Esther Cardenal

2025 marked a growing adoption of AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. This adoption is expected to triple over the next four years. Advances across different fields, powered by AI, show that this technology is here to stay. Other technologies are also set to reach mainstream adoption, including robotics, virtual reality and quantum computing. In 2026, retailers will face another year of rapid technological advances, requiring organisational agility, resilience to change and a strong digital culture. The Martec Law shows how technology evolves faster than organisations, which is why having technological capabilities in place is critical for companies. At Telefónica Tech, we offer the technologies, capabilities and expertise needed to help our clients tackle this new challenge. Below is our view on the key retail trends for 2026: 1. From omnichannel to omniconsumer There are no longer multiple channels, there is only one: the consumer. Omnichannel is now a basic expectation. It must be real, and the consumer must be at the centre: this is why we talk about the omniconsumer. Starting a purchase on mobile, trying the product in-store and receiving it conveniently at home will be the norm. Brands that connect all these touchpoints seamlessly will stand out in a context where customer time is scarce. That frictionless flow will become a competitive edge, as customers will stick with those who simplify their lives. 2. AI as the new retail back office 2026 consolidates AI as the invisible engine behind decision-making: setting dynamic pricing, adjusting product ranges by store, personalising promotions, and optimising logistics routes. On the front end, conversational assistants across websites, apps and messaging platforms solve queries, close sales, and handle incidents without friction, freeing up human teams for higher-value tasks. The real difference won't be “using AI or not”, but how well machine intelligence is combined with human judgement. 3. Hyperpersonalisation Access to information is no longer the challenge; the key lies in turning that data into actionable decisions. In 2026, the retailers that stand out will be those who turn analytics into personalised products, highly relevant in-store promotions, and real-time stock alignment with actual buying behaviour. It's about adapting the product and service offer, as well as pricing, almost instantly to match customer needs. 4. Retail media and first-party data: the new business model The Spanish retail media market is in full expansion, with predictions of sustained annual growth and revenue potential positioning it as one of the main drivers of digital advertising investment in 2026. Retail media revenues in Spain are expected to grow by 17% annually in 2026. Retail media offers higher margins than traditional retail, which is pushing retailers to strengthen this channel in their growth strategies. First-party data (actual purchase behaviour) becomes strategic gold: it enables unprecedented targeting precision and opens new revenue streams with higher margins than product sales alone. By monetising their physical and digital spaces through advanced technology platforms, retailers can segment, measure and optimise third-party ad investment, generating a new revenue stream with far higher margins than the core grocery business, gross margins in retail media can be up to four times higher than the average in FMCG retail. 5. Strategic focus on sustainability and energy efficiency Governments are demanding reduced emissions and waste, while consumers increasingly prefer and choose more sustainable brands. Environmental and social awareness will continue to grow, and consumers will favour brands that demonstrate genuine commitment, not just messaging. Recyclable packaging, in-store energy efficiency and responsible supply chains will become expected standards. The challenge will be to prove that profitability and sustainability can go hand in hand. Companies will need to transparently communicate their actions, as customers will want to know how their purchases are making a positive impact. The European Union has set a demanding roadmap to 2030 for greater sustainability and energy efficiency. Retailers will need to adjust operations to ensure packaging is recycled and to justify the reuse of recycled materials. Companies with low ESG ratings may face penalties or struggle to secure funding in future. 'Reverse vending' systems for returning plastic packaging will become increasingly common in retail. Responsible energy use is another key focus area for the EU. Higher energy consumption means higher CO2 emissions, and energy is also a geopolitical resource the EU seeks to protect. Retailers will face two objectives: compliance with regulations and reduction of energy costs to gain a competitive advantage. Energy Management Systems (EMS) for monitoring and controlling energy use will become increasingly common across retail. 6. Instant gratification with ultra-fast delivery Millennials and Gen Z live in real time and don't want to wait. Many digital platforms are creating urban ecosystems, partnering with local stores and restaurants to digitise them and fulfil orders from their platforms with ultra-fast delivery. Smart lockers are on the rise to speed up and control deliveries. We live in an increasingly fast-paced world. Not long ago, waiting for a website to load was normal and today we consider it digital prehistory. The same mindset now applies to the physical world: customers no longer tolerate waiting for products they've purchased, and delivery times and methods have become key factors when choosing one store over another. In 2026, smart locker systems will continue to expand, making product delivery faster and more convenient. 7. Restructuring logistics and manufacturing Retailers with international operations will need to rethink their logistics and manufacturing strategies to minimise the impact of current and future geopolitical changes on end customer pricing. Adopting Big Data and AI will help companies make better, faster decisions. 8. Cybersecurity Cyber-attacks against businesses, including retail companies, rose significantly in 2025, and this trend is expected to continue in 2026. Cybersecurity has become critical, and a lack of security measures can lead to millions in losses, service outages, or in extreme cases, business shutdowns. 