In 2026, "fashion tech" will no longer be a separate corner of the industry. It is baked into the way people browse, decide, and buy-often without opening a traditional storefront at all. The fastest shift is happening inside conversational interfaces: AI-powered chat that behaves like stylists, personal shoppers, brand concierges, and sometimes even taste-making characters. Platforms such as JOI AI sit within this broader movement: chat is becoming a primary interface for identity play, self-presentation, and lifestyle choices, including style.
To illustrate just how AI is starting to reshape the shopping experience, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and incoming Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner announced a partnership resulting in shoppers now able to shop Walmart and Sam's Club products directly on Gemini, Google AI chatbot. In addition, Google also introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an AI commerce framework aimed at becoming an industry standard that allows AI agents to interact directly with retailers' commerce systems.
On Tuesday, Walmart execs said they would put ads in Sparky, its AI shopping agent, as well as provide generative AI-powered performance insights and creative. There's also Marty, Walmart's agentic advertising assistant, in beta for sponsored search campaigns to help with billing and bidding, with plans to make it available widely later this year. The announcements come on the heels of Walmart's tests last year with Sparky and Marty.
Major shifts in advertiser priorities for 2026 has been revealed by ISBA's latest Media Budgets Survey, conducted with Ebiquity and the World Federation of Advertisers. Representing £2.9bn in UK ad spend and part of a global study covering USD$13bn (£9.91bn) across 16 markets, the survey shows 65% of UK advertisers expect to increase overall marketing budgets. A clear trend toward brand-building is emerging, with 37% planning to boost branding investment versus just 14% prioritising performance marketing.
The technology giant announced Thursday that it has rolled out several AI-enabled shopping functions just ahead of the holidays. The features pair with other AI-enabled capabilities Google has already launched, including a way to track items' prices and virtual try-on options that allow a user to see how clothing looks directly on their body. Google said it has made conversational commerce, both with its large-language model (LLM), Gemini, and its search tool, which it calls AI Mode, easier for consumers.
Four months ago, industry veterans were debating whether AI shopping agents could disrupt Amazon and Walmart's dominance. Today, those same retailers are racing to build the infrastructure that makes those agents possible. That's how quickly this is moving. For the past 25 years, the retail website has been sacred territory. Brands controlled the narrative, captured data, and converted browsers into buyers. AI shopping agents are about to do to websites what e-commerce did to storefronts: not eliminate them, but fundamentally transform their purpose.
Miva, a pioneering ecommerce platform, has launched dynamic merchandising for its new Vexture AI product search, discovery, and merchandising tool. The added feature utilizes natural language prompts and contextual AI intelligence to automate manual merchandising, providing businesses with more personalized product recommendations that drive sales, according to Miva. Merchants describe their strategy in plain English and instantly generate tailored, AI-powered recommendations across the entire catalog.
A creator's Instagram inbox used to be a beautiful mess. One minute it was quiet. The next, a product Reel pops off and they get buried in fire emojis, product questions, and a dozen "Is this still in stock?" DMs. It was certainly exciting. And a bit overwhelming? Manually keeping up often meant lost sleep, missed sales, and a lot of copy-pasting.
