🇺🇸
By 2026, data will no longer be a historical record and become the real-time decision engine. El 66.5% of the companies surveyed prioritize Advanced Data Analytics in their next implementations.
In a retail environment characterized by demand volatility and tight margins, this transition is necessary. Leading organizations are abandoning static data silos to adopt models that not only anticipate stock failures or peaks in demand, but automatically suggest optimal corrective actions, from replenishment to route optimization.
With the Generative Artificial Intelligence positioning itself as the second highest strategic priority, the retail sector is moving towards the democratization of data and access to information. The implementation of AI goes one step beyond the dashboard and key metrics, this guarantees the data agility and therefore decision-making.
However, true transformative potential emerges when combining this cognitive capacity with Process Automation through RPA. This technological convergence allows us to move from isolated tasks to autonomous end-to-end workflows. While Generative AI acts as the orchestrator that understands context and exceptions, automation executes repetitive tasks with precision.
By 2026, this technological alliance will allow Retailers Freeing human talent from manual operational burden, redirecting it towards strategic management and innovation, critical factors for maintaining competitiveness in a fast-paced market.
“Improving the level of customer service” was the Number one priority for 2026, which marks a definitive turning point in retail strategy. We left behind the era where cost efficiency was the only way forward, to enter a phase where the supply chain is recognized as one of the brand's main protectors.
In a market where consumer loyalty is fragile and competition is just a click away, operational resilience ceases to be merely a defense mechanism against disruptions and becomes a value offensive. It is no longer enough to react to volatility; organizations must protect their operations to ensure availability and punctuality, regardless of external turbulence.
The digital transformation of 2026 faces a purely human obstacle: the 55% of leaders point to the lack of specialized talent as their main structural barrier. Faced with this capacity gap, the immediate response has been outsourcing, where a 41% of the companies has prioritized the collaboration with external partners to replace digital skills that they do not yet have internally.
Supporting digital transformation with external partners is key, however, with just a 3% of teams feeling “very prepared” to adopt new technologies, and a 86% still located in Moderate learning or preparation phasesa, internal education is necessary regarding the new technologies to be adopted.
Success in 2026 will depend on turn that bulk of the workforce into digital experts capable of managing the new autonomous supply chain.
Digital twins are emerging as the sector's great technological aspiration for 2026, marking a clear distinction between strategic interest and operational reality. Although it is positioned as one of the most desired emerging technologies — seeking to replace costly physical “trial and error” with secure virtual simulations — the reported maturity levels indicate that its massive implementation is still incipient. The industry understands the Why (predict outcomes), but it's still building the how.
Digital transformation is not only a technological challenge, but fundamentally cultural. With a 55% of the leaders pointing to “Organizational Silos” as their main brake (tied at the top with a lack of talent), it is clear that advanced technology cannot correct what the internal structure separates. Fragmentation between departments prevents full visibility, creating a disconnect between decisions and information, which impair supply chain agility.
Currently, we see a hybrid ecosystem. Most retailers have passed the manual stage and operate with basic digital systems for inventory control and sales. However, the real challenge today is not possess software, but rather to make these systems “talk” to each other to provide a unified view of the business.
The most named technology in adoption. Analytics can help companies understand consumption patterns and optimize the stock. It's no longer about accumulating data, but about interrogating it to make faster decisions.
If the ERP is the company archive, the SCM software It's the logistic brain. These specialized platforms are gaining ground because they make it possible to plan demand and coordinate the flow of supplies from end to end. Your adoption makes the difference andBetween a company that reacts to orders and one that plans them strategically.
Although it is the topic with the highest adoption plans, its real application in everyday retail is at an early stage of exploration. Many companies are conducting promising pilots, but few have been able to scale these solutions to manage the supply chain autonomously. This is the big leap pending for 2026.
Oddly enough, technologies such as the Internet of Things (connected sensors) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) have lower penetration. Although provide real-time visibility and eliminate repetitive tasks, their infrastructure costs and implementation complexity remain high barriers for many retailers who still prioritize digitizing their data before their physical assets.
La Generative Artificial Intelligence dominates the strategic conversation in the sector, but its implementation does not follow the same line. Although the ambition to have the latest technology is high, the industry is still learning how and when to use it.
The current landscape of digital maturity in retail reveals an industry that is polarized and in transition. The survey results paint a scenario where the bulk of the sector is evenly divided between old school and intermediate modernization, making it clear that “digital transformation” is, for many, still a pending task.
Technology is available, but adoption is held back by structural and human factors. The slowness is due to the difficulty of organizations in adapting their culture and processes to the pace of innovation.
According to the data from the study, there is a correlation: the quality of planning is directly proportional to the level of digitalization of the company.
There is a difference in performance between teams that manage their supply chain manually and those who have integrated their processes with technology.
Companies stuck in the Level 1 Maturity (Manual/Excel) face “operational blindness”: most of them report not measuring their Forecast or, when they do, they obtain precisions lower than 50%. In contrast, as organizations move toward the Level 3 (Partial Integration) and higher, the accuracy of the forecast makes a qualitative leap, stabilizing in the range of 80-90%.