9. Automation is transforming the sector, but human value is rising The retail robotics market is expected to reach $76 billion by 2029 (ComCap), while artificial intelligence is being integrated into inventory management, customer service and data analysis. However, this digitalisation doesn’t replace the human factor: it enhances it. While 52% of tasks are automatable, time spent on interpersonal skills is set to grow significantly (McKinsey Global Institute). In a more automated world, the real scarcity is talent that can understand the customer, interpret data and drive change. 2026 will require greater investment in upskilling. Retailers that invest in the employee experience (training, purpose, autonomy) ultimately deliver a better customer experience. 10. Stores as spaces for inspiration and community The physical store will evolve into a space designed to inspire, engage and build community, with hybrid experiences that blend entertainment, education and social connection. Stores no longer need to sell in order to matter: they invite people to stay, not just pass through. Increasingly, retailers will integrate food, culture, leisure and beauty zones to foster community and create stores where things happen, where people live experiences. Conclusion The retail landscape in 2025 and the outlook for 2026 point to a scenario filled with major challenges and opportunities. Digitalisation, the rise of retail media, the growing importance of cyber security and automation demand continuous and strategic adaptation from businesses. In this context, partnering with strong technology providers is essential to turn challenges into competitive advantages and deliver a superior customer experience. ■ At Telefónica Tech, we position ourselves as a trusted technology partner to support companies in the integration of innovative solutions, helping them address today’s challenges and fully seize the opportunities in the evolving retail landscape.

In today’s retail landscape, success is no longer defined solely by product or price, it lies in the quality of the shopping experience. Consumers expect brands to understand their needs, anticipate their desires, and deliver seamless, relevant, and personalized interactions. In this context, data becomes the driving force behind this transformation. Understanding to personalize: the power of behavioral data Every customer interaction, whether a web search, an in-store visit, or a post-sales inquiry, generates valuable insights. Behavioral data offers a window into how consumers truly engage with brands. For example: Some customers shop online but prefer in-store pickup. Younger shoppers tend to make purchases late at night or via mobile devices. Others value speed and convenience, opting for contactless payments or instant delivery. By analyzing these patterns, retailers can adjust their services, operating hours, product assortments, and even merchandising strategies to better align with the real habits and preferences of each segment. ■ According to Capgemini’s Consumers demand generative AI integration into shopping experiences (2025) report, 71% of consumers want generative AI integrated into their shopping experiences, and 58% have already replaced traditional search engines with AI-based tools for personalized recommendations, highlighting the growing need to incorporate these technologies into the smart retail ecosystem. From observation to anticipation: a proactive experience Predictive models take it one step further. Through advanced analytics and machine learning, retailers can anticipate future customer needs. Using foot traffic data, for instance, predictive models can help schedule staff shifts during peak hours, organize gym classes based on expected attendee profiles, or tailor promotions to fit the customer segments likely to visit each day of the week. Connecting the physical and digital worlds The integration of online and in-store data paves the way for truly omnichannel experiences: Integrated loyalty and CRM systems allow customer recognition across all touchpoints. Computer vision and AI help analyze traffic flows, dwell time, and product or zone preferences. Mobile apps and interactive kiosks enhance the experience with real-time recommendations or personalized promotions. The result is a seamless and consistent experience, regardless of where or how the customer interacts with the brand. Use case: leveraging advanced analytics to enhance the omnichannel retail experience A retail chain with both physical stores and an online presence set out to improve customer experience and operational efficiency. The lack of connection between in-store and digital data made it difficult to understand true consumer preferences or predict demand accurately. By implementing an advanced analytics solution powered by AI and computer vision, the company began analyzing behavioral patterns, in-store traffic flows, and online shopping habits to deliver a personalized and consistent experience across all channels. The company achieved: Increased sales through real-time personalized recommendations and promotions. Reduced surplus inventory by predicting demand based on location and customer profiles. Higher satisfaction and loyalty by offering a smooth, consistent experience across both physical and digital environments. —The result was greater operational efficiency and a closer, more relevant relationship with customers, driven by data-based decision-making. Data as the backbone of human connection While data is often associated with algorithms and technology, its ultimate purpose is deeply human: to better understand people and deliver greater value. By gaining deeper insight into their customers, brands can build stronger, more meaningful relationships, crafting unique experiences, creating spaces for interaction, and fostering a sense of community. Delivering value beyond price through memorable experiences and emotional connections is increasingly critical, as retaining loyal customers becomes more challenging. In the new retail landscape, data not only drives sales—it builds trust and humanizes the shopping experience. Ultimately, data not only optimizes sales performance but also strengthens trust. And in an increasingly saturated market, that trust is the most valuable asset. Conclusion It’s clear that store digitalization is accelerating, and data-driven decision-making is redefining the retail experience. Today, the physical store remains essential, a unique space for personalization and social interaction, becoming ever more human in its role. Connectivity & IoT The impact of digital transformation on shopping centers July 7, 2025

