Gitnux/Report 2026

Digital Transformation in Retail Industry Statistics

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Digital Transformation in Retail Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

An editor sets the topic, the inclusion criteria, and the evaluation framework before research starts.

02Source Research

AI search agents locate sources and extract each figure together with the document it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The digital transformation in retail industry at a glance

Retail digital transformation is becoming an AI-, data- and omnichannel-led market, valued at an estimated $397.8 billion in 2026 and forecast to reach $768.9 billion by 2030.

$397.8B[72]
Market size, 2026
17.9%[72]
Forecast CAGR, 2026–2030
$340.2B[73]
U.S. e-commerce sales, Q2 2026
51%[23]
U.S. consumers using AI shopping tools, 2026
Market size
The global retail digital transformation market is estimated at $397.8 billion in 2026. A narrower adjacent market, retail digital services, is estimated at approximately $46–48 billion in 2026.[72][74]
Forecast & CAGR
The global retail digital transformation market is forecast to reach $768.87 billion by 2030, implying a 17.9% CAGR from 2026 to 2030. Retail digital services are forecast to grow at approximately 4–6% annually during 2027–2029.[72][74]
Market share & regions
North America accounted for 37.4% of global connected-retail revenue in 2023, making it the leading region in that adjacent digital-transformation segment. Asia Pacific accounted for 42.8% of global retail e-commerce revenue in 2023, reflecting the region’s strong digital-commerce base.[75]
Segmentation
Retail digital transformation spans unified commerce, customer growth and engagement, supply-chain management, in-store operations, retail media, data monetization, cloud, applications, analytics and AI. Connected-retail solutions are also segmented by hardware, software and services, with IoT, AI analytics and mobile applications supporting digitally integrated stores.[76][75]
Key players & concentration
The 2026 Everest Group assessment evaluates 33 retail digital-services providers across retail-specific and horizontal technology capabilities. Publicly available sources reviewed do not provide a comparable revenue-based concentration ratio for the overall retail digital-transformation market.[76]
Pricing
Digital transformation pricing is increasingly shaped by personalized promotions and algorithmic pricing. The FTC found that pricing-technology intermediaries using consumer, location, time and channel data had worked with at least 250 clients, including grocery and apparel retailers.[77]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Key investment themes in 2026 include AI-led decisioning, agentic commerce, unified commerce, supply-chain visibility, retail media and legacy-platform modernization. Major constraints include fragmented data estates, legacy systems, margin pressure, tariff uncertainty, consumer trade-down and the difficulty of moving AI projects from pilots into governed production.[74][78]
Consumer behavior & competition
U.S. retail e-commerce sales reached $340.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 12.4% year over year. NielsenIQ reported that 51% of U.S. consumers had used at least one AI-powered shopping tool during the preceding month, increasing competitive pressure on retailer websites, marketplaces and AI-mediated discovery.[73][23]
M&A
Retail M&A activity totaled 992 transactions in 2025, down 12.4% from 1,132 in 2024, while fourth-quarter volume fell 21.2% quarter over quarter to 212 deals. In retail technology, consolidation is increasingly focused on platform-led acquisitions and integrated software suites.[79][80]
Regulation
Under the EU AI Act, prohibitions, general-purpose-AI rules and transparency requirements became enforceable on August 2, 2026. High-risk AI rules are scheduled to apply from December 2, 2027, increasing compliance requirements for retailers using AI in customer interaction, recommendations, pricing and operations.[81][82]
Latest news
In September 2026, NielsenIQ reported that 51% of U.S. consumers had used an AI-powered shopping tool in the previous month. Separately, the 2026 TCS retail outlook found that 85% of surveyed retailers had not yet begun implementing or planning multi-agent AI systems, highlighting a gap between consumer adoption and enterprise readiness.[23][78]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Digital Transformation In Retail Industry

The leading companies in the digital transformation in retail industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 9, 2026 · Next review December 9, 2026

Verdict

Microsoft leads Gitnux's 2026 digital transformation in retail ranking with an Overall score of 9.4, backed by Dynamics 365, Azure and Microsoft Cloud supporting retail modernization and AI workloads. Alphabet is the highest-ranked retail AI platform provider at 9.3, thanks to Google Cloud retail AI and commerce search with connected-store analytics solutions.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in cloud for retail operations

    Microsoft

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.4 · Cloud for retail operations

    Why we picked it: Its retail modernization coverage spans Dynamics 365 and Azure, with Microsoft Cloud for AI workloads.

    See in ranking ↓Visit microsoft.com ↗

  2. Leader in retail AI and analytics

    Alphabet

    US

    Ranked #2 · 9.3 · Retail AI and analytics

    Why we picked it: Its retail stack targets discovery and store-linked analytics via Google Cloud retail AI and connected-store tools.

    See in ranking ↓Visit abc.xyz ↗

  3. Leader in workflow automation

    ServiceNow

    US

    Ranked #4 · 8.9 · Workflow automation

    Why we picked it: Its focus is workflow automation for store operations using AI-enabled workflows.

