Retail is moving faster than ever, shaped by shifting expectations, new technologies, and a global landscape where creativity, compliance and customer relevance now sit side-by-side. At APS, we’re asked the same question time and time again: what’s next?

Our latest Horizon Scan: The Retail Edge in 2026 brings together global insight and on-the-ground expertise from our strategists across the UK, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Compiled by our in‑house brand strategists, it distils the trends that will matter most over the next 18 months and what retailers can do to stay ahead.

This report goes beyond predictions. It gives retailers a clear view of the forces shaping behaviour, sustainability, technology and growth, helping them turn complexity into opportunity.

Three Forces That Will Define the Next 18 Months

Across every region we analysed, three universal forces are converging:

Efficiency
Retail is entering an era of operational agility from modular production to AI‑supported decision-making. As the report notes, it’s not just about cutting costs, but, “bringing AI and automation into the core of the business to increase speed, reduce waste and elevate customer experience.”

Proof
Sustainability and compliance have shifted from differentiators to baseline expectations. As our Head of Sustainability, Andrew Young, puts it,
“It’s no longer enough to say something is ‘eco’. You need data, provenance, and certifications. Green-screening tools are critical to vet materials, suppliers and methods.”

Experience
Whether in London, Dubai or New York, customers want to be entertained, informed and emotionally engaged. “Brick-and-mortar isn’t dead — it’s where brand love is built and retained,” says APS Director George Smart. Winning retailers will make physical environments destinations.

The Horizon Scan unpacks the drivers that will influence retail behaviour, including:

Emotional Connection Is Back in the UK

Cost-of-living pressures have reshaped loyalty and expectations. Finn Lawton, APS Senior Strategist, highlights that shoppers are becoming, “more selective, more intentional, and more focused on value‑driven experiences.” Gamification, proof‑led sustainability and AI‑assisted personalisation are set to dominate.

The US Is Moving from Pilots to Permanence

AI, automation and nearshoring are no longer experiments, they’re becoming operational norms. With 80% of US retailers already using AI for stock and pricing decisions, 2026 will be defined by turning innovation into infrastructure.

Europe Is Blending Creativity with Compliance

Retail media, templated creative production and deep regulation will reshape marketing delivery. Immersive, brand‑led environments and sustainable production are becoming non‑negotiable.

Africa and Asia Are Redefining Retail Agility

Mobile-first journeys, community‑powered loyalty, social commerce and rapid digital adoption are enabling retailers to leapfrog legacy infrastructures.

Retail isn’t short of noise, but it is short of clarity.

This Horizon Scan aims to give you,

• A global-to-local view of the trends that genuinely matter
• Practical actions for shaping compliant, creative, experience-led retail
• Insight from APS strategists embedded in retail markets worldwide
• Evidence-backed perspectives to support more confident, future-ready decision‑making

If you want to understand what the next 18 months mean for your brand and how to turn emerging trends into meaningful momentum, share your details below and our team will be in touch with you shortly.

Many of the trends explored in The Retail Edge were brought to life at EuroShop 2026, where retailers, brands and technology partners showcased how experience, sustainability and innovation are already being applied in-store. Our EuroShop report dives deeper into what we saw on the ground — and what it signals for the future of retail execution.

EuroShop has always been a place to spot what’s next. But in 2026, the most important signals weren’t about spectacle or novelty, they were about infrastructure, behaviour and intent.

Our team spent time on the ground in Düsseldorf capturing what mattered beneath the surface: how brands are responding to collapsing dwell time, how experience is being re‑engineered to earn attention, how displays are becoming media channels, and why sustainability is no longer optional or cosmetic.

Read more in our EuroShop 2026 Retail Insights Report, a practical, unfiltered view of the forces shaping retail right now, and what they mean for brands designing environments for the next cycle.

Below is a snapshot of the core trends explored in the report.

AI is not a trend. It’s the infrastructure.

At EuroShop 2026, AI wasn’t confined to one hall or category. It sat underneath everything, accelerating creative production, analysing shopper behaviour, logging interactions, and turning experience into a data advantage.

What stood out wasn’t blind enthusiasm for AI, but a far more mature question: Who can help us use it responsibly, without damaging brand trust?