This finding validates that investment in technology is not a luxury, but a direct mechanism of efficiency.
In the retail environment, where margins are tight and demand is volatile, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) act as the dashboard that separates a profitable operation from an inefficient one. According to our survey, these are the four indicators that dominate the agenda of Supply Chain leaders for 2026:
Ranking explained with strategic reading
When analyzing the priorities of Supply Chain leaders for 2026, the order of the factors does alter the product. The ranking reveals a clear strategic maturity: first sales (revenues) are secured, then planning (intelligence) is ensured and finally capital is optimized (efficiency).
In first place, the message is strong: no product, no business. In the era of instantaneity and omnichannel competition, “stock failure” is the cardinal sin of retail. Leaders understand that the cost of losing a customer due to lack of availability far outweighs any logistics cost. Therefore, the absolute priority is to protect the promise of delivery and ensure that the right product is in the right place, prioritizing customer satisfaction and loyalty over operational austerity.
If service level is the goal, forecast accuracy is the tool to achieve it in a sustainable way. It comes in second place because it is the technical enabler. To ensure availability without incurring exorbitant costs, companies need to anticipate demand with surgical accuracy. Improve the Forecast means to stop operating by intuition and start planning with data, reducing the uncertainty that usually causes costly emergencies and stock breaks.
Third, we found financial health. Inventory reduction is not an isolated objective, but rather the natural result of having executed the previous two points well. If the company improves its Forecast (Point 2), you can maintain a high level of service (Point 1) with less safety stock. This priority seeks to free up working capital trapped in warehouses, transforming fixed inventory into liquid cash flow for the company.
When CEO/CFOs are active drivers, the friction to innovate decreases dramatically.
We often look for the reasons for digital stagnation in the lack of budget or in the complexity of the software, but the data point to a different reason: management culture.
The study confirms a strong positive correlation between the alignment of leadership and the ease of proposing and executing new projects. This shows that technology is not implemented alone; it requires fertile cultural ground prepared from the top.
An important insight is the direct impact of management on operational maturity. In those companies where leadership adopts a passive stance, limiting themselves to “being informed” or not participating, Digital transformation is slowing down, condemning the organization to remain stuck in manual processes.
To make the qualitative leap towards Level 3 (Integration) or Level 4 (use of advanced technology), the figure of the “observer leader” must disappear. The data suggests that it is essential for the CEO and the CFO to become active drivers. When managers not only approve the budget, but they lead the narrative of change, Internal friction to innovate decreases dramatically, making the modernization of the supply chain a corporate imperative and not just a departmental task.
The digital divide widens
The analysis of investment plans reveals a “two-speed” dynamic that threatens to fracture the competitive market. Current technological investment is acting as an accelerator for those who are already in the lead.
Companies that have reached higher levels of operational maturity (Level 3 and 4) are not settling for their current status; on the contrary, they are the most aggressive in their vision of the future.
The vast majority of this group is in active “Evaluation and Planning” phases or already has an “Approved Budget” for new tools. They are taking advantage of their integrated infrastructure to take the next leap towards AI and automation, consolidating their competitive advantage.
In contrast, the scenario for companies in the Level 1 (Manual Processes) it's alarming. The study shows that 5 out of 11 companies in this segment explicitly declare “Not to have investment contemplated”. This low investment motivation suggests that the organizations that most need to modernize are, paradoxically, those that have the least intention of doing so.
The ability to translate operational inefficiencies into monetary losses distinguishes leading organizations from lagging organizations.
In the study, all companies with high digital maturity (Levels 4 and 5) always quantify the financial impact of their challenges. For them, a stock break isn't just a hole in the shelf, it's an exact amount of lost sales calculated in real time.
In contrast, the scenario with purely manual companies is worrying: only 3 out of 11 companies are able to assign economic value to their supply chain problems. The vast majority manage the operation “blindly” from a financial point of view, focusing only on the day-to-day reaction, without measuring its cost.
Without a clear financial measure, Supply Chain leaders cannot build a strong business case that justifies return on investment (ROI) to management.
Thus, companies with manual processes are trapped: they don't invest because they don't quantify how much they are losing by not doing so. The first step to break out of manual stagnation is not to buy software, but Start measuring how much it costs not to have one.
2026 marks the end of the supply chain as a simple cost center; today it is confirmed as the main guardian of the brand promise. However, the sector is facing a critical crossroads defined by three realities:
There is no single recipe for digital transformation. Attempting to apply Artificial Intelligence to manual processes is as ineffective as managing an integrated operation using spreadsheets. Based on the findings of the study, these are the critical actions depending on the stage your organization is in:
Your priority is not technology Per se, but rather to prepare the cultural and structural ground to receive it. Skipping these steps often results in failed implementations.
You already have the foundations. Now the goal is to stop using data to “look in the rearview mirror” and start using it to shape the future.
The retail sector is evolving at an unprecedented rate. To lead, you need data, not assumptions. Access our exclusive trend analysis and discover where your organization is on the logistics innovation map.
Download the full report: Retail Supply Chain Trends Study 2026
