Retailers investing in AI ahead of Peak 2026 risk focusing on operational efficiencies while overlooking the delivery fundamentals that matter most to shoppers, new research from delivery management platform, Scurri, warns.

While retailers are accelerating their use of AI to tackle rising costs and increasingly complex customer journeys, shoppers are prioritising low cost deliveries, fulfilment visibility and real-time communications, it said.

A retail reality check

“Peak is going to provide a reality check for retail AI,” Rory O’Connor, Scurri’s Founder and CEO, commented. “Retailers understandably want AI to reduce costs and complexity, but shoppers don’t care about the technology; they want to know whether delivery is affordable, whether it arrives when promised and whether someone takes responsibility when things go wrong.”

Scurri’s poll showed that 64% of consumers worry retailers are using AI mainly to reduce costs. But for customers, the outcomes remain the top focus. Over half (53%) say real-time tracking matters most and 44% prioritise fulfilment with accurate delivery dates.

Demands for delivery speed shift to value

The findings also challenge the assumption that Peak shoppers demand even faster fulfilment. Free delivery matters to 61%, however two thirds (67%) would accept longer delivery times during Peak in return for free or cheaper delivery.

The Peak battleground may therefore be shifting from speed towards certainty and value. “The opportunity is to use AI to make the delivery promise more intelligent, by selecting the right carrier, identifying potential failures before they happen and giving retailers and customers better visibility,” O’Connor added.