    See in ranking ↓Visit servicenow.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the digital transformation in retail industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Microsoft

Cloud for retail operations · US

9.4
2

Alphabet

Retail AI and analytics · US

9.3
3

Oracle

Cloud for retail operations · US

9.2
4

ServiceNow

Workflow automation · US

8.9
5

Shopify

Unified commerce platform · CA

8.8
6

Salesforce

Retail CRM, commerce, marketing and service cloud · US

8.7
7

SAP

Retail ERP, commerce, supply chain and analytics · DE

8.4
8

IBM

AI, hybrid cloud and consulting for retail · US

8.4
9

Adobe

Digital experience, commerce and retail marketing · US

8.3
10

Cognizant

Retail digital engineering and transformation services · US

7.8

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 9, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the digital transformation in retail industry. In Digital Transformation In Retail Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/digital-transformation-in-retail-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Comparison

Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales (United Kingdom)

Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales: 28.1% in 2020, 27.5% in 2025.

202130.7%
202028.1%
202527.5%
202427.1%
202326.7%
202226.6%
source-verifiedons.gov.uk2025

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

Technology adoption is already broad: 80% of US retailers had begun using AI in 2024 and $25 billion was spent globally on AI in 2024. Store-intelligence scaling shows a gap between pilots and full scaling (16% fully scaled AI in 2025).

AI in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 80% of US retailers had begun using AI to some degree in 2024, according to OC&C analysis of industry data.[1]
  • 12% of European retail companies adopted AI in 2024, up from roughly 7% in 2020, according to OECD analysis.[2]
  • 85% of retailers agree that AI advancements are transforming retail, according to Salesforce’s Connected Shoppers research.[3]
  • $25 billion was spent globally by retailers on AI in 2024, up 27% from $20 billion in 2023, according to OC&C analysis.[1]

Automation in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 30% of US retail transactions used self-checkout in 2021, nearly twice the share recorded in 2018, according to FMI data.[4]
  • 17% of retailers had autonomous robots deployed in stores in 2025, while another 18% planned deployment within 12 months.[5]
  • 72% of retail store tasks are amenable to full or partial automation, according to Verizon’s 2024 Connected Retail Experience study.[6]
  • 70 stores operated with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and more than 100 third-party US retailers used it as of 2024.[4]

Digital Transformation in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among EU large businesses, 96% reached at least a basic level of digital intensity in 2025.[7]
  • Among EU small and medium-sized enterprises, 71% reached at least a basic level of digital intensity in 2025.[7]
  • Across EU businesses, 74% reached at least a basic level of digital intensity in 2024.[7]
  • Across retail and consumer-goods companies, 70% of business functions had generative AI adopted or piloted in 2025.[8]

Technology Adoption in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across US and European retailers, 27% had fully scaled cameras and sensors in 2025.[9]
  • Across US and European retailers, 66% had moved beyond exploration and testing of store-intelligence technologies in 2025.[9]
  • Across US and European retailers, 16% had fully scaled artificial intelligence in 2025.[9]
  • Across US and European retailers, 23% had fully scaled wireless communication technologies such as RFID or Bluetooth in 2025.[9]
  • Across US and European retailers, 21% had fully scaled edge computing technologies in 2025.[9]

Cloud Computing in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU enterprises using paid cloud services, 71.69% used cloud-based office software in 2025.[7]
  • Across EU enterprises using paid cloud services, 71.53% used cloud-based file storage in 2025.[7]
  • Across EU enterprises, 52.74% used paid cloud-computing services in 2025.[7]
  • Across EU enterprises using paid cloud services, 45.52% hosted enterprise databases in the cloud in 2025.[7]
  • Across EU enterprises using paid cloud services, 85.15% used cloud-based email in 2025.[7]

Big Data in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU enterprises, 33.02% performed data analytics using their own employees in 2025.[7]
  • Across EU enterprises, 26.20% performed data analytics on transaction records such as sales and payment records in 2025.[7]
  • Across retail companies, 23% were using artificial intelligence in production to resolve customer identities or prepare customer data for marketing or analytics in 2025.[10]
  • Across retail companies, 64% said their customer data was structured and accessible enough to support artificial-intelligence use cases in 2025.[10]

Blockchain in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 50% of surveyed US merchants in luxury and specialty retail accepted cryptocurrency payments at checkout in 2025.[11]
  • Nearly 40% of surveyed US merchants accepted cryptocurrency payments at checkout in 2025, including retail and e-commerce merchants.[11]

IoT in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among retail enterprises undertaking digital transformation, 32% were using IoT at an advanced level in 2024.[12]
  • Among retail and consumer organizations, 32.4% identified IoT adoption as a technology strategy driving observability needs in 2024.[13]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Unified data access remains incomplete: 27% of organizations had fully unified customer data across sales, service, marketing and commerce in 2026. Data governance is a recurring blocker (57% identifying it as a significant challenge in 2024).

