The state of AI in retail

AAI has quickly moved from experimentation to a strategic priority for Australian retailers. Yet while investment, pilots and ambition are accelerating, the way businesses are approaching AI varies significantly.

NORA and Shopify surveyed 184 retail executives representing 127 companies across Australia to understand what AI adoption actually looks like on the ground.

The research explores adoption maturity, ownership, internal capability, budgets and implementation approaches, creating a benchmark for an industry moving quickly while navigating many of the same challenges.

The numbers tell an interesting story.

82% of retail leaders surveyed have agentic commerce modernisation on their roadmap.

Yet just 8% believe AI is fully embedded in how their organisation operates.

That gap between ambition and operational maturity is where many of the industry's biggest questions now sit.

Over the past 18 months, NORA has brought retail leaders together through multiple Retail GenAI Summits to discuss how AI is changing their businesses.

One thing has become increasingly clear: there is no single playbook.

Retailers are moving at different speeds, placing ownership in different parts of the business and taking very different approaches to capability, investment and implementation.

The State of AI in Retail was created to establish a shared baseline: what retailers are doing today, what they believe is working, where investment is heading and what is getting in the way.

Fielded ahead of NORA's Retail GenAI Summit in September 2026, the research provides a snapshot of the AI-engaged end of the Australian retail market at a pivotal point in its adoption.

184 retail leaders. 127 companies. One view of where Australian retail really sits on AI.

Download The State of AI in Retail Report