Dan Cate, CEO and Founder at SoldThrough, says that US inventory is effectively becoming the new SEO, warning that UK brands competing in US retail marketplaces must put steps in place to restore discoverability and avoid algorithmic exclusion.
AI assistants are taking over and Search > Browse > Compare > Buy is dying.
The latter, of course, is the traditional ecommerce funnel that’s shaped decades of buying habits and, in turn, how fashion and retail brands compete for visibility and conversion. But change is already in motion and is set to affect not just how consumers shop, but how UK brands sell into the US
According to Adyen’s 2026 Retail Report, the use of AI shopping assistants among US consumers has more than doubled year-on-year, rising from 12% to 35%. In fact, over half (51%) of US shoppers now say they would be open to AI managing the entire shopping journey on their behalf, including completing the final purchase.
And it’s not just the shoppers that are on board – Gartner predicts that 40% of enterprise applications will feature task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026.
Why do AI agents pose a potential problem?
While there are many benefits to this technology, the problem is that AI agents don’t “shop” for US consumers in a human sense; they don’t browse websites, appreciate a brand’s 100-year heritage or even respond to beautifully shot editorial campaigns featuring a six-figure campaign model of the moment.
Instead, they execute tasks based on the probability of success. This means they query structured data and APIs, prioritising ‘fulfilment certainty’ and speed.
For UK and wider EMEA fashion and retail brands, this is a systems change that could see them digitally excluded from US search results. Not because their product isn’t a perfect match for what the consumer is looking for, or because they’ve not spent enough on marketing, but because their shopping origin is flagged as a logistics risk by autonomous algorithms.
In AI’s mind, shipping from London to New York introduces variables such as customs delays, cross-border returns, delivery uncertainty and sustainability penalties. Even if a product is optimal in terms of price, style or demand, AI agents are increasingly likely to deprioritise – or entirely ignore – non-US inventory in favour of domestically stocked alternatives that guarantee a smoother fulfilment outcome.
Because of this, we’re seeing retailers invest heavily in acquisition and visibility but still lose the customer at the final stage because the experience breaks down in fulfilment.
How to address discoverability
With US inventory effectively becoming the “new SEO”, UK retailers already selling into the US – or those looking to scale there – must put steps in place to restore or build discoverability if they want to avoid algorithmic exclusion.
To do this, it’s first important to know that AI-driven discovery in the US sits across three layers:
- The UK/EMEA brand (trying to sell and be discovered)
- The US retail ecosystem (e.g. Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s-type retailers) that ultimately controls visibility and distribution
- Trusted enablement partners that help brands plug into that ecosystem with the right fulfilment, data and operational capability.
AI agents will favour brands that can satisfy all three layers at once, addressing product readiness, operational reliability, and ecosystem trust with:
- US‑based fulfilment and localised returns: AI shopping agents won’t just optimise for clicks; increasingly, they’ll factor in delivered cost (including duties/taxes), delivery speed and reliability, and return friction and historical return behaviour. Some marketplaces even require a 48‑hour return SLA, which is also something the American consumer also desires – they want that easy option to return their goods and have their money back. Because of this, brands that opt for US‑based fulfilment and localised returns are going to be far more “recommendable” because they can deliver a better, frictionless end‑to‑end experience. It all ties into why speed to market is so important.
- Trusted retail ecosystem integration: While there is the option for Brands to handle US‑based fulfilment solo and enter the market alone, those that are integrated into the wider US retail ecosystem – whether through established retailer relationships, operational partners or platforms already embedded within those environments – will most certainly be at an advantage. Not only does this route boost trust and visibility, but it also exposes brands to new retail media capabilities, discovery tools and AI-led shopping experiences that US retailers often roll out.
- Products with clean, standardised data and sustained demand: From a purely product perspective, both AI agents and US retail platforms will prioritise items that are machine-readable and easy to index across retailer systems. Think proper UPCs / GTINs, rich structured attributes (category, fabric, fit, colour, price), clear geo-availability (what can be fulfilled in the US, and how quickly), and consistent inventory depth, so retail media spend isn’t wasted on out-of-stocks. High-confidence products – so styles with proven demand, ongoing replenishment, and enough scale to support marketing activation – are also being favoured. This is particularly important when brands are being onboarded via trusted partners, because retailers are far more likely to prioritise products they know can perform reliably.
- A clear, distinctive story and voice: As well as product and fulfilment, authentic, well‑articulated brand narratives (tone of voice, values and mission, point of view, etc.) are likely to be weighted by AI systems going forward, as they try to match shoppers with products that “fit” their tastes and values. How consistently those elements are communicated across channels will also be key.
The rules of 2024 don’t work anymore
As we head deeper into 2026, it’s clear that the retail rules we saw just two years ago simply don’t work anymore. The process of selling into the US is more complex today than it has ever been – and it was already highly complex to begin with.
AI is speeding up this change, certainly, but it’s also joined by changing cross-border rules, fulfilment expectations, delivery economics and retailer-controlled discovery systems.
To succeed in today’s market, UK brands must first understand how agentic commerce systems work and then build the operational infrastructure needed to support them. That means thinking beyond visibility and marketing spend alone and investing in the fulfilment, data, partnerships and customer experience capabilities that US retailers and AI systems increasingly reward.