Business intelligence in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 11% of retail respondents were already realizing benefits from unified customer-engagement initiatives in 2023.[3]
  • 27% of retail and consumer-goods organizations planned to extend AI-powered business-intelligence access to more than 20% of their workforce in 2025.[14]
  • 60% of retail respondents were in the strategy or execution phase of unified customer-engagement initiatives in 2023.[3]
  • 15% of retail and consumer-goods organizations had reached full operational maturity with AI-powered business intelligence in 2025.[14]
  • 59% of retailers said marketing, ecommerce and service functions were still managed through separate systems or applications in 2023.[3]
  • 71% of retailers expected to implement AI-enhanced business-intelligence platforms within the following 12 months.[15]

Data analytics in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 79% of shoppers used their phones while shopping in a physical store in 2026.[3]
  • 45% of consumers turned to AI for help during their buying journeys in IBM and NRF’s 2025 global retail study.[16]
  • 57% of retailers said they had full ability to use customer data to personalize shopper engagement in 2023.[3]
  • 93% of retailers said they were investing in personalization more than ever before in 2023.[3]
  • 44 was the estimated average number of systems used by retail organizations to manage customer experiences.[3]
  • 27% of organizations said their customer data was fully unified across sales, service, marketing and commerce in 2026.[3]

Data Quality in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across retail and e-commerce, 66% of respondents identified data-quality controls as a significant challenge in 2024.[17]
  • Across retail and e-commerce, 62% of respondents rated their data-management practices only somewhat effective in 2024.[17]
  • Across retail and e-commerce, 29% of respondents rated their customer-data collection methods not very effective in 2024.[17]
  • Across retail and e-commerce, 66% of respondents rated their identity-resolution ability only somewhat effective in 2024.[17]
  • Across retail and e-commerce, 48% of respondents rated their customer-data collection methods only somewhat effective in 2024.[17]

Data Governance in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across retail and consumer-products companies, 66% of respondents said their data-management capabilities were only somewhat unified in 2025.[18]
  • Across retail and consumer-products companies, 96% of respondents said breaking down data silos was a significant challenge in 2025.[18]
  • Across retail and consumer-products companies, 53.5% of respondents said regulatory compliance was not a significant data challenge in 2025.[18]
  • Across retail and CPG companies, 35% of respondents cited inconsistent or incorrect answers to data questions as a governance-related blocker in 2025.[19]
  • Across retail and CPG companies, 31% of respondents cited the lack of a corporate data strategy and semantic layer as a key challenge in 2025.[19]
  • Across retail and e-commerce, 57% of respondents identified data governance as a significant challenge in 2024.[17]

KPIs in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 88% of assessed retailers offered buy-online, pick-up-in-store in 2025, a key omnichannel execution KPI.[20]
  • 74% of assessed retailers offered transactional mobile apps in 2025.[20]
  • 62% was the average adoption of omnichannel best-practice capabilities among assessed retailers and brands in 2025.[20]
  • 70% of leading omnichannel retailers provided an online return-request portal in 2024.[21]
  • 77% of assessed retailers handled misspelled search queries effectively in 2025.[20]
  • 77% of assessed retailers had buy-online, pick-up-in-store orders ready within three hours in 2025.[20]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Agentic AI is treated as an efficiency lever: 71% of retailers expected agentic AI to improve operational efficiency as soon as 2026. Adoption is limited by ethical and regulatory concerns (43% in 2025).

Growth in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 71% of retailers expected agentic AI to improve operational efficiency as soon as 2026 in the Fluent Commerce study.[22]
  • 39% of EU retail businesses used cloud computing in 2023, up from 14% in 2014, supporting scalable digital operations.[2]
  • 12% of EU retail businesses used artificial intelligence in 2024, up from 7% in 2020.[2]
  • 43% of EU retail enterprises received online orders in 2023, creating a digital route for revenue growth.[2]
  • 2% to 3% was the retail-sales increase associated with data sharing and retailer-supplier collaboration in NIQ’s 2024 analysis.[23]
  • 70% of retailers were piloting or had partially implemented agentic AI in a Fluent Commerce study reported in 2025.[22]

Differentiation in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 43% of retailers cited ethical or regulatory concerns as a barrier to broader agentic-AI adoption in 2025.[22]
  • 88% of retailers said agentic AI was important for remaining competitive in the Fluent Commerce study reported in 2025.[22]
  • 46% of retailers used AI for personalized marketing in the Fluent Commerce study reported in 2025.[22]
  • 56% of retailers used AI for customer service and chatbots in the Fluent Commerce study reported in 2025.[22]
  • 16% of retail brand experiences were rated excellent by shoppers in Adobe’s 2025 study.[24]
  • 39% of retailers cited data quality and integration issues as a barrier to broader agentic-AI adoption in 2025.[22]

Mergers and acquisitions in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • Around 100 food-retail deals focused on building artificial-intelligence and digital capabilities were conducted since 2020.[25]
  • 37% was the decline in private-equity food-retail deals between 2022 and 2024.[25]
  • 60 facilities were included in the distribution network expanded through C&S Wholesale Grocers’ acquisition of SpartanNash.[25]
  • 2,000 sellers were equipped with a generative-AI analytics platform in a distributor digital-transformation example cited by McKinsey.[26]