Retailers are looking for automation that delivers measurable impact, efficiency that genuinely improves operations, and innovation that comes with clear guardrails. In the report, we explore how this shift is widening the gap between partners who have built AI capability properly — and those still treating it as a bolt‑on.

Trend 1: You have two seconds. Maybe less.

One of the most consistent themes at EuroShop was just how dramatically dwell time has collapsed.

Across categories, brands are no longer designing for browsers, they’re designing for deciders. In some formats, the shopper now has seconds, not minutes, to understand what a product is, why it matters and how it should make them feel.

This compression has led to the Two‑Second Story Rule, a simple but unforgiving creative test that is reshaping briefs, display hierarchy and in‑store storytelling. Crucially, this isn’t being driven by instinct alone. In‑store analytics and behavioural data are now informing what earns space, what disappears and what must land instantly.

The report unpacks how brands are responding and why many current display programmes are already out of date.

Trend 2: Retail as a destination. Experience is no longer optional.

The transactional store isn’t dead, but wherever a brand has something worth visiting for, experience is now the differentiator.

From category‑defining flagships to immersive beauty and wellness environments, the strongest examples at EuroShop showed that physical retail must earn its place in a world where anything can be bought anywhere.

What’s changed underneath is just as important: experience is no longer only about brand equity. It has become a data collection mechanism. Stores that give people a reason to stay longer capture behavioural signals that transactional environments never will.

In the report, we look at why destination retail is creating both emotional connection and information advantage, and why brands that answer one key question clearly are pulling ahead.

Trend 3: The display is now a media channel.

Digital integration at EuroShop wasn’t about adding screens for effect. The work that stood out made displays smarter without making them noisier, and crucially, they were collecting data while they ran.

From fixtures that log interaction, to screens that know when someone stops, the most effective displays treated technology as a working component, not decoration. In this model, the display isn’t just a moment, it’s a channel, with purpose, measurement and feedback built in.

Trend 4: Sustainability is now load‑bearing.

At EuroShop 2026, sustainability was no longer presented as a compliance exercise or a marketing story. It was built directly into design, materials and production logic.

What stood out was how often sustainability and commercial performance were aligned. Lower‑energy screens weren’t framed as greener; they were framed as better ROI. Circular materials weren’t alternatives; they were superior systems.

As retailer requirements tighten, brands that own their material and data decisions will be better positioned than those relying on third‑party specifications. The report looks at why sustainability is becoming structurally non‑negotiable and what brands need to be thinking about now for future rollouts.

If these themes resonate, the full report explores each trend in more depth. And if you’re already thinking about how this plays out in your own retail environments, get in touch with the team to see how we’re already helping brands navigate these shifts or take a look at our services overview for more information.

We recently hosted an engaging webinar in partnership with the Procurement Foundry, ‘Unlocking the Future of Marketing Print’, bringing together procurement and marketing professionals to explore how to optimise print management processes and maximise the impact of print campaigns. Hosted by Mike Cadieux, Founder and CEO of the Procurement Foundry, and featuring an expert panel including perspectives from a client, a consultant, and a solution provider, the session delivered a 360° view of the evolving print landscape. Our speakers included:

• Tony Massey, Executive Director, APS Group
• Heather Padgett, Senior Commercial Marketing Manager, HOYA Vision Care North America
• Fre Rammeloo, CEO, Dexter Global Business Solutions Inc.

Print Media: Far from obsolete

The discussion kicked off with a look at what print media means today and the consensus was anything tangible that you can print on to display a brand message. Far from dying out, print is experiencing a renaissance and actually becoming a more unique communication method against its digital counterpart.

While digital dominates the marketing mix, print offers something tactile and immersive that can’t always be replicated online. From packaging that can’t be digitised to direct mail making a comeback, brands are rediscovering print’s ability to create meaningful, lasting impressions – especially as digital fatigue sets in among consumers.

Sustainability: More than a buzzword

It’s clear there is a growing demand for sustainability within the printing industry with it becoming more of a priority than just a ‘nice to have’. Becoming more aware and increasingly critical, both consumers and employees are driving change and pushing brands to adopt greener and more ethical practices with carbon offsetting and sustainability initiatives becoming more popular as solutions.

Attendees heard how the industry is innovating through recyclable materials, vegetable inks and on-demand printing to minimise waste. It was also highlighted that digital isn’t carbon-neutral either, and benchmarking environmental impacts across both channels is vital to help develop future strategy.

