Observed Signal · Jul 28, 2026 · Conference Panel · Source: The Drum · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Retailers Must Own the AI Shopper Experience
At Cannes, a panel hosted by The Drum featuring executives from Albertsons Companies, Criteo, Google and Mars United discussed the evolving role of generative AI as a shopping assistant. Panelists warned that large language models can produce inaccurate or misleading outputs and argued retailers have an advantage because of their first‑party customer data. The conversation framed AI as a new discovery layer — augmenting rather than replacing search — and emphasised that combining AI with rich customer understanding, product content and digital‑shelf fundamentals will be critical for brands and retailers to capitalise on 'agentic' shopping experiences.
Highlights how generative AI and LLMs will reshape product discovery and retail media; underscores the strategic value of retailers' first‑party data — relevant to retail media, search optimisation and customer data strategies.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- The Drum hosted a Cannes panel with Jill Pavlovich (Albertsons Companies), Sherry Smith (Criteo), Katie Babcock (Google) and Amy Andrews (Mars United).
- Sherry Smith warned that consumers often don't realise when generative AI is incorrect, saying 'How much sometimes the LLMs can lie to you.'
- Panelists argued AI will act as a new discovery layer for shoppers, using conversational prompts rather than traditional keyword search.
- Speakers said retailers' first‑party data (shopping history and customer preferences) can make AI‑referred traffic more useful and 'sticky.'
- Panelists emphasised brands and retailers must get fundamentals right (product content and digital shelf) to benefit from agentic commerce.
Connected Companies & Entities
“Jill Pavlovich, senior vice-president of digital customer experience at Albertsons Companies, ... at Cannes.”
“Sherry Smith, president of retail media at Criteo, ... at Cannes.”
“Katie Babcock, director of retail performance solutions at Google ... at Cannes.”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Testing Essential as Agentic Commerce Emerges
Circana executives Cara Pratt and Lindsay Pullins tell The Drum that as AI reshapes product discovery and purchasing, brands must rapidly experiment and prepare for an era of 'agentic' commerce where algorithms — and AI agents — influence or make buying decisions. They argue brands need clear product data, accurate taxonomies, trusted reviews and consistent brand signals so AI recommends their products correctly. Success requires combining strong data foundations with speed, precision and continuous feedback loops. The conversation also frames retail media not just as an advertising channel but as a connected ecosystem of retailers, publishers, brands and AI platforms sharing richer signals.
Retailers Integrate AI Shopping with Own Data and Checkout
Retailers and major AI companies are integrating AI-driven discovery with merchant product data and checkout systems to keep transactions and customer data within retailer ecosystems. Adobe reports substantial increases in AI-referred traffic and conversion rates in 2026, while Google launched Universal Cart and a Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to enable checkout features across Search and Gemini. OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol and structured product feeds let merchants supply product and checkout data to AI shopping services while remaining merchant of record. Retailers including Walmart, Ulta Beauty, Wayfair, Nike, Sephora and Target are working with AI services to enable shoppable experiences and retain first‑party customer insights. New measurement tools from Google and Adobe help merchants assess AI visibility and identify missing product attributes.
Agentic Commerce Could Remove Brands From Consideration
At a Cannes Lions session reported by The Drum, Circana speakers Lindsay Pullins and Cara Pratt argued that 'agentic' AI-driven shopping systems are already reshaping commerce. Circana research cited: 10% of North American beauty e‑commerce now comes from social commerce and 70% of shoppers use AI for product discovery/search. In agentic environments, AI agents compare product attributes, price, availability and reviews before consumers engage, meaning brands with inconsistent product data, taxonomies or ambiguous claims risk being excluded from consideration. Retail media is critical because it holds the purchase signals agents need, but measurement fragmentation across retail networks and inconsistent methodologies hinder interoperability. Pullins and Pratt called for brands to test how AI evaluates their products and for industry standardization around measurement and product data to avoid lost visibility and sales.
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