Strategic partnerships in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 40% of surveyed organizations reported customer collaboration as a digital workflow area in 2024.[27]
  • 2% to 3% was the retail-sales increase associated with data sharing and collaboration between retailers and suppliers in 2024.[23]
  • 68% of consumer-products executives said digital transformation improved supplier collaboration in an SAP Business Network study.[28]
  • 35% of surveyed organizations reported supplier collaboration as a digital workflow area involving shared forecasts, inventory and sales data in 2024.[27]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workforce preparation is a stated constraint: US retail workers are projected to need a capability increase from 17 to 24 in data, statistics and predictive-model skills by 2028. Change fatigue also shows up in survey results for 2025.

Hiring in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 3.4% of retail applicants came through employee referrals, but referrals accounted for 15% of retail hires in 2023.[29]
  • 34.2% of US employers surveyed in 2025 reported receiving too few applicants as a recruiting challenge.[30]
  • 50.7% of US employers surveyed in 2025 identified candidate ghosting as a recruiting challenge.[30]
  • 10% was the month-over-month increase in retail hires reported by iCIMS in April 2024.[31]
  • 46.1% of US employers surveyed in 2025 used professional networking sites such as LinkedIn for recruiting.[30]

Employee retention in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 39% of retail respondents reported that employee turnover had increased slightly or significantly over the previous 18 months in 2024.[32]
  • 70% of hourly retail workers surveyed said they expected to remain with their current organization for at least one year.[33]
  • 77% of US frontline retail workers considering quitting in 2024 believed they had many other job opportunities.[34]
  • 59% of US frontline retail workers considered quitting in 2024, up from 37% in 2023.[34]
  • 46% of retail respondents reported store-level, non-managerial turnover of between 21% and 50% in 2024.[32]

Remote Work in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. retail trade, employees worked from home for 14.02% of full paid working days in 2025.[35]
  • Across U.S. retail trade, employees worked from home for 14.03% of full paid working days in 2023.[35]
  • Across U.S. retail trade, employees worked from home for 15.14% of full paid working days in 2022.[35]
  • Across U.S. retail trade, employees worked from home for 14.09% of full paid working days in 2026.[35]
  • Across U.S. retail trade, employees worked from home for 13.46% of full paid working days in 2024.[35]

Hybrid Work in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.K. employers, 74% had hybrid working in place in 2025.[36]
  • Across U.K. employers, 42% had a formal hybrid-working policy in 2025.[36]
  • Across retail organizations globally, 55% of employees worked from the office five days per week in 2025.[37]
  • Across U.K. employers, 23% used informal manager-employee arrangements for hybrid work in 2025.[36]
  • Across U.K. employers, 65% required hybrid employees to attend the workplace a minimum number of days in 2025.[36]

Upskilling in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 29% of retailers strongly agreed they had the right mix of talent for AI adoption in 2025.[27]
  • By 2028, US retail workers are projected to need a capability increase from 17 to 24 in data, statistics and predictive-model skills.[38]
  • By 2028, US retail workers are projected to need a capability increase from 18 to 27 in digital collaboration skills.[38]
  • By 2028, personal learning and mastery capability in the US retail workforce is projected to rise from 38 to 57.[38]

Employee Engagement in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. retail workers, 35% rated their personal well-being above average in Seramount’s spring 2025 survey.[39]
  • Across retail employees, 71% agreed their company contributed to their learning and development in Culture Amp’s 2024 dataset.[39]
  • Across U.S. retail workers, 24% were promoters of their organizations in Seramount’s spring 2025 survey.[39]
  • Across U.S. retail workers, 24% reported one or more symptoms of burnout in Seramount’s spring 2025 survey.[39]
  • Across retail employees, 84% would recommend their company as a great place to work in Culture Amp’s 2024 dataset.[39]

DEI in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 47.8% of the US retail-trade workforce was female in 2024, according to Data USA analysis.[40]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Omnichannel execution is measured through time-to-fulfillment and service reach: 88% offered buy-online, pick-up-in-store in 2025 and 77% had orders ready within three hours. Consumers also report AI tool usage, with 51% using AI shopping tools in the preceding month in 2026.

Customer experience in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 56% of consumers researched products online before purchasing them in stores, according to a 2025 U.S. retail survey.[21]
  • Consumers using digital tools while shopping in stores converted at a 20% higher rate than consumers not using digital tools in 2014.[21]
  • 34% of U.S. consumers regularly used buy-online, pick-up-in-store services in 2024.[21]
  • 45% of U.S. consumers said digital tools made in-store shopping easier in 2014.[21]
  • 73% of retail leaders were undertaking moderate-to-major digital-transformation investments in 2024 to improve operational efficiency and customer experience globally.[21]

