Leadership Enablement Program Manager

2026 digital retail forecast: challenges, opportunities and strategies. * Session Recaps Register for the 2026 CommerceNext Growth Show, June 23-24 in NYC to join 2700+ attendees, 150+ speakers and 60+ sessions. Economic uncertainty, fragmented discovery, shifting generational behavior and rising expectations around trust are all reshaping how retailers plan for growth. In this CommerceNext webinar, Forrester, Mejuri, B&H Photo and RTB House came together to explore what digital retail leaders need to know about 2026 and how brands can adapt without losing sight of the fundamentals. What CommerceNext, LLC covered: * Peak ambiguity and the new planning environment * Discovery is fragmenting, but proven channels still matter * Consumer behavior is more research-heavy, generational and multi-device * Trust, fulfillment and measurement will define the winners Speakers: * Sucharita Kodali, VP & Principal Analyst, Forrester * Rohit Nathany, CTPO, Mejuri * Jeff Gerstel, CMO, B&H Photo * Jaysen Gillespie, VP, Global Head of Product Marketing and Analytics, RTB House * Moderated by: Jenny Marlo, Head of Content, CommerceNext Peak ambiguity and the new planning environment. Forrester framed 2026 with a phrase that set the tone for the entire conversation: peak ambiguity. Between high interest rates, soft consumer sentiment, geopolitical volatility and ongoing questions around AI's impact on jobs, creativity and decision-making, retail leaders are operating in an environment where certainty is in short supply. The panel reinforced that there is no single playbook for how adjusting to this ambiguity. Mejuri explained that for growing brands like themselves, the answer is not to retreat but to focus on sustainable growth, scenario planning and the fundamentals that matter most: strengthening the brand, investing in customer experience and building community. B&H Photo offered a similarly pragmatic view, emphasizing the importance of focusing on what you can control, staying flexible and continuing to execute against what already works while remaining ready for sudden change. 2026 planning cannot be passive. Retailers need to actively plan around softer demand, operational pressure and uneven market conditions, even if the exact shape of disruption is still unfolding. Discovery is fragmenting, but proven channels still matter. The "front door" to retail is getting more crowded. Search is no longer the only place discovery begins. Social platforms, AI tools and answer engines are increasingly entering the mix, especially for younger consumers. But that does not mean retailers should rush to abandon the channels that already perform. Forrester described this shift as discovery disrupted. Google remains dominant, but consumers are also turning to Instagram, TikTok and AI tools like ChatGPT for product discovery and research. Much of that activity is still top-of-funnel, focused on research, comparison and summaries rather than transactions. Forrester also noted that even if AI could make purchasing faster than Amazon, 80% of consumers would still prefer to complete their purchase through Amazon. B&H Photo emphasized a measured approach, testing emerging platforms without pulling spend from proven channels. Discovery is evolving, but not fully transformed, so brands should keep experimenting while staying disciplined on performance. Mejuri noted that AI-driven discovery will vary by category, especially in highly visual spaces like jewelry. Still, the brand is reinforcing the importance of core fundamentals like community, UGC and strong brand presence, with added focus on monitoring how brands surface in AI search. The takeaway: discovery is widening, not replacing. Retailers should test new platforms, but protect the channels that still drive meaningful performance. Consumer behavior is more research-heavy, generational and multi-device. RTB House's research added a sharp consumer lens to the webinar and challenged some familiar assumptions about how people shop online today. One of the most striking findings was that even relatively low-cost purchases often require multiple site visits before conversion. For higher-ticket products, that consideration cycle becomes even longer, with many shoppers returning four, five or six times before they are ready to buy. This behavior is especially pronounced among younger consumers. Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to research extensively, spend longer evaluating options and leave products sitting in their cart for days before checking out. By contrast, older shoppers are more likely to arrive knowing what they want and complete the purchase in fewer steps. RTB House argued that these younger behaviors are not a passing phase. They are likely to shape the future of commerce more broadly. The research also reflected a more price-conscious consumer environment. Shoppers are still switching retailers due to cost, and RTB House's findings pointed to a K-shaped economy where spending pressure is unevenly distributed. One of the more surprising patterns: younger cohorts were more likely than older ones to say they planned to spend more, challenging the assumption that spending resilience is concentrated among older consumers. For marketers, that means the growth path is getting longer and less linear. Winning no longer comes down to the last click. It requires staying visible and relevant throughout an extended consideration cycle and across every device and touchpoint involved. Trust, fulfillment and measurement will define the winners. If discovery is fragmenting and behavior is becoming more complex, the webinar made clear that trust, fulfillment and measurement will be critical differentiators in 2026. Forrester emphasized that Amazon's advantage isn't just scale, but trust in the post-purchase experience - reliable delivery, easy returns and consistent service. That standard now shapes expectations across ecommerce, with B&H Photo reinforcing that the real work often happens during and after the transaction to drive repeat customers. On measurement, RTB House highlighted the need to move beyond platform-reported performance toward true incrementality. Attributed results can be misleading, making unbiased testing and clear success metrics essential for understanding real impact. As media fragments across channels, marketers should align measurement to each tactic's role - using transactional metrics for lower funnel and awareness or consideration metrics for upper funnel. Finally, Forrester noted that while shopper-facing AI commerce is still early, "agentic under the hood" use cases are already delivering value - pointing brands toward practical, ROI-driven AI applications over hype. CommerceNext steps. * Peak ambiguity demands proactive leadership. Plan ahead, advocate strategically and collaborate to stay ahead. * Discovery is fragmenting. Balance innovation with proven channels. Test new platforms, but protect high-performing search and social. * Trust and fulfillment remain core differentiators. Consumers still default to Amazon - AI-first leaders can capture the gap. * Consumer behavior is now age-driven, research-heavy & multi-device. Marketers must meet shoppers on every channel and win the long consideration phase - not just the last click. Want more insights on what's next for retail growth, AI and ecommerce strategy? Join CommerceNext, LLC June 23-24 in NYC for the 2026 CommerceNext Growth Show by registering today.

First take on the Forrester Wave Email Marketing Service Providers 2026. Forrester's latest Wave on Email Marketing Service Providers arrives at an interesting moment for the category. For years, these evaluations felt largely static... the same capabilities, the same positioning, the same incremental shifts. This one is different. Not perfect, but more aligned with the direction the market is heading. This time around, there's a lot here they get right. And I know it must be surprising to many of you that that's the first thing I write! But before you think I've gone soft, there are still a few things they don't exactly get wrong, but they struggle to explain. What Forrester gets right: email is no longer just email. The Wave report states that "Email marketers using this evaluation to inform a purchase decision should look for: AI as a functionality-enabler, not as a feature." That may sound subtle, but it's a significant evolution in Forrester's thinking. It's the single most important shift in this Wave. Since the beginning of time, Forrester's ESP evaluations have focused on message composition, deployment infrastructure, and reporting. In other words, email as a production system. This latest Wave acknowledges something more important: email is now part of a broader system of decisioning, orchestration, and interaction. The emphasis on conversational interfaces, AI-driven timing and targeting, and dynamic content assembly signals a move toward what modern ESPs are trying to do: turn signals into action, in real time. That's a huge step forward in Forrester's thinking. Another positive outcome in the current Wave is that Forrester appears to be notably more disciplined in how it evaluates AI. Rather than rewarding vendors for the number of models or agents, they focus on how AI reduces marketer effort, improves workflows, and ensures transparency. Forrester highlights vendors that "applied AI to amplify sophistication, relieve marketer stress, or introduce opportunities." That's exactly the right lens. Because in practice, the value of AI in email marketing isn't what it produces, it's whether anything actually happens because of it. The leader board: directionally right, but not fully explained. The placement of vendors in this Wave broadly reflects where the market has been moving. But the report provides limited visibility into what drove the more dramatic shifts. Take Adobe. Adobe's rise to a leadership position is perhaps the most notable movement by a vendor compared to the previous Wave in 2024. The report cites content strengths, responsible