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Salesforce Connections 2026 in Chicago focused heavily on AI, but the bigger story was how commerce is expanding beyond traditional websites and apps. Customer journeys are increasingly taking place across AI assistants, messaging platforms and conversational experiences, creating new opportunities for retailers to engage shoppers wherever they are.
One of the most significant announcements was Salesforce's expanded integrations with OpenAI and Google, allowing product catalogues and commerce experiences to become accessible through platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini.
Salesforce also introduced Storefront Next, its new enterprise-grade composable storefront solution which comes with greater agility.
Retailers are under increasing pressure to adapt quickly to changing customer expectations, market conditions and emerging channels. Modern commerce architectures need to support continuous evolution rather than lengthy redevelopment projects. To find more about this topic, read this article.
The launch of Agentforce Shopper Agent and Agentic Commerce Search highlighted how AI is moving beyond experimentation and becoming embedded within customer experiences.
Rather than relying on keyword searches and static navigation, customers can interact conversationally with AI-powered shopping assistants that understand intent, recommend products and support purchasing decisions.
Beyond customer-facing experiences, Salesforce unveiled Merchant Agent, designed to help merchandising teams optimise catalogues, promotions and campaigns.
Perhaps the most striking figure shared during the event was that AI agents are already influencing $262 billion in retail sales, representing around 20% of total retail activity.
AI is becoming part of the infrastructure that supports product discovery, merchandising, operations and customer engagement.
The biggest lesson from Salesforce Connections 2026 is that the agentic commerce era is already shaping how customers discover products, how teams operate and how commerce experiences are delivered.
Understanding which opportunities create genuine commercial value is now becoming one of the biggest challenges facing retail leaders.