[NRF 2026 Insights #08] Retail Chosen by AI Agents. Learning from Ulta Beauty: Purchasing Experience in the AI Era

Introduction

This article is presented as a unique insight from BEEATS, based on a report contributed to the fashion business media "Oui Speak Fashion® Japan" and incorporating perspectives from our overseas observation team, including President and CEO Mitsuhiro Kashiwagi and Executive Officer Kanta Nishimura.

This article organizes how retailers should prepare for an era where AI agents are involved in purchasing behavior, based on the session "Winning in the Agentic Era" hosted by beauty retail giant Ulta Beauty and marketplace platform Mirakl.

What Is Agentic Commerce?

Agentic Commerce refers to a purchasing experience where AI agents like ChatGPT and Google Gemini compare and examine products on behalf of consumers and propose the optimal options.

In previous e-commerce, consumers searched for themselves, compared product pages, and checked reviews to make purchase decisions. However, with AI agents entering the purchasing process, consumers will begin to leave part of the task of "finding products that suit me" to AI.

At that time, what is required of retailers and brands is to organize information so that it is correctly understood not only by human customers but also by AI.

"Digital Mezzanine" Advanced by Ulta Beauty

A concept attracting attention in Ulta Beauty's initiatives is "Digital Mezzanine."

This is a strategic concept located between physical store shelves and the infinite selection spreading digitally.

There are limits to physical store shelves.
On the other hand, a wider range of products and adjacent categories can be handled digitally.

Ulta Beauty is expanding its assortment through a marketplace with carefully selected brands, and is working to create an environment recognized by AI agents as a "place with plenty of trusted options."

The important thing here is not just increasing the number of products.

Organizing product information and content in a way that AI can easily understand while maintaining brand reliability and quality becomes preparation for the next purchasing experience.

Data and Content to Be Chosen by AI

In an era where AI agents compare and recommend products, the quality of the data and content explaining them becomes just as important as the appeal of the product itself.

Ingredients, size, color, usage, feel, reviews, word-of-mouth, UGC.
If this information is not organized, it becomes difficult for AI to correctly understand the product.

The session highlighted the idea that structured product content will become a vital asset in the AI era. Furthermore, unstructured content like reviews and UGC becomes important as material to convey product reliability and actual usage experience.

For AI, product data is not just specification information.
It is the very context for determining products that suit the customer.

Privacy and Trust Behind Convenience

For AI agents to make highly accurate recommendations, not only product data but also customer behavioral and preference data become essential.

On the other hand, the more data is utilized, the more issues of privacy and trust become unavoidable.

Introduced as Ulta Beauty's policy is the idea that customer permission is required for data sharing, and that everything should lead to an improved customer experience.

In the AI-era purchasing experience, not only convenience but also the relationship where customers feel safe entrusting their information becomes important.

No matter how advanced personalization becomes, if customers feel uneasy about "why this product was recommended" or "how my data is being used," trust will be lost.

A Realistic First Step for Retailers

Adapting to agentic commerce does not just mean large-scale system renovations.

In this session, the importance of first clarifying who in the organization will promote the AI strategy, reviewing the quality of in-house product data and content, and starting with small experiments was discussed.

AI does not increase sales like magic.

Preparation of product information, basic operations such as inventory and pricing, data utilization centered on customer experience.
Only with this foundation can AI demonstrate its power.

BEEATS VIEW: Even in the AI Era, Trust Remains at the Center of Customer Experience

What becomes clear from the Ulta Beauty case study is that even in the AI-driven purchasing experience, the center must be customer trust.

To be chosen by AI, product information and content must be organized.
On the other hand, the utilization of that information and data must be something that makes sense to the customer.

The same is true for creating real stores and sales floors.

How to convey the appeal of products and services?
How to create a state where customers can compare with peace of mind and choose with conviction?
How to connect digital measures, signage, the Web, and social media?

It is precisely because it is the AI era that the accuracy of information, the sincerity of how it is conveyed, and clarity for the customer become the foundation of brand experience.

Creating Brand Experiences Together

In the era of Agentic Commerce, information design that is correctly understood not only by customers but also by AI is required.

However, it is not just convenient features that ultimately create trust in a brand.
It is the correct communication of the charm of products and services. That customers can choose with peace of mind. That the touchpoints between physical and digital are connected as a consistent experience.

BEEATS CO.,LTD. will support the creation of touchpoints between brands and consumers by combining real space creation and digital touchpoints.

If you have any challenges regarding next-generation store creation—such as wanting to clearly convey the appeal of products utilizing store spaces or signage, wanting to design customer touchpoints linked with the Web and SNS, or wanting to review brand experiences that traverse the real and digital—please feel free to consult us.

NRF2026 Report Now Available: "The Dawn of Agent Commerce"

We have released a digest report of "NRF 2026." Please download and use this 29-page report, which includes detailed explanations of the main sessions and solution analyses of 12 featured companies.※ Materials are available in Japanese only.

About this Joint Overseas Report Editorial Project

The original report forming the basis of this series is a joint editorial project between BEEATS CO., LTD. and World Mode Holdings Co., Ltd.

Detailed reports covering the event in New York by our President and CEO Mitsuhiro Kashiwagi and Executive Officer Kanta Nishimura are being published sequentially on the fashion business media "Oui Speak Fashion® Japan." Along with this insight, please be sure to read the main report, which is packed with both companies' perspectives.

Original Article
Part 8: The Winning Formula in the Age of "Agentic Commerce" Depicted by Ulta Beauty

For more details on this joint editorial project, please see the following page.

Oui Speak Fashion® Japanhttps://ouispeakfashion.com/jp/