Customer retention in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 48% of consumers agreed that retailers effectively offered personalized experiences in 2024, compared with 92% of retailers.[21]
  • 36% of U.S. retail executives identified enhancing the omnichannel experience as a top growth opportunity for 2024.[21]
  • 44% of retail executives identified strengthening digital-commerce offerings as a top growth opportunity for 2024 in the United States.[21]
  • Consumers reported spending 50% more with brands offering personalized experiences in Deloitte’s 2024 study.[21]
  • 80% of consumers preferred brands offering personalized experiences in Deloitte’s 2024 study.[21]

Customer acquisition in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 29% of shoppers were more likely to purchase on the same day when using social media before or during a store visit in 2014.[21]
  • 82% of U.S. consumers planned to shop during Black Friday-Cyber Monday in 2025.[21]
  • 33% of U.S. holiday shoppers planned to use generative AI for shopping in 2025, more than double the 2024 level.[21]
  • Consumers using social media during their shopping process were approximately four times more likely to make a purchase in 2014.[21]
  • 64% of U.S. Gen Z consumers used social media to research products in 2025.[21]

Customer loyalty in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • Loyalty programs were reported to increase incremental revenue by 4% to 7% and reduce marketing costs by 6% to 8% in McKinsey’s MENA grocery research.[26]
  • Less than 50% of loyalty memberships were active in the United States in 2022.[41]
  • 54% of U.S. retail executives named strengthening loyalty programs as a top growth opportunity for 2024.[21]
  • Approximately two-thirds of best customers at a large do-it-yourself retailer were truly loyal, giving that retailer more than 75% of their category spend.[26]
  • 58% of loyalty members were not using the programs for which they were signed up in McKinsey’s research.[26]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Retail media is accelerating alongside promotion mechanics, with retail media advertising growing 25% annually and expected to exceed $100 billion worldwide by 2026. Personalization remains uneven across retailers and consumers.

Marketing in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • Retailers spent more on off-site advertising than on-site advertising for the first time in 2024, according to eMarketer data cited by NRF.[42]
  • 44% of U.S. retail executives identified strengthening loyalty programs as a top growth opportunity for 2024.[21]
  • 54% of U.S. retail executives identified strengthening digital-commerce offerings as a top growth opportunity for 2024.[21]
  • 92% of retailers believed they effectively offered personalized experiences in Deloitte’s 2024 study.[21]
  • Retailers’ off-site advertising includes external social media, search engines and websites using retailer data, according to NRF’s 2025 retail-media report.[42]

Digital marketing in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • U.S. consumers shopped on social media an average of three times per month in 2023.[43]
  • 67% of U.S. consumers shopped on social media in 2023, according to the 2024 Adyen retail survey.[43]
  • 34% of U.S. consumers said they would be more loyal if they could buy products after viewing them on social media in 2023.[43]
  • U.S. consumers who shopped on social media spent an average of $307.42 in 2023, according to Adyen’s retail survey.[43]
  • 56% of consumers researched online before buying in stores in a 2025 U.S. retail survey.[21]

Branding in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • Three in four customers said consistent customer service and experiences made them more loyal to stores in 2023.[21]
  • 42% of the time, incumbent brands retained consumers after those consumers began shopping around, according to McKinsey research.[26]
  • 58% of consumers became switchers after shopping around in McKinsey’s analysis of 27 product categories.[26]
  • Only 13% of consumers were loyalists who stayed with the last brand purchased without considering alternatives in McKinsey’s analysis.[26]

Social media in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 64% of Gen Z consumers used social media to research products in the United States in 2025.[21]
  • Retailers spent more on off-site advertising, including social-media advertising, than on-site advertising for the first time in 2024.[42]
  • 35% of Gen Z consumers used social media to discover products in the United States in 2025.[21]
  • 29% of shoppers were more likely to purchase on the same day when social media helped them shop in 2014.[21]

Influencer Marketing in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • 49% of brands investing in creator marketing reported sales as an impact of creator activity in 2026, compared with 60% citing brand sentiment and 58% citing awareness.[44]
  • 58% of brands integrated retail media networks and creator marketing platforms by amplifying creator-generated content on retail media channels in 2025.[44]
  • 80% of brands investing in creator marketing increased creator budgets in 2026, while 25% raised creator spending by more than 10%.[44]
  • 78% of surveyed brands reported growing creator-marketing budgets in 2025, up from 36% reporting budget growth in 2024.[44]
  • 91% of brands investing in creator marketing ran an always-on component in 2026, including 62% with hybrid programs and 29% with fully continuous programs.[44]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Operational automation is widespread, with 97% of retailers implementing AI in some form in 2026. Supply-chain visibility is a targeted use case, with 30% using AI for visibility in 2026.

