Service is emerging, what Brewster called “already becoming a plug-and-play, plug-and-play infrastructure for storytelling and brand loyalty,” as well as fulfillment. Thus, brands can externally offer consumers instant access to verified product data while internally streamlining implementation and reducing complexity.
“With an increasing mix of third-party logistics partners, fragmented shipping models, and continued tariff uncertainty, cleaner data exchange between partners based on item-level tracking and visibility is also becoming essential to protect margins and prevent issues like incorrect shipments or counterfeits,” Brewster said.
At the same time, Impinj predicts that retailers will similarly double down on supply chain intelligence and improving data insights. Similarly, Propel Software has set 2026 as the year that will mark the tipping point for connected intelligence.
“The next generation of AI agents will not live within individual applications,” said CEO Ross Meyercord. “They will communicate, coordinate and act across entire technological ecosystems, turning fragmented processes into fluid, intelligent networks.”
According to the product value management (PVM) solutions provider, software platforms that can extend data and workflows across an entire enterprise will dominate, while siled tools will lose relevance. According to the fintech firm’s findings, this has already been evidenced by advances in artificial intelligence.
“In this new era, independent software simply won’t be able to compete,” Meyercord said. “The demise of remaining on-premises software will accelerate, leaving just 15 percent of those companies over the next three years.”
That being said, SaaS is far from dead; instead, it is experiencing a resurgence alongside AI agents, according to Propel. The Silicon Valley company believes that the winners of 2026 will be those that can combine the agility of AI agents with the reliability of SaaS to deliver measurable business value.
“SaaS provides the workflows, governance and security guardrails businesses demand, while AI agents enhance productivity and speed,” Meyercord said. “One without the other falls short, but together they set the new standard for enterprise software.”
Along those lines, software giant SAP argued that as retail enters an age of agency – one in which AI agents increasingly shape how consumers discover and buy products – brands that continue to optimize only for traditional search risk “quietly disappearing” from the models that drive next-generation discovery.
Which means SEO is not dead either, said the enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions provider, but is evolving into “AI Engine Optimization” (AEO).
“Agency buying is not about replacing SEO; rather, it is a valuable and necessary combination to reach customers where they are,” said Jessica Keehn, chief marketing officer, SAP Customer Experience.
To back up a bit: Agent commerce is when a customer tells AI response engines (like ChatGPT or Gemini) what they want, Keehn explained. It then allows the AI agent to research, compare and even purchase on the customer’s behalf. So instead of clicking through websites, AI becomes a shopping assistant, handling the steps from discovery to checkout in one place.
“That means the new ‘digital shelf’ is the AI response engine,” Keehn continued. “Retailers who don’t make their pricing, inventory and product data clean, structured and LLM-ready will simply never be recommended.”
He cited estimates from McKinsey & Company that about 50 percent of Google searches already include AI summaries and expects that figure to surpass 75 percent by 2028; It also projects that AI-powered search could generate $750 billion in revenue in the United States by then.
Traditional SEO will still be important, but SAP warns that unprepared brands could see significant drops in site traffic as AI agents increasingly direct shoppers through recommendations, sometimes without even clicking on a brand’s site.
“Retailers must have a mixed strategy to ensure products are understood and appear wherever customers choose to shop,” Keehn said. “Brands that do this well will earn trust, reduce friction in the buyer journey, increase visibility and build loyalty – a virtuous cycle.”
Keehn argued that in an agent-led purchasing model, loyalty becomes a composite signal: When a brand consistently meets expectations, the agent learns to prioritize it and surface it more frequently, turning loyalty into a lever of acquisition, not just retention.
And, he added, agents are only as good as the systems that support them: product catalog, inventory, pricing, fulfillment and order history. When that data is isolated, the agent can’t reliably tell buyers what’s available, when it will arrive, or how much they’ll actually pay.
That’s why retailers are consolidating ERP with commerce, marketing, sales and service into a single, integrated stack, so that business data stays clean and connected (hence functional) across the enterprise. With ERP as a connective layer, Keehn said, agents can use operational context to more effectively personalize recommendations and drive profitable growth.
“Loyalty was never gained or lost at Google or AI or SEO,” Keehn said. “You win through reliability and consistency.”
