Beyond traditional stores and e-commerce sites, retail has shifted to conversational omnichannel, where WhatsApp, RCS, and live shopping are becoming drivers of conversion and lifetime value. At the start of 2026, initiatives are flourishing. These include a RCS button POC at Google My Business, a shift to private messaging services such as WhatsApp to reclaim direct links with consumers, increased influencer budgets, integration into YouTube's affiliate program (shopping features in videos) at India's leading beauty retailer, Nykaa, and a push for live shopping at Grain de Malice. We also give Algolia the floor to analyse the next steps for conversational customer queries in e-commerce search.
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