The most innovative retail companies of 2026

FastCompany: The most innovative retailers in 2025 used technology not to chase trends, but to solve real problems. As tariffs squeezed margins and labor costs climbed, companies scrambled to adapt. Shopify opened its platform to agentic AI shoppers, letting customers purchase directly within ChatGPT. Amazon launched Lens Live to turn smartphones into instant product scanners. Rebel scaled its re-commerce platform into new categories, processing over 70,000 returned products weekly and keeping 25 million pounds of goods out of landfills. Others doubled down on heritage and experience.

J.Crew proved nostalgia sells when paired with a carefully curated archive. Printemps brought its European department store model to Manhattan, where food and beverage now accounts for 35% of sales. Fanatics launched Fanatics Studios to produce sports content, creating new touchpoints to keep fans inside its ecosystem. On the operational side, Walmart insulated shoppers from trade wars by keeping grocery prices low while building higher-margin revenue streams. Its marketplace and advertising businesses grew 37% and 28% respectively, helping the company achieve e-commerce profitability for the first time. 1.

Shopify For opening its doors to agentic AI shoppers As chatbots begin to reshape online shopping, Shopify is racing to ensure the five million merchants using its platform aren’t left behind. In fall 2025, Shopify introduced a partnership with ChatGPT that lets merchants sell directly within the chatbot, so customers can discover and buy products without ever leaving the platform. The company also launched a universal cart option that allows shoppers to add items from multiple retailers through a conversational interface whereby a bot can fill your cart rather than forcing you to hop between different websites.

Behind the scenes, Shopify is also deploying AI to lighten the load for merchants. It built an AI-powered store builder that lets retailers build a functioning storefront by simply describing what they want. The company also upgraded Sidekick , its AI assistant, with voice chat capabilities in more than 20 languages, visual asset generation, and analytics support. The bet appears to be paying off: Shopify reported 9% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3, reaching $1.67 billion. Read more about ⁠ Shopify , No. 3 on Fast Company’s list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2026 . 2.

Walmart For insulating shoppers from the trade wars In 2025, Walmart got better at being Walmart: keeping prices down, moving inventory faster, and leveraging its scale to weather storms. While tariffs squeezed competitors, the megachain kept grocery prices low to pull shoppers in, then built higher-margin businesses around them. Its marketplace and fulfillment services for third-party sellers grew 37%, while its advertising business—which leverages data from serving 90% of U.S. households—jumped 28%. The strategy worked: Walmart achieved e-commerce profitability for the first time and grew overall sales more than 5%.

The company also leaned into AI where it actually matters. Sparky, an AI shopping assistant in the Walmart app, helps customers find products. Wally, an internal AI tool, helps merchants troubleshoot inventory issues in real time. And Walmart used its massive infrastructure to push delivery speeds faster—three-hour deliveries grew 91% year-over-year, with plans to reach 95% of the U.S. population by the end of fiscal 2026. Read more about ⁠ Walmart , No. 9 on Fast Company’s list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2026 . 3.

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The article discusses significant trends in retail innovation that are highly relevant to brand strategy professionals, though the integration of technology in retail is an ongoing topic rather than a groundbreaking new concept.