In the competitive retail industry, providing an exceptional shopping experience is key to attracting and retaining customers. In this context, smart shelving has emerged as a revolutionary technological solution that not only optimises product management, but also improves customer interaction. Smart shelves are transforming the retail shopping experience, offering tangible benefits for both businesses and customers. Personalised shopping experience Smart shelves enable a highly personalised shopping experience by offering relevant information and product suggestions as customers browse the aisles. These shelves are equipped with NFC price tags, video rails and displays that show details, reviews and ratings from other customers, as well as product videos or recommendations for cross-selling other products. Image: macrovector / Freepik RFID technology that enables product recognition, detecting which item has been selected, and triggering additional information that can influence the customer's purchasing decision. ✔️ Example: A customer is looking for an iron in the electronics section. When approaching the smart shelves, the digital price tag shows the discount highlighted in red, the technical characteristics of the item and the rating of other customers. In addition, when approaching their NFC-enabled smartphone, it shows you the video of how to use it and can recommend complementary accessories, such as protective covers for the ironing board. Dynamic pricing; improved efficiency, sustainability, and improved margins Staff shortages are an issue for all retailers today, making it all the more important to find task automation tools; not only to ensure staff shortages, but also to enable staff to take on more important and impactful work for the business. A key part of smart shelves are the digital price tags themselves, which allow price changes to be automated and streamlined, so that staff do not spend hours changing prices on paper, with the high implementation costs that this entails, and reduce paper spend to be more sustainable, an important challenge for all businesses. Digital labels also reduce errors between the prices displayed on the shelf and those at the checkout; and the fact of speeding up price changes allows them to react in time to competition and improve margins. ✔️ Example: A chain of petrol stations raising the price +2% at night and on Sundays allowed them to increase gross margin +0.2% and increase sales thanks to real-time price changes. Moving from manual price change processes to automated pricing with digital price tags means optimised margins and cost savings. Stock management and improved replenishment It has been shown that 32% of customers stop buying a product when it is out of stock, and 12% buy from competitors, so tracking and monitoring shelf stock is a critical but challenging task. Image: macrovector / Freepik Smart shelves facilitate this process by providing real-time data on stock levels. Cameras integrated into the shelves constantly monitor product availability and send automatic notifications to employees when products need to be replenished. This prevents out-of-stock situations and ensures that products are always available to customers. ✔️ Example: In a supermarket, chocolate-filled biscuits are on promotion. Smart shelves detect the lack of stock on each shelf and alert to the lack of the biscuits. The employee checks the mobile APP and gives a priority task to replenish the stock of biscuits on the shelf, to ensure that customers always find the product they want without having to wait or look elsewhere, and to ensure that brands do not lose sales. Smart retail: Information analysis and data-driven decision-making Another significant benefit of smart shelves in the retail sector is the ability to collect valuable data on customer shopping behaviour and which days and times each product is out of stock, indicating shopping trends. Local computer vision to monitor a retailer's inventory while protecting customer privacy is an Edge AI use case. Photo: Sony. The cameras integrated into these shelves can collect information on which products are selected most frequently, which products are missing each day throughout the month and which campaigns have the greatest impact on purchasing decisions. This data can be analysed to gain key insights into customer preferences, the effectiveness of marketing strategies and optimisation of product layout in the shop. ✔️ Example: A grocery shop uses smart shelves, and through data analysis, discovers which days of the week milk is missing from the shelves. With this information, the company decides to manage product delivery days with the brands to ensure stock replenishment, and also changes prices according to milk demand and advertises cereal promotions on the displays next to dairy products, thus increasing margin, cross-selling possibilities and maximising revenue. Reduction of waste in greengrocers The biggest problem in food establishments is the loss of fruit and vegetables due to the deterioration of the products and the difficulty in controlling the stock. Thanks to technology such as computer vision and artificial intelligence, the greengrocer's area is transformed into smart shelves, informing in real time of the level of stock of each fruit and identifying the freshness of the product. In this way, the price of fruit that is losing freshness is automatically lowered to encourage sales and those that are low in stock are replenished, increasing sales and reducing waste. Conclusion Smart shelves are revolutionising the retail shopping experience by providing personalised interaction, efficient inventory management and valuable data analytics. These technology solutions not only provide tangible benefits for retailers, such as increased customer satisfaction and inventory optimisation, but also significantly enhance the shopping experience, allowing consumers to access relevant information and make informed decisions. In an increasingly digital world, smart shelves have become an indispensable tool for success in the retail sector. AI of Things What are physical shops and how are they transforming shopping? July 19, 2023 Image: Macrovector / Freepik.

