Global retail market surges $30t in 2025 despite AI strains

48% upgraded their IT infrastructure as AI investment increased.

The global retail market reached $30t in 2025, with e-commerce accounting for 20% of sales and physical stores 80%, according to a Kyndryl report.

The study found that 48% of retail leaders have upgraded IT infrastructure, although technical debt and costs remain constraints.

Investment in artificial intelligence (AI) rose 33% over the past 12 months, yet 63% of leaders feel pressure to demonstrate returns, and 89% expect AI to reshape job roles within a year.

Cultural barriers, workforce skills, and employee reskilling were cited by