Retailgentic | Consumer Behavior & Retail Trend

Today at Google I/O, in her part of the larger keynote, VP/GM of Ads and Commerce, Vidhya Srinivasan announced a raft of Agentic Commerce items with the anchor new feature being Universal Cart. After Vidhya’s keynote comments, I was left with these questions that I know merchants will have too:
Googlers talk about Universal Cart being available on surfaces like Gmail and YouTube - what’s that actually look like IRL? What are the use cases that merchants can think about and start experimenting with?
Universal Cart is coming this Summer - that’s typically June/July/August - that’s a long window in AI-time, early/mid/late Summer?
I haven’t heard Google, at least the Agentic Commerce team, talk about AG2 in a while, and suddenly it popped back up in the context of the new consumer agent called Gemini Spark. What’s that all about that.
Loyalty (via identity linking) was part of the UCP features announced back on March 19th (details here) but kind of missing here? Even though if you read Vidhya’s blog post very carefully it says that Universal Cart uses “loyalty information”, but it’s not like the Copilot UCP-based loyalty linkage we saw with Target back on April 22 (here if you missed it).
That’s a lot of questions - I only had 30mins with Suresh, so had to pick and choose, but we covered some good ground. The good news is I have two more interviews scheduled for Wed 20th at Google Marketing Live and will work them all in.
Subscribe, engage and stay tuned for more great Google I/O content coming at you all week! 

👉 Connect with Suresh Ganapathy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sureshsganapathy/
👉 Learn more about Google I/O: https://io.google/2026/
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📰 Subscribe to the free Substack: retailgentic.ai
📺 Watch episodes on YouTube & Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/@Retailgentic

In this episode, Scot sits with Elizabeth Lachhar to unpack Rezolve AI’s end-to-end agentic commerce platform, including its closed retail-trained LLM, Brainpower, and modules across search, discovery, conversational commerce, checkout, and loyalty.
A lot of the agentic commerce conversation focuses on offsite experiences like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other AI shopping agents. But there’s another major shift happening onsite, where retailers are rethinking search, merchandising, conversational commerce, checkout, loyalty, and personalization for an AI-native world.
Elizabeth brings a deep enterprise background from Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and more, and now works with retailers, brands, food service, hospitality, and B2B companies navigating this transition.
Highlights 
Why onsite agentic commerce matters just as much as offsite AI shopping agents
How Rezolve AI approaches search, merchandising, conversational commerce, checkout, loyalty, and geolocation
Why closed, retail-trained LLMs may matter for hallucination, security, and enterprise trust
How conversational commerce can help retailers move beyond flat, 2D ecommerce experiences
Why B2B discovery is a major agentic commerce use case
How loyalty, memory, and past purchases can create better personalization
What retailers are asking about right now: security, compliance, fraud, ROI, and partner strategy
Why Elizabeth believes agentic commerce is already here, not years away
What Generation Alpha could mean for the future of shopping experiences by 2030
Agentic commerce is also about rebuilding the onsite experience so retailers can understand, personalize, transact, and convert in a world where consumers expect commerce to be faster, smarter, and more conversational.
Timestamps
 00:00 — Introduction to Retailgentic
 01:34 — Meet Elizabeth Lacchar of Resolve AI
 04:18 — Elizabeth’s background at Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and more
 07:14 — Why she joined Resolve AI
 09:54 — What Resolve AI does
 10:32 — The end-to-end agentic commerce platform
 11:29 — Quick service, geolocation, and hospitality use cases
 13:25 — Search, discovery, merchandising, and visualization
 15:08 — B2B catalogs and complex SKU discovery
 17:12 — Why agentic commerce is different from legacy site search
 18:11 — Resolve’s closed LLM, Brainpower
 20:26 — Checkout, wallets, crypto, and international payments
 26:02 — Loyalty, data, and the full customer lifecycle
 29:50 — Brain Suite, Brain Commerce, Brain Checkout, and Brain Assist
 31:09 — Resolve AI’s customer mix
 34:22 — Elizabeth’s role as EVP of the Americas
 35:55 — Vibe check: where retailers are in adoption
 38:31 — Is agentic commerce a race to the bottom?
 40:28 — Fraud, bots, security, and guardrails
 42:35 — Selling agentic commerce across enterprise teams
 46:26 — Predictions for holiday and 2030
 49:41 — Where to learn more about Resolve AI