Have you ever wondered if you are using the right strategies to improve your shop's performance? Or what you need to do to improve the customer experience at the point of sale? If so, it means you know the importance of analytics and insights to make impactful business decisions. It is natural to have doubts, especially if you don't have the means to really quantify the benefits of your in-store strategies. Data, a key asset for business Data is a key enabler for business, as the difference between winning or losing a customer is the ability to collect, analyse and derive actionable information fast enough to respond to changing customer needs. The only solution is to measure, but it's not just about knowing the sales achieved at the end of each day, it's about finding new ways to improve efficiency and personalise the customer experience. But what are the right metrics to measure efficiency in a shop? How can we know which customers are coming into our shops? What actions do I need to take? Indoor insights for a complete funnel The futuristic scenario introduced by Steven Spielberg in his 2002 film 'Minority Report', in which we saw Tom Cruise being greeted as he entered a shop and the advertising on the screens being personalised, is now a reality. We can even get to know the profile of potential visitors to the area, how many come in and whether customers approach, look at and touch certain products. It sounds like science fiction, but having the complete sales funnel is possible thanks to indoor insights. You can identify which factors are negatively affecting your revenue and be proactive with shop improvements, providing you with measurable targets and a favourable ROI on your new technology investment by providing more accurate data on shop activities and new insights into customer behaviour and preferences. Extracting valuable information from data However, the amount of data can be overwhelming and the data sources can be very varied, so it is key to look for a partner that is able to unify all the data to provide the complete business funnel in a simple way. Do you know the potential audience in the area where your shop is located? What are their web preferences, their tastes? What is the conversion rate to the shop? How many come into your business? Which segment converts better or worse? What is the actual conversion rate? Are they all customers? Or do they come in groups, families, couples? Which doors or areas of the shop have the highest conversion rate? How long do they stay inside, how do they move around your shop? What areas do they visit, where do they stay the longest? What products do they look at? Which ones do they touch? These questions are important because knowing the answers gives you a real picture of how your business is performing, helps you solve problems, support new ideas or the creation of new products and services, and ultimately, actionability to improve revenue. Use cases As we already mentioned in a previous article, the combination of data from outdoor location analytics tools with data generated inside the shop through video or wifi analytics solutions enables multiple use cases: Have end-to-end traceability of the sales funnel within the shop Personalise marketing content according to the profile of the public that is visiting them at any given time; Improve processes and manage resources by knowing dwell times in different areas, waiting times at checkout points, or conversion rates of previously analysed points of interest; Optimise staff schedules according to demand, peaks, location or other factors; Change product selection, assortment repositioning and even shop layout design based on audience type and conversion to specific products and areas. Integration with the Proximity Marketing App to send messages to customers to alert them to the location of the self-checkout area if there are queues at the checkout counters on the floor where the customer is located; Integration with the content management platform to change dynamic marketing screen advertising or music based on the profile of customers in shop. In short, we can conclude that having better data allows us to make better decisions in order to obtain more profit from our business, which is what all companies seek. If you want to know more applications of the fusion of the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, known to us as AIoThings, you can read other articles in the series: AI OF THINGS AI of Things(I): Multiplying the value of connected things February 28, 2022 IA & Data AI of Things (II): Water, a sea of data March 16, 2022 AI of Things IoT anomalies: how a few wrong pieces of information can cost us dearly September 18, 2023 AI of Things AI of Things (IV): You can already maximise the impact of your campaigns in the physical space April 26, 2022 AI of Things AI of Things (V): Recommendation and optimisation of advertising content on smart displays May 17, 2022 AI of Things Generative Artificial Intelligence, creating music to the rhythm of perceptron July 18, 2023