At this year's Shoptalk Spring, it wasn't enough for brands and retailers to talk about the ways that they think they will use AI. Now, the pressure is on for everyone to prove how they are using AI to increase output and drive sales.
During its latest quarterly earnings report on Thursday, Alibaba disclosed aggressive growth goals for its AI and cloud computing divisions as it seeks to maintain its dominance in the agentic AI era.
Walmart is partnering with Google and OpenAI to let shoppers buy through AI chatbots, taking a more collaborative approach to AI-powered shopping than Amazon, which is largely building its own tools.
Tractor Supply is leaning into real customers, local events and multi-channel marketing to drive spring traffic -- especially in an age where customers are increasingly wary of AI-generated content.