👉 Connect with Elizabeth Lachhar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-lachhar/
👉 Learn more about Rezolve Ai: https://www.linkedin.com/company/airezolve/
🧠 Want to stay ahead in AI commerce? Subscribe and follow along:
📰 Subscribe to the free Substack: retailgentic.ai
📺 Watch episodes on YouTube & Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/@Retailgentic

In this episode, we sit down with Michele Fisher (Global Director, Business Strategy for Retail & CPG) and Atanu Ghosh (Director of Agentic Commerce & AI Innovation), who sit at the intersection of Azure AI, Copilot, and real-world retail and brand Agentic Commerce implementations.
This conversation dives into how Microsoft is thinking about agentic commerce as a full operating model shift, not just a feature or channel.
From Copilot shopping to data infrastructure to ads inside LLMs, the discussion connects the dots between:
Highlights 
Conversational discovery is fundamentally different from search: The way people talk about brands inside AI systems looks nothing like traditional keyword behavior, and most companies have zero visibility into it.
Agentic commerce is not one thing, it’s an operating model shift: Microsoft defines it broadly: agents participating in discovery, decision-making, and transactions, not just checkout.
Copilot + catalog + data = the new commerce stack
Ads are changing from persuasion to evaluation: Agents don’t care about creative. They evaluate structured data, trust signals, and relevance.
Loyalty becomes infrastructure, not a program
The “frontier firm” is the North Star: A future where humans and agents work together across workflows, not just AI acting as an assistant.
Protocols like UCP matter more than people realize: Open standards enable discoverability across surfaces and prevent fragmentation in agent-driven ecosystems.
The funnel is collapsing
If your brand is still thinking about traffic as the starting point, you’re already behind.
In an agentic world, discovery happens before you ever see the user, and increasingly, without them.

Timestamps
00:00 – Why brands have zero visibility into conversational discovery
01:50 – Scot’s “Big 6” podcast goal and Microsoft joins the list
04:00 – Michelle & Atanu backgrounds + roles at Microsoft
10:00 – What agentic commerce actually means (and why definitions vary)
14:00 – Microsoft’s agentic commerce stack: Copilot, agents, data layer
18:00 – The “Frontier Firm” and human + agent workflows
20:00 – UCP, protocols, and why openness matters
23:00 – Loyalty, identity, and friction in agent checkout
28:00 – Ads in agentic commerce: from persuasion to evaluation
33:00 – First-party data vs. conversational behavior data
39:00 – Why most retailers aren’t ready (and what they need first)
45:00 – The real blocker: operating models, not technology
46:30 – Where to learn more + how leaders are consuming information now

👉 Connect with Michele: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelekfisher/
👉 Connect with Atanu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/buildingai/
👉 Learn more about Microsoft in AI: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azure-ai-foundry-blog/the-future-of-ai-harnessing-ai-for-e-commerce---personalized-shopping-agents/4386980
🧠 Want to stay ahead in AI commerce? Subscribe and follow along:
📰 Subscribe to the free Substack: retailgentic.ai
📺 Watch episodes on YouTube & Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/@Retailgentic

In this episode of Retailgentic, Stephan breaks down how agentic commerce is evolving globally, with a particular focus on Europe’s rapid adoption.
We explore why AI-driven shopping is accelerating faster than previous technology shifts, how brands are already losing visibility without realizing it, and what practical steps companies can take today to stay competitive.
From product data strategy to protocol wars to the future of loyalty, this conversation offers a clear view of where commerce is heading next.
Highlights 
Discovery is the new battleground: If your product is not readable, trustworthy, and rich in context for AI agents, it will not be recommended.
Agentic commerce starts before checkout: The most important shift is happening in discovery, comparison, and decision-making, not the final transaction.
Europe is moving differently, not slower: Adoption among younger consumers in markets like Germany is already very high, with many using AI in shopping workflows.
Product data is now infrastructure: Years of optimizing for search engines are being replaced by the need to structure data for AI systems.
Loyalty and identity are becoming core systems: Future commerce will depend heavily on how well brands manage identity, value, and customer relationships across AI ecosystems.
Protocols are evolving fast: Systems like UCP and MCP are shaping how agents interact with product data, pricing, and checkout layers.
Small experiments already create visibility gains: Even limited API exposure or structured data improvements can increase inclusion in AI-driven recommendations.
Agentic commerce is accelerating existing problems: Many of today’s challenges, like poor data quality and disconnected systems, have existed for years but are now becoming urgent.
Agentic commerce is already reshaping how products are discovered today, and the brands that adapt fastest will define the next era of retail.

Timestamps
00:00 – Opening and overview of agentic commerce
02:00 – Who Stefan Ritter is and his background
05:00 – Why agentic commerce adoption is happening faster than mobile
09:00 – What agentic commerce actually means
11:00 – Human vs autonomous decision-making
13:00 – Why context is replacing keywords
16:00 – State of agentic commerce in Europe
20:00 – Data quality and infrastructure challenges
23:00 – AI platforms and protocol landscape
26:00 – Loyalty, identity, and authentication of agents
28:00 – The three opportunity spaces for brands
32:00 – How AI changes product storytelling
36:00 – Events, ecosystem, and European perspective
37:00 – Deloitte research and discovery battleground
39:00 – Retail media and monetization challenges
42:00 – Practical roadmap for brands
46:00 – The future of agentic commerce
49:00 – Closing thoughts and where to follow Stefan

👉 Connect with Stephan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanritter/
👉 Learn more about Deloitte: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deloitte/
🧠 Want to stay ahead in AI commerce? Subscribe and follow along:
📰 Subscribe to the free Substack: retailgentic.ai
📺 Watch episodes on YouTube & Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/@Retailgentic

This episode goes beyond surface-level AI hype and into how retail organizations are actually responding.
Krystina shares what she’s hearing from operators, board members, and data leaders and why the biggest risk right now is moving in the wrong direction.
At the same time, we explore how agentic commerce is reshaping traffic, discovery, and brand relationships and what that means for the future of ecommerce.
Highlights 
AI is forcing a full end-to-end transformation of retail
Many companies are prioritizing the wrong AI initiatives, focusing on hype instead of P&L impact
A growing concern: “dark” or untracked AI-driven traffic is already impacting performance
Data strategy is becoming a core battleground: What do you give AI platforms? What do you get back? Do CRMs need to evolve entirely?
The real unlock for AI shopping is complex, multi-step purchases (travel, events, planning)
The industry is early, but pressure from boards and declining traffic is accelerating adoption
The future of retail will be defined by who applies it to the right problems.
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 — The future of retail data + AI uncertainty
 00:47 — Retailgentic intro
 03:10 — Kristina Gustafson’s background (CNBC → Shoptalk → RetailClub)
 08:02 — Why RetailClub exists: AI needs a verticalized event
 10:00 — From “retreat” to “festival”
 12:00 — Intimacy vs scale in events
 17:00 — What “festival format” actually means
 20:00 — RetailClub themes: full AI transformation of retail
 26:00 — How Kristina tracks AI trends (75%+ of her time)
 28:00 — AI prioritization problem inside companies
 29:00 — Data, CRMs, and “dark agentic traffic”
 30:00 — Traffic decline + board pressure
 36:30 — Agentic commerce: what actually works
 38:00 — Why brands won’t fully disappear
 40:00 — RetailClub details + closing

👉 Connect with Krystina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystina-gustafson-908a5a14/
👉 Learn more about RetailClub: https://retailclub.com/
🧠 Want to stay ahead in AI commerce? Subscribe and follow along:
📰 Subscribe to the free Substack: retailgentic.ai
📺 Watch episodes on YouTube & Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/@Retailgentic