Process optimization in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 97% of retailers had implemented AI in some form in 2026.[22]
  • 70% of retailers were piloting or had partially implemented agentic AI in 2025.[22]
  • 80% of retail and consumer-products companies had a long-term AI innovation strategy in 2025.[45]
  • 67% of Latin American retailers were scaling or exploring AI investments in 2024.[46]
  • 83% of US and Canadian retailers were scaling or exploring AI investments in 2024.[46]

Operational efficiency in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 33% of retail and consumer-products AI spending is expected to target efficiency and operational effectiveness in 2027.[45]
  • 64% of US retailers were investing in solutions for out-of-stock problems in 2025.[9]
  • 92% of retailers identified loss prevention as a chief driver of store-technology investment decisions in 2024.[6]
  • 44% of retail and consumer-products AI spending was prioritized for efficiency and operational effectiveness in 2025.[45]
  • 71% of retailers expected agentic AI to improve operational efficiency within the following year in 2025.[22]

Quality management in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 14% of global consumers said they were content with online retail experiences in 2024.[16]
  • 55% of global consumers expressed interest in AI virtual assistants for shopping in 2024.[16]
  • 93% of retailers considered returns fraud or exploitative behavior a significant problem in 2025.[26]
  • 59% of global consumers expressed interest in AI applications while shopping in 2024.[16]
  • 68% of retailers reported increases in return fraud in 2026.[5]

Supply chain in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • Nearly 81% of supply-chain leaders were implementing omnichannel distribution strategies in the 2025 MIT survey.[47]
  • 30% of retailers used AI for supply-chain visibility in 2026.[21]
  • 59% of retail executives expected a positive return on investment from AI-driven supply-chain initiatives within 12 months in 2026.[21]
  • 41% of retailers are expected to use AI for supply-chain visibility within one year of 2026.[21]
  • 60% of supply-chain leaders identified order fulfillment as affected by e-commerce in the 2025 MIT survey.[47]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the retail and e-commerce sector (sector benchmark)

  • 72% of retail organizations with $100 million–$150 million in revenue outsourced some or all fulfillment in 2025.[48]
  • Among U.S. apparel imports, China’s share fell from 30% in 2019 to 21% in 2023, while other Asian suppliers’ share rose from 30% to 35%.[26]
  • 76% of retail organizations with $150 million–$200 million in revenue outsourced some or all fulfillment in 2025.[48]
  • 57% of retail organizations with $50 million–$100 million in revenue outsourced some or all fulfillment in 2025.[48]
  • 74% of retailers surveyed sourced internationally, including 71% of small companies and 84% of larger companies, in 2024.[49]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Pricing control and experimentation are a core tension: top-selling items could be repriced up to 12 times daily, and digital pricing is shaped by personalized promotions and algorithmic pricing scrutiny. AI budget allocation is trending toward IT and beyond IT budgets.

Pricing strategy in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • Top-selling retail items could be repriced up to 12 times daily in McKinsey's digital-retail analysis.[26]
  • 10% to 20% of online retail assortments were repriced daily by sophisticated multichannel retailers in McKinsey's analysis.[26]
  • 33% of US consumers were more likely to accept a promotion when it was offered in-store in McKinsey's survey.[26]
  • 35% of US consumers had no preference between taking a promotion online or in-store in McKinsey's survey.[26]
  • 55% of grocery promotions are expected to be fully personalized within two to three years of 2026.[26]

Cost reduction in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 151% was the year-over-year increase in planned US retailer spending on store-intelligence technologies in 2025.[9]
  • 6.4% of retail gross sales were estimated to be lost annually to in-store inefficiencies in 2026.[50]
  • 35% of US retailers planned to invest at least $500,000 in store-intelligence technologies over the following 12 months in 2025.[9]
  • 44% of retail and consumer-products AI spending targeted cost reductions, process efficiencies and productivity improvements in 2025.[45]
  • 57% of US retailers were investing in shelf-digitization technologies in 2025.[9]

Profitability in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 86% of retail and consumer-products companies said AI delivered a clear and measurable competitive advantage in 2025.[45]
  • Retail media advertising was growing 25% annually and was expected to exceed $100 billion worldwide by 2026.[51]
  • 77% of retail and consumer-products companies reported significant revenue contributions from AI-powered initiatives in 2025.[45]
  • 1% to 2% was the typical total-sales lift from personalization at scale for grocery retailers in McKinsey's analysis.[26]
  • 2 to 4 percentage points was the gross-margin-dollar improvement seen in pilot programs using personalized marketing and pricing offers.[26]

Financial planning in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 13% of annual IT budgets is expected to be allocated to AI by retail and consumer-products companies in 2027.[45]
  • 35% of retail and consumer-products AI spending is expected to support business-model innovation in 2027.[45]
  • 35% of total AI spending is expected to come from outside IT budgets in retail and consumer-products companies in 2027.[45]
  • Just under 10% of annual IT budgets was allocated to AI by retail and consumer-products companies in 2025.[45]
  • 28% of total AI spending came from outside IT budgets in retail and consumer-products companies in 2025.[45]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Digital product access is increasingly linked to fulfillment: 77% of retailers offering buy-online, pick-up-in-store had orders ready within three hours in 2025. Returns-process flexibility is also measured, with 97% of leading omnichannel retailers accepting preference-based returns in 2024.

