In March 2026, MD Ecom 26 brought together the leading ecommerce brands and practitioners from the North West to explore the trends, technologies, and strategies shaping the future of online retail.
Following the conference, we asked contributors from across the ecommerce ecosystem to tell us what does the future of ecommerce look like - what’s changing, what’s working, and what businesses need to be thinking about next.
Part One with more perspectives can be found here.
MD Ecom 26 was delivered in partnership with illuminise and AND Digital, and supported by Sister, Title Pro and Morvo.
Nimble Approach
The Shift to Agentic Commerce - Will AI agents become the new front door?
Will Hayward, Nimble Principal Product Consultant
Following Manchester Digital's Ecommerce Conference (MD Ecom) 2026, I’ve been reflecting on a recent conversation with the tech delivery leaders at AO.com about how emerging technology is reshaping commerce.
I spoke with Laura Hobson (Head of Delivery), Chris Thompson (Tech Delivery Partner), and Colin Steele (Delivery Lead) about the shift from traditional user interfaces - where customers scroll endlessly through filters - towards agentic commerce. Chris described AI as enabling “hyper-personalisation,” dramatically compressing research timelines. Instead of days spent comparing products, AI agents can interpret inputs, evaluate options, and make logical recommendations in seconds.
Colin believes this evolution will extend beyond the screen. Imagine AI-powered glasses identifying a broken appliance in your kitchen and instantly suggesting a replacement - no searching required. But as algorithms become increasingly integrated with human decision-making, trust becomes even more critical. Laura emphasised that AI tools will prioritise trusted brands when presenting results. To stay competitive, retailers must provide strong “signals” that AI can interpret - high-quality content, credible reviews, and a proven reputation, such as AO’s 4.9 Trustpilot score.
As commerce becomes more conversational and automated, the winners will be those positioned for this shift. Interfaces may change, but reliability and quality remain constant.
Find out more about Nimble Approach here.
Lewis Silkin
How drip pricing bans, fake reviews and subscriptions are highly regulated under the new DMCC Act 2024.
E-commerce platforms are evolving and operating in increasingly regulated domestic and international markets. If you run an e-commerce business, you should know about the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 which largely came into force in April 2025. It made significant changes to UK consumer laws and how they are enforced.
Don’t drip your pricing
The Act bans the practice of “drip pricing”, whereby a business advertises a product or service at an initial price but then adds unavoidable fees or charges later in the purchase process, so the total (higher) cost only becomes clear later in the customer journey. The new rules require
businesses to present the “total price” to consumers, including all mandatory costs such as delivery fees, service fees, and any other unavoidable charges. This is a very hot topic and high priority for the CMA.
Fake reviews
The Act also bans fake and misleading consumer reviews and review information. Among other things, the new rules prohibit the publishing and commissioning of fake and misleading reviews, regulate how you provide incentives for reviews and say that publishers must have policies to avoid hosting fake reviews.
Subscriptions
The DMCCA also introduces new rules on subscription contracts in a bid to tackle so-called “subscription traps”, whereby consumers find themselves locked into long-term contracts they don’t want, they find difficult to cancel or they don’t even know they have. We’re waiting for the final guidance on the rules which are expected to land in Autumn 2026. You will need to give consumers relevant information when they sign up, send reminders about payments and renewals and make it straight-forward to cancel.
What do we need to do now?
Review your pricing practices and review policies. Prioritise the implementation of strong internal processes to stop drip pricing and tackle fake reviews. If you operate subscriptions watch out for the new guidance and look at your customer journeys. The CMA can now issue fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover without going to court. So, getting it wrong can be expensive.
For more information on how to navigate the legal and regulatory landscape contact: Laura.Harper@lewissilkin.com; Rebecca.Moore@lewissilkin.com or Helen.Hart@lewissilkin.com
Find out more about Lewis Silkin here.
Huha
The shift to agentic commerce
Victoria Haley, Co-Founder
The future of ecommerce is shifting from a traditional ‘search and buy’ model toward agentic commerce, integrated seamlessly into a consumer’s online and social media experience.
Going forward, AI shopping agents will act as digital shoppers, managing personal interests and subscriptions. Simultaneously, social media has evolved from a discovery tool into a primary checkout destination, with virtual influencers and livestream shopping increasingly dominating the retail landscape.
However this new era of retail has also fueled consumer mistrust. The rise in fake reviews and bad products has damaged confidence in online shopping. This is where PR becomes a vital ‘trust anchor.’ By establishing human credibility through earned media coverage in reputable publications, PR provides the third party validation that sceptical consumers now demand.
Furthermore, PR manages a brand’s narrative across the internet, securing the high-quality mentions and backlinks that feed the Large Language Models (LLMs) powering modern search. In an era of deepfakes and data breaches, a proactive PR strategy is essential for maintaining ‘data trust’. By clearly communicating a brand’s ethics and positioning, PR ensures consumers know exactly what a company stands for.
Ultimately, this transparency empowers consumers to recognise authentic brand voices and stay protected against fraudulent communications.
Find out more about Huha here.
CTI
How AI Is Rewriting the Customer Journey
Devesh Chevli, Commerce Architecture Lead
AI is quickly becoming less of a buzzword and more a natural part of everyday consumer behaviour. People are already using it to guide both personal choices, like how they want their home to feel, and practical decisions, such as what to buy or how to organise a space.
A customer can now upload a photo of their living room, garden or home office and ask AI to reimagine it with new paint colours, furniture, lighting or layout ideas. What comes back is increasingly visual, tailored to the space, and close to something they could actually create.
That shift matters because inspiration and transaction are starting to happen in the same place. With emerging standards such as Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and embedded AI checkout models, the purchase journey is moving into the AI experience itself. Shoppers can discover, compare and potentially buy without ever visiting a traditional ecommerce site.
For eCommerce leaders, that changes where to focus. In the next 12 to 24 months, success will depend less on just optimising websites, and more on making products, data and fulfilment capabilities available wherever decisions are happening. At CTI Digital, we see our role as helping clients remove those barriers, because in many cases the next customer journey may begin and end inside AI.
Find out more about CTI here.
Mills & Reeve
Unfair Dismissal Shake-Up: What New Employment Rules Mean for eCommerce Productivity; A turning point for workforce productivity?
Pili Fernandez-Mahon, Principal Associate
From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will drop to six months’ service from 2 years. This means an employee hired in July 2026 will have unfair dismissal rights once the new rules take effect. Combined with the removal of the cap on the compensatory award, this creates a new layer of risk for fast-growing eCommerce teams.
Many online retailers rely on rapid hiring, especially across fulfilment, customer service and digital operations. With 6 month probation periods common, employers may now want to shift to 3–4 month periods, with the option to extend. 5 month probations may seem appealing, but it leaves almost no room for extensions. We also expect transitional provisions to prevent dismissing right before 6 months.
To mitigate eCommerce businesses should manage probationary periods more proactively from summer 2026, including setting clear expectations from day one, holding timely review meetings, and documenting any concerns early. It is also a good time to review seasonal and temporary-to-permanent hiring strategies to avoid inadvertent qualification for unfair dismissal rights.
Preparing now will support compliance and operational efficiency.
Find out more about Mills & Reeve here.
Novacoast
The Next Phase of eCommerce: AI, Risk and the Rise of Trust
Matthew Francis, Key Account Manager
At Novacoast, we’re seeing two themes shaping the next phase of ecommerce: AI-led decision-making and platform dependence, trust and risk.
AI is already helping ecommerce teams move faster, from forecasting demand and identifying customer trends, to improving personalisation and automating operational tasks. But the real opportunity isn’t just speed; it’s better decision-making. The businesses getting the most value from AI are the ones using it to support human judgement, not replace it. Over the next 12 months, we expect to see more “agentic” commerce, where AI takes a more active role in optimisation and customer interactions. That makes strong governance, transparency and data quality essential.
At the same time, growing reliance on platforms, marketplaces and third-party tools creates new risks. These ecosystems can accelerate innovation, but they also reduce control over customer relationships, data visibility and resilience. We believe ecommerce leaders should be asking not just “how quickly can we launch?”, but “how securely and sustainably can we grow?” Trust is becoming a competitive differentiator, whether that’s trust in how AI is used, trust in the Partners you work with or trust in the platforms that power customer experiences.
The priority now is building ecommerce environments that are both intelligent and resilient.
Find out more about Novacoast here.
Project50
Agentic Commerce Won’t Be Won by AI. It’ll Be Won by the OS
Andrew Kirkcaldy, Consultant
The future of ecommerce won’t be decided by AI capability. It will be decided by operating system dominance.
Agentic commerce requires consumers to delegate identity, payment credentials and purchase intent to an AI acting on their behalf. That demands trust no open AI ecosystem has yet earned. OpenAI’s reported pullback on open MCP infrastructure signals the trust barrier is real.
The structural advantage belongs to whoever is already embedded at OS level. iOS holds 59.8% of the US smartphone market (Mobiloud), and 69% among UK 16–24 year olds (Netguru), the demographic defining the next decade’s spending. With iOS loyalty at 94% (SQ Magazine), that’s a captive, high-intent, high-spend audience already inside Apple’s closed ecosystem.
Apple also holds the most valuable data profile - location, health, habits, and crucially, purchase behaviour via Apple Pay. At 47% penetration among UK payment users, projected to exceed 25% of US consumers by 2030 (Capital One Shopping, Jan 2026), Apple Pay isn’t just a payment method. It’s a trust layer no challenger can easily replicate.
The sharpest casualty? Amazon. They own the transaction but not the OS. If iOS surfaces the right product before a consumer opens a browser, Amazon’s mid-funnel dominance quietly disappears.
Find out more about Project50 here.
Pau&Company
Beyond Privacy Policies: The Hidden Risk in Ecommerce Systems
Paula Mesa Macías, Founder
Many ecommerce businesses assume that once a privacy policy is in place and some documentation exists, their obligations around data protection are largely covered. In practice, things are rarely that simple.
Modern ecommerce relies on a complex ecosystem of platforms, payment providers, analytics tools and third-party integrations. Customer data moves continuously between these systems, often without a clear understanding of where it is stored, who has access to it or how responsibilities are shared.
This is where the real risk lies. Privacy, security and the use of AI in ecommerce systems are no longer isolated concerns. They are part of the same operational risk landscape.
When organisations do not fully understand their data flows, they expose themselves to security incidents, compliance gaps and a loss of customer trust. Platform dependency can further complicate this, reducing visibility and control over how data is processed.
Forward-looking organisations are starting to approach this differently. Instead of treating privacy as a documentation exercise, they are mapping how data moves across their systems, clarifying ownership and aligning their technology choices with their risk appetite.
These challenges become even more complex when multiple organisations are involved, particularly across shared infrastructures and third-party integrations.
The question is no longer whether a privacy policy exists, but whether the organisation.
Find out more about Pau&Company here.
Aware Digital
Agentic Commerce
Stuart Otter, Head of Technical
Agentic commerce sounds great in theory, but it’s not quite playing out that way yet.
We’re seeing AI work best in the assistive layer. Discovery, recommendations, comparing options, restocking the basics. Where it starts to fall is full automation. People still want a sense of control, especially when money’s involved.
There’s also a big gap behind the scenes. Most retailers lack the clean, structured product data needed to operate at scale. When the data’s off, the experience is off. And that pushes customers elsewhere.
The real traction right now is in partial automation. Price alerts, subscription nudges, predictive replenishment. Useful, low-risk interventions that make life easier without taking over.
The opportunity is huge, but the winning approach isn’t full autonomy. It’s using AI to remove friction while keeping the human side of buying intact.
We’ve got more thoughts on Agentic commerce over on our LinkedIn.
How should businesses balance speed, innovation and control when relying on platforms, marketplaces or third-party tech?
Umar Miah, Lead Front End
Balancing speed, innovation, and control isn’t about chasing every new tool that pops up.
The starting point is much simpler. Audit what you’ve already got. What’s actually working? What’s slowing you down? Fix the things that matter before adding anything new.
From there, it’s about focus. Put the right people in place so they can spend time on growth, not firefighting. Innovate where it genuinely moves the needle, not just where it looks good on paper.
Then look at your stack. Are your platforms, marketplaces, and third-party tools actually right for your business? Because if the foundations are shaky, everything built on top of them will be too.
Get that layer right, and everything else becomes easier. Teams move faster, output improves, and you’ve got something that can scale without constantly breaking under pressure.
How are customer journeys evolving across marketplaces, social, payments and other touchpoints - and what does “good” look like now?
Charlie Archer, Project Manager
Customer journeys are evolving fast, and AI is quietly taking over more of the experience. Ads are sharper, more tailored—cookies mean Facebook and Instagram know what grabs attention, and personalised content gets noticed far more than generic campaigns.
Payments are changing too. BNPL, Google Pay, Apple Pay—they make checkout almost effortless. It’s not just convenient, it nudges impulse buys too.
The journeys that work now are simple, seamless, and personal. Shoppers move across marketplaces, social, and payment options without friction. The brands that nail it blend smart tech with real convenience, so buying feels effortless, relevant, and fast, without giving up control of the experience.
What helps teams move faster?
Holly Payne, Marketing Executive
What actually helps teams move faster in complex eCommerce environments isn’t rushing; it’s how you structure the work.
Umar, Aware Digital’s Lead Front End, suggests from a backend point of view, it’s about balance. Move quickly, but keep things simple. Don’t over engineer. Break work into smaller, manageable chunks and get the right people on the right parts. Start with a solid MVP, then iterate on both the product and the process.
From a delivery side, it’s about making complexity feel manageable. Focus on outcomes, not perfection, and make sure everyone understands where they fit and what they own.
For us, as Charlie, one of our Project Managers mentions, “Getting everything we need from clients first, clear communication, asking questions instead of guessing and balancing the quick wins with high priority work”
Speed comes from clarity more than anything else. Clear systems, clear roles, and a constant loop of improvement. That’s what lets teams handle complexity without it slowing everything down, and scale in a way that actually holds up.
Find out more about Aware Digital here.
