A survey of challenges faced by retailers shows that their global logistics and fulfillment costs have risen by over 20% in the last three years, as customers expect faster delivery, flexible fulfillment and seamless service as standard, according to a study from supply chain software vendor Manhattan Associates.
At the same time, retailers report that customers are getting tougher to track, as consumer journeys are fragmented. More than 66% of consumers now use two or more channels before completing a purchase, moving fluidly between marketplaces, social platforms, messaging apps and retailers’ own sites and stores.
Those results come from the firm’s “2026 Global Unified Commerce Benchmark for Specialty Retail,” conducted by the retail research firm Incisiv. The study analyzes more than 400 specialty retailers across EMEA, LATAM and North America on 330 capabilities spanning four key experience areas: shopping, checkout, fulfillment, and service.
“Retailers are being asked to do something incredibly hard right now: deliver faster, more personalized experiences while also protecting margin,” said Katie Foote, SVP & CMO, Manhattan Associates. “What this benchmark makes clear is that the retailers pulling ahead are not doing it with one standout channel or a single capability. They are doing it by reimagining the entire customer journey and connecting the business end to end, from shopping and checkout to fulfillment and service.”
The report found that for leading retailers, the role of the supply chain has evolved into a catalyst for competitive advantage through smarter use of physical assets, real-time inventory intelligence, and a new generation of AI-driven fulfillment capabilities.
Additional highlights from the report include:
- leading U.S. retailers have cut last-mile costs by 31% by utilizing a pre-owned asset: leveraging their store networks as fulfillment hubs.
- 53% of retailers have strengthened their last-mile coordination and expanded operational infrastructure to support faster delivery demands.
- 50% higher industry turn rates in the U.S. for retail leaders using real-time visibility and dynamic cross channel allocation than their peers.
- Agentic AI is emerging as a frontier capability that turns the traditionally reactive logistics model on its head, predicting disruptions and resolving them before the customer is ever aware.