Product development in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 46% of retail organizations expect phygital retail to have a major impact on digital products over the following three years.[52]
  • 77% of retail organizations increased investment in customer data platforms in 2024.[52]
  • 81% of retail organizations increased investment in loyalty and customer-engagement platforms in 2024.[52]
  • 70% of retail organizations increased investment in supply-chain digital products in 2024.[52]
  • 36% of retail organizations expect predictive decision analytics to have a major impact on digital products over the following three years.[52]

Product lifecycle in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 90% was the highest omnichannel best-practice adoption score recorded among assessed retailers and brands in 2025.[20]
  • 77% of retailers offering buy-online, pick-up-in-store had orders ready within three hours in 2025.[20]
  • 77% of retailers handled misspelled search queries effectively in 2025, improving digital product discoverability.[20]
  • 88% of consumer-goods retailers offer buy-online, pick-up-in-store, connecting online product selection with physical fulfillment in 2025.[20]
  • 62% was the average adoption of omnichannel best practices among 116 retailers and brands in 2025.[53]

After-sales in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 38% of leading omnichannel retailers offered free mailed returns in 2024.[21]
  • 30 days was the median return period offered by leading omnichannel retailers in 2024.[21]
  • 89% of shoppers expect retailers to provide customer support across multiple channels, including email, chat, IVR and phone.[3]
  • 97% of leading omnichannel retailers accepted preference-based returns in 2024.[21]
  • 18% of omnichannel shoppers would abandon checkout when return policies and processes are not flexible and easy.[21]

Value proposition in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 71% of customers said they were increasingly protective of their personal information in 2024.[3]
  • 52% of consumer-goods leaders said maintaining consumer loyalty was harder than ever in 2024.[3]
  • 49% of customers believed companies used their data in ways that benefited them in 2024.[3]
  • 70% of consumer-goods leaders said they were investing in personalization more than ever before in 2024.[3]
  • 53% of shoppers discovered products on social platforms in the sixth edition of Salesforce’s connected-shoppers research.[3]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Data and ethics concerns affect AI acceptance: 73% of consumers expressed concern about AI using their personal data during retail purchases in 2024. ESG oversight and reporting visibility are still limited in disclosure reviews.

Sustainability in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 73% of consumer-industry executives increased sustainability investment during the prior year, according to Deloitte’s 2023 survey.[21]
  • 20% of food retailers reported sustainability-related revenue gains exceeding 5% in a 2024 survey.[21]
  • 86% of consumer-products and retail organizations said ethical and responsible sourcing, transportation and manufacturing provide competitive advantage in 2023.[54]
  • 75% of consumer-products and retail organizations said they were making conscious efforts to become more sustainable in 2023.[54]
  • 82% of food retailers reported sustainability-related revenue gains of at least 2% in a survey published in 2024.[21]

ESG in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 88% of sampled retail companies placed primary ESG oversight with the nominating and governance committee in 2021.[55]
  • 50% of sampled retail companies also reported ESG oversight by an audit committee or compensation committee in 2021.[55]
  • 3 of the sampled retail companies discussed supply-chain sustainability or specific sustainability products in their disclosures reviewed in 2021.[55]
  • 11 of the retail companies sampled published CSR reports in 2020, according to a review of large-company disclosures.[56]

Ethics in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 73% of consumers expressed concern about AI using their personal data during retail purchases in 2024.[57]
  • 22% of consumers reported a high level of trust in retailers to protect their personal information in 2024.[57]
  • 49% of retail and consumer-goods respondents identified regulatory or legal concerns as a top generative-AI issue in 2024.[58]
  • 41% of retail and consumer-goods respondents identified misuse of generative AI as a top concern in 2024.[58]
  • 87% of consumers said retailers should be transparent about their use of personal data in 2024.[57]

CSR in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 0.1% of the U.S. retailers assessed offered a public contact for CSR or sustainability in 2024.[59]
  • 0.7% of the U.S. retailers assessed made a recent sustainability report accessible on their websites in 2024.[59]
  • Less than 0.3% of the U.S. retailers assessed maintained an online archive of sustainability reports in 2024.[59]
  • 23% of supermarkets assessed outlined sustainability goals and commitments on their websites in 2024.[59]
  • 2.5% of the U.S. retailers assessed published plans for reaching sustainability targets in 2024.[59]

Circular economy in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 60% of consumers cited inadequate product labeling as a reason for not taking circular actions in 2020.[54]
  • 45% of consumer-products and retail organizations had deployed and scaled circular product design by 2023.[54]
  • 48% of consumers said environmentally friendly alternatives were unavailable in major stores or online in 2020.[54]
  • 49% of consumers believed organizations were not doing enough to reduce, reuse and recycle waste in 2020.[54]
  • 49% of consumer-products and retail organizations had deployed and scaled responsible-sourcing initiatives by 2023.[54]

Carbon footprint in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 29% of surveyed consumers planned to bundle multiple orders to help reduce carbon emissions during the 2022 holiday season.[16]
  • 61% of consumers said they were willing to alter their habits to reduce negative environmental impacts in IBM’s 2024 retail study.[45]
  • 73% of sustainability-conscious consumers were willing to pay more for sustainable products in IBM’s 2024 retail study.[45]
  • 41% of surveyed consumers planned to buy products branded environmentally sustainable or socially responsible during the 2022 holiday season.[16]
  • 78% of consumers said sustainability was important when choosing a brand in IBM’s 2024 retail study.[45]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Cross-border digital reach is expanding, with 19% of total EU retail turnover coming from online sales in 2023. Cloud use supports integration across countries, with 39% of EU retail businesses using cloud computing in 2023.

