Retail Insider has released Q3 2026 Retail Technology: AI Moves Deeper Into Retail Decisions, authored by Retail Insider founder and publisher Craig Patterson. The report examines how artificial intelligence and connected systems are moving into merchandising, product discovery, payments and distribution.
The report covers Canadian retail software, e-commerce, customer engagement, loyalty technology, cybersecurity, automation, point-of-sale systems and payments. It draws on company disclosures, Retail Insider coverage, industry research and government data, distinguishing deployed services from pilots, forecasts and emerging customer behaviour during the quarter.
Retail Insider Reports provide executive-level analysis of the sectors and operating issues shaping Canadian retail. The Retail Insider Report Hub brings the quarterly collection together, connecting company developments with broader evidence and the commercial questions behind new investments.
General Themes
- AI is entering defined decisions: Assortment planning, grocery carts and freight processing provide concrete operating applications.
- Data quality remains foundational: Recommendations and automation depend on accurate information moving between systems.
- Discovery is not purchasing: AI use, machine traffic and autonomous transactions represent different stages of adoption.
- Convenience has an economic cost: Payment choice, digital pricing and cross-border tools must justify their operating expense.
- Results matter more than novelty: Availability, conversion, processing time, errors and cost provide more useful tests than technology labels.
Retail Insider Coverage
Canadian Tire’s MOSaiC platform combines sales and Triangle Rewards data with weather, seasonality and local events to identify customer needs. Back-to-school became a test of coordinated assortment and marketing across Canadian Tire, SportChek and Mark’s, while practical product information was being improved for external AI discovery. The company did not disclose a separate MOSaiC sales contribution. Cross-banner search, cart and payment integration remained under development.
Instacart launched Clementine for most Canadian and U.S. customers, connecting conversations, recipes and lists with personalized grocery carts. Its catalogue and inventory infrastructure can turn a recommendation into products available from a selected store. Early observations of larger baskets were not Canada-specific and do not establish that the assistant caused customers to purchase more.
Calgary Co-op introduced Instacart Storefront Pro and marketplace purchases without item-price markups. Participating retailers bear the cost of removing those markups, according to Instacart. The arrangement addresses price sensitivity alongside convenience, but broader platform claims about retention or basket size do not establish Calgary-specific results.
Montreal-based Helios AI was pursuing a smaller-retailer market with thingsIQ, which uses existing system data to inform inventory, pricing and assortment. It had three active clients when interviewed in July. Its goal of 50 clients by year-end was an ambition, not an achieved customer base, and illustrates the early stage of the business.
Salesforce research found that 39 per cent of Canadian shoppers surveyed had used AI to help shop in the previous 12 months, but only approximately 11 to 12 per cent began their journey with it. Shopify reported that global AI-driven traffic and orders tripled year over year in Q2 from a small base. Neither finding establishes an equivalent Canadian share of transactions or the displacement of conventional search.
AI conversations also complicate attribution because product research can occur before a retailer sees a website visit. Salesforce’s forecast that AI agents could generate 20 per cent of holiday e-commerce traffic referred substantially to bots and crawlers, not one in five purchases being completed autonomously. Assisted research, generated carts and delegated payment require separate measures.
Only 30 per cent of Canadian retailers surveyed by Salesforce reported fully unified customer data across sales, marketing, commerce and service. That limitation affects personalization and the assessment of customer outcomes. A separate DOSS survey of 230 U.S. consumer packaged goods operations leaders found a gap between AI use and reported efficiency gains. It provides operational context, not Canadian adoption evidence.
Loblaw expanded EAIGLE computer-vision gate automation across multiple distribution-centre yards after reported improvements in processing time, driver experience and data accuracy. The technology identifies vehicles and captures freight information while connecting with existing systems. Financial savings were not quantified, but the operating task is clear and can be assessed through throughput, errors and processing cost.
Walmart+ launched in Canada in June, ahead of Q3, while Amazon added Amazon Family and Add to Delivery during the quarter. The services address recurring friction around household accounts, shipping and repeat purchases. Walmart’s 19 per cent international e-commerce growth was not a separate Canadian rate, and Amazon did not disclose Canadian retention or spending gains attributable to its features.
Shopify expanded Managed Markets to eligible Canadian merchants using Global-e’s merchant-of-record infrastructure. The service handles functions including duties, taxes, local payments and aspects of international shipping, but eligibility requirements and transaction, payment and currency-conversion costs remain relevant. Simplifying administration does not eliminate the need for suitable products, acquisition and reliable fulfilment.
Broader Industry Coverage
Descartes described AI agents initiating shipment tracking and obtaining delivery information to reduce manual activity. A 26 per cent sequential increase applied specifically to agent-assisted tracking, still a small share of MacroPoint’s volume. The company also identified demand for trade information and compliance records, showing the value of operational information beyond the headline growth rate.
Interac announced that Global Payments would enable Konek across its Canadian merchant network, beginning through its API before broader checkout integration. This expands access to account-based options rather than establishing completed adoption by every merchant. Global Payments’ 2025 baseline put digital wallets at 32 per cent of Canadian online transaction value and credit cards at 46 per cent. These are value shares, not purchase counts or Q3 results.
Modern checkout must connect payments with accounts, inventory, orders, fulfilment and returns. A Coresight study sponsored by Aptos surveyed 150 retail decision-makers globally and found that 85 per cent of recent POS modernizers said returns met or exceeded expectations. The vendor-sponsored, self-reported international findings are not a Canadian performance measure. Integration was the leading implementation obstacle.
Greater purchasing authority brings greater requirements for identity, authentication, spending limits and dispute handling. Payment providers are considering how to distinguish properly delegated AI purchases from fraud while preserving customer control. The Canadian evidence supports growing AI-assisted research, not mainstream autonomous purchasing. Recommendations, carts and completed payments should therefore remain distinct in adoption claims.
Statistics Canada reported approximately $5.5 billion in July retail e-commerce sales, down 3.5 per cent from June but up 6 per cent year over year. The figures provide context for an established channel with uneven monthly performance. They do not demonstrate the return on any particular technology investment or establish a reversal in digital adoption.
Editor’s Take
The next test is whether these tools produce better operating results. MOSaiC needs evidence of stronger merchandising decisions, Clementine needs clearer purchasing outcomes, and Konek’s expanded availability needs customer adoption. Loblaw’s rollout can be evaluated through time, accuracy and throughput, while attribution and fragmented data remain constraints across customer-facing applications.
The strongest examples address identifiable retail problems rather than relying on the presence of AI as the argument for investment. Accurate inventory, connected freight records and useful customer information make the tools effective. Better availability, fewer errors, easier transactions and lower operating costs will provide a more durable assessment than adoption headlines alone.
Conclusion
Read the full Q3 2026 Retail Technology report for the analysis of AI, connected retail systems, payments and digital commerce. It distinguishes operational deployments from early indicators and identifies the evidence still needed to judge results.
The report and the wider quarterly collection are available through the Retail Insider Report Hub. The collection connects Canadian retail developments with company disclosures, industry research and the operating decisions facing retailers.