A blended approach for maximum impact

Rather than choosing between print and digital, speakers emphasised the power of using both mediums in partnership to encourage the consumers path to purchase. Strategies such as personalised print campaigns supported by digital tracking, QR codes, and A/B testing were showcased as ways to measure ROI and optimise the media mix. Asking consumers their communication preferences and innovating with customised communications were flagged as essential for ensuring print retains its share of voice.

Technology transforming print communications

The webinar explored how technology and AI are reshaping the print industry. From printed electronics and on-demand multilingual collateral to data-driven personalisation, the possibilities are expanding rapidly. AI’s ability to analyse data, speed up workflows, and generate creative ideas were all highlighted, it can even offer intelligence to predict how impactful a piece of creative or a campaign is going to be and then suggest improvements as a result.

Most brands are curious and dipping their toe into AI with some appearing more embracing whilst others more cautious, although this can sometimes be sector dependent. However, everyone agreed that human oversight remains critical to keep campaigns authentic and emotionally resonant.

So, what is a good corporate sourcing strategy?

The final topic focused on building a strong corporate sourcing strategy for print. Collaboration between procurement, marketing, and strategic partners emerged as key. Attendees were encouraged to engage printing partners early, consider innovation and sustainability alongside cost, and develop positive cross-departmental relationships to ensure print delivers value across the business. Working together with experts and stakeholders, both internally and externally, can provide deeper knowledge and understanding and better outcomes for all.

This webinar was packed with insights, expert perspectives and practical strategies for procurement and marketing professionals alike. To receive the full recording of the webinar, please fill in your details and a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.

Print is APS’s heritage, it’s where we began, talk to us today: [email protected].

We recently hosted a webinar exploring the evolution of retail spaces, with a forward-looking lens on the trends transforming the sector in 2025 and beyond. The session was packed with powerful insights, provocative predictions, and practical inspiration for brands striving to stay relevant in a rapidly shifting retail landscape.

Hosted by George Smart, Director of Customer Solutions and Strategic Growth at APS, with expert speakers Kate Ancketill, CEO of GDR and industry renowned retail futurist, Finn Lawton, Senior Strategist, and Tony Massey, Executive Director, both APS. The event set the stage for a thought-provoking conversation on what’s driving consumer expectations and how brands can respond by inspiring awe and re-establishing an emotional connection.

Finn kicked off the insights by painting a picture of the current retail terrain. He shared how rising economic pressures, digital acceleration, and evolving lifestyles are reshaping how consumers shop – and what they expect in return. He underlined the importance of staying true to your brand and authentically embedding innovation rather than chasing ‘hype’.

AI is now a non-negotiable element of modern retail, and with the rise of agentic AI Kate discussed how with technology taking care of our more transactional purchases, people are free to do the ‘experiencing’ and increasingly crave more human-centric interactions.

People want brands to help them feel something – 61% of consumers say they want intense emotional experiences, while 63% seek multi-sensory encounters (Wunderman Thompson, The Age of Re-enchantment, 2023).

Consumers are seeking more than just transactions, they’re looking for added value, meaningful engagement and purpose-driven spaces where they can find moments of magic. Kate explored the rising demand for collective experiences including gamified product visualisation and enveloping 4D environments, to immersive storytelling and pop-ups curated around iconic brand features. She highlighted the importance of biophilic design, wellbeing-led experiences like communal saunas and breathwork spaces, and fully integrated AI-powered avatars bringing fun, personalisation and expertise to in-store shopping.

“The antidote to the ‘age of anxiety’ is awe-driven joy.”

Today’s retail must deliver on both practicality and purpose, to do this successfully and provide what your customers need and want it’s vital that you get to know who they are. From multi-functional spaces and circular economy initiatives including second-hand selling/buying and rental models, meaningful brand experiences are the future of retail. This webinar was a call to action for companies to reimagine their physical environments as places of wonder, connection and purpose.

The session concluded with Tony sharing how APS has helped leading retailers bring innovation to life with examples including gamification and cost-effective experiential design. Brands require creative strategies to cut through in an increasingly competitive space which is something our talented Retail and Brand Experience team are passionate about delivering. Talk to us today, [email protected].

Want to see the full trend forecast, including case studies and standout activations?

To receive a recording of the webinar, please fill in your details and a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.