Globalization in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 19% of total EU retail turnover came from online sales in 2023, compared with 10% in 2017.[2]
  • 43% of EU retail enterprises received online orders in 2023, up from 23% in 2013, indicating broader digital reach across markets.[2]
  • 12% of EU retail businesses used artificial intelligence in 2024, compared with 7% in 2020.[2]
  • 39% of EU retail businesses used cloud computing in 2023, up from 14% in 2014, strengthening cross-border digital operating capabilities.[2]
  • 51% of EU wholesale businesses used cloud computing in 2023, supporting digitally integrated retail supply chains across countries.[2]

Cultural adaptation in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 16% of retail brand experiences were rated excellent by shoppers in Adobe’s 2025 retail study, highlighting the challenge of adapting digital experiences to customer expectations.[24]
  • 15% of retail brands felt confident that their digital experiences could delight consumers in Adobe’s 2025 study.[24]
  • 64% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander consumers said they would stop buying from brands that devalue their identity group in 2024.[4]

Supplier management in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 90% of consumer-goods manufacturers planned to invest in supply-chain-partner collaboration during 2025 or 2026.[71]
  • 68% of consumer-products executives said digital transformation had improved supplier collaboration in an SAP Business Network study.[28]
  • 40% of surveyed organizations reported supplier collaboration as a digital workflow area in IDC’s 2024 enterprise survey.[27]
  • 50% of consumer-goods manufacturers identified expanding collaboration with supply-chain partners as a current priority investment in 2025.[71]
  • 38% of consumer-goods manufacturers identified supplier-base diversification as a current priority investment in 2025.[71]

Stakeholder management in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 89% of surveyed employees reported pain completing tasks, revealing technology issues relevant to stakeholder-facing retail workflows in 2024.[27]
  • 32% of surveyed organizations identified sourcing as a digital workflow area covering supplier discovery, qualification, selection and negotiation in 2024.[27]
  • 40% of surveyed organizations identified customer collaboration as a digital workflow area, including stakeholder engagement and customer insights, in 2024.[27]
  • 35% of surveyed organizations identified supplier collaboration as a digital workflow area involving shared forecasts, inventory and sales data in 2024.[27]
  • 35% of surveyed organizations identified procurement dashboards and insight as a digital workflow area in 2024.[27]

Distribution channels in the digital transformation in retail industry

  • 11% of supplier sales were made through online-only players or marketplaces in McKinsey’s 2025 distribution survey.[26]
  • 15.7% of 2022 U.S. retail sales were digital sales, totaling approximately $441 billion.[6]
  • 43% of consumer-goods manufacturers identified maximizing digital-channel support as a current priority investment in 2025.[71]
  • 24% of supplier sales were made through distributors in McKinsey’s 2025 distribution survey.[26]
  • 76% of consumer-goods manufacturers planned to invest in maximizing digital-channel support during 2025 or 2026.[71]

Key questions about the digital transformation in retail industry

How large is the 2026 retail digital transformation market?
The global retail digital transformation market is estimated at $397.8 billion in 2026.
What is the forecast growth rate through 2030 for retail digital transformation?
The market is forecast to reach $768.87 billion by 2030, implying a 17.9% CAGR from 2026 to 2030.
Which companies lead the digital transformation in retail industry?
Microsoft leads Gitnux's 2026 digital transformation in retail ranking with an Overall score of 9.4, backed by Dynamics 365, Azure and Microsoft Cloud supporting retail modernization and AI workloads. Alphabet is the highest-ranked retail AI platform provider at 9.3, thanks to Google Cloud retail AI and commerce search with connected-store analytics solutions.
What technology shifts are most emphasized in 2026 retail digital transformation?
Key themes include AI-led decisioning, agentic commerce, unified commerce, supply-chain visibility, retail media, and legacy-platform modernization. Constraints include fragmented data estates and the difficulty of moving AI projects from pilots into governed production.
How is the broader market structured, including adjacent retail digital services?
A narrower adjacent market, retail digital services, is estimated at approximately $46–48 billion in 2026. Connected-retail solutions are also segmented by hardware, software, and services.
How fast are retailers adopting AI and scaling it beyond pilots around 2025 to 2026?
In 2026, 97% of retailers had implemented AI in some form. In 2025, 70% of retailers were piloting or had partially implemented agentic AI, and 16% had fully scaled artificial intelligence.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Digital Transformation In Retail Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/digital-transformation-in-retail-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Digital Transformation In Retail Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/digital-transformation-in-retail-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Digital Transformation In Retail Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/digital-transformation-in-retail-industry-statistics.

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