Interview: Christel Delberghe, Director General, EuroCommerce
Christel Delberghe, Director General, EuroCommerce
For Christel Delberghe, Director General of EuroCommerce, the trade association representing Europe's retail and wholesale sector, the question is no longer whether retailers will use AI, it is how effectively they can scale it across their businesses.
“AI is now influencing every stage of the retail value chain, from demand forecasting and logistics to personalised customer engagement and product discovery,” Delberghe says.
One of the most significant developments, she argues, is the emergence of agentic commerce, in which AI systems increasingly take on the work of searching, comparing and ultimately purchasing products on behalf of consumers.
“That is one of the most interesting developments,” she says. “AI increasingly helps consumers search, compare and purchase products.”
As AI agents become more capable of making purchasing decisions, retailers may increasingly have to compete not only for consumers' attention, but for the recommendations of the algorithms acting on their behalf.
For retailers, however, some of the biggest opportunities are considerably more immediate, she believes.
Delberghe points to the commercial functions of retail as an area where AI is already capable of delivering measurable gains.
“Retailers are using AI to improve operational efficiency across supply chains and back-office functions,” she stresses.
That makes AI particularly relevant in a sector where margins are often thin and even relatively small productivity improvements can have a material effect on profitability.
Yet Delberghe believes retailers are increasingly discovering that the technology itself is not necessarily the hardest part.
“The main challenge is no longer access to technology,” she says. “Our research shows that the biggest barriers are organisational: change management, skills, data readiness and adapting operating models.”
“Many companies have moved beyond experimentation but scaling AI successfully remains difficult.”
That is why Delberghe sees AI adoption as fundamentally a business transformation rather than an IT project and for companies, that means changing how employees work rather than simply giving them access to another piece of software.
“That means investing in people, developing new skills, redesigning workflows and ensuring AI is embedded across the organisation with clear leadership support,” Delberghe says.
“AI is now influencing every stage of the retail value chain and agentic commerce is an important part of that evolution.”
Of her session, Delberghe stresses:
“I hope attendees leave with a practical understanding of where AI is already delivering value and what it takes to scale it successfully. Together with McKinsey, we will share insights on how Europe’s retail and wholesale sector can harness AI to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and growth.”