Half of your customers are already shopping with AI, and most retailers still have no plan for it. In this bonus episode, we break down 8 themes on AI in retail and the retail trends 2026 will run on, straight from The Lead Summit in New York City.
Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden spent two days with the founders, operators, and analysts actually leading retail right now, from Anthropologie and Talbots to Hey Dude, Olaplex, Loop, and Coterie. Rather than a session-by-session recap, we pulled out the cross-cutting signals that kept showing up on every stage.
The big one: every use of AI in retail built to replace people failed, and every one built to extend people won. We get into the rewired store, why human connection is becoming the new luxury, and the rise of the AI-assisted shopper who is already changing how product discovery works. We also dig into generative engine optimization (GEO), which is pulling 80% of the conversation on roughly 5% of the traffic, and why GEO is the move to make before holiday. If you only have time for one thing on AI in retail this month, generative engine optimization is where we'd start.
Plus the grey swans most leaders can see coming but refuse to plan for: GLP-1, the aging of America, and single-geography supply chain risk. This is the practical, no-hype guide to the retail trends 2026 leaders are quietly betting on.
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Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Goodpods. Full transcript at retailrazor.com.
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*Retail Razor Show S5:E6*
*Released on May 27, 2026*
*Chapters*
00:00 Teaser
01:01 Show Intro
03:18 The BIG Recap - Our 8 Themes form The Lead Summit
05:49 Theme 1 - The Augmentation Imperative
09:49 Theme 2 - People are the New Luxury
14:17 Theme 3 - The Rewired Store
18:40 Theme 4 - Get Ready for the AI-Assisted Shopper
24:19 Theme 5 - Community Over Audience
30:57 Theme 6 - Brand Discipline and the Power of Saying No
35:22 Theme 7 - Multiplatform & Multigenerational Reality
40:23 Theme 8 - Grey Swans: The Conversations Most People Aren't Having
45:39 Key Take Aways: What Should Listeners Do Monday Morning?
48:53 Show Close
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