AI, and orchestration capabilities. All valid. But what's missing is a clear articulation of what fundamentally changed in Adobe's architecture or execution model over the past two years to justify that leap. For many enterprise teams, Adobe Journey Optimizer still requires coordination across multiple systems, which introduces complexity, latency, and operational cost. The Wave acknowledges Adobe's strengths but doesn't reconcile them with those tradeoffs. Vendor inclusion still feels inconsistent and arbitrary. Forrester outlines their inclusion criteria as: "Broad, enterprise-level support... substantial revenue... and mindshare among Forrester's enterprise clients." Yet the actual vendor set raises questions. In the 2026 Wave vs. 2024, Klaviyo is now in, and Optimove is out. Klaviyo's inclusion makes sense given its growth. But the absence of Optimove (without a clear explanation) highlights a recurring issue: vendor coverage feels inconsistent. Notably absent from this evaluation are platforms like MessageGears and MoEngage. Both meet enterprise criteria and represent meaningful architectural approaches. Leaving them out limits the usefulness of the evaluation. Forrester's claim that the report features "The 12 Providers That Matter Most" doesn't hold up to scrutiny. What's still missing: architecture. Forrester evaluates features, strategy, and customer feedback. And yes, it does assess important architectural components like data management, identity, and governance. What's still missing is a clear view of how those elements come together to impact execution. That's where the real differences show up. * How quickly can a platform recognize a signal? * How quickly can it act on it? * How many systems are involved in that loop? Those questions ultimately determine speed, scalability, and cost. But they're difficult to see in a feature-based comparison. Forrester correctly highlights that AI is changing what email marketing platforms can do. But AI makes architecture more important, not less. Because AI depends on clean, connected signals and the ability to act on them quickly. If those break down, the AI doesn't matter. Closing thoughts. The market is no longer divided by features or UI. It's divided by how tightly data, decisioning, and execution are connected. Some platforms embed these capabilities. Others orchestrate across systems. Both can work, but they create very different operating models. This is one of the stronger ESP Waves Forrester has produced in recent years. It moves beyond feature checklists, treats AI more realistically, and reflects vendor momentum. But it still stops short of addressing architectural differences, vendor inclusion consistency, and operational realities. The result is directionally right, but not yet complete. So what should you take away from the 2026 Wave? Don't just look to see who are marked as Leaders and leave it at that. Ask yourself how the platforms would operate in your environment, how each moves from signal to execution, and what each costs to run. Because increasingly, the difference between platforms isn't what they can do, it's how efficiently they can do it in the real world. Contact Email Vendor Selection (or Email Connect) if you'd like expert help selecting the best email marketing platform for your business. About Chris Marriott. Chris Marriott is a trusted advisor to enterprise brands selecting and operating modern ESPs/engagement platforms. He's the President & Founder of Email Connect, a consultancy that for the last 10 years has helped leading brands, including American Airlines and TJX Companies, navigate complex vendor ecosystems and avoid costly technology decisions. A 30-year veteran of digital marketing, including well over 20 years in email marketing, Chris is a recognized expert in the martech vendor landscape and vendor evaluation process. Prior to founding Email Connect, Chris served as a tenured executive at Acxiom, building and leading its Global Digital and Email Agency Services team into one of the industry's top agency services providers. Additionally, he is a regular speaker and columnist on the changing martech landscape and the RFP process and is an adviser to several emerging marketing technology companies. He holds a BA from Dartmouth College.

Forrester Research reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results, with contract value declining 6% to $292.4 million. Fourth-quarter revenues fell to $101.1 million from $108.0 million in the prior year, whilst full-year revenues dropped to $396.9 million from $432.5 million. The company posted a GAAP net loss of $119.4 million for 2025, including $110.7 million in goodwill impairment charges. On an adjusted basis, net income was $22.2 million, down from $28.1 million in 2024. Forrester announced a restructuring to improve cost efficiency and launched Forrester AI Access, a new self-service offering. For 2026, the company forecasts revenues of $345.0 million to $360.0 million, representing a decline of 9% to 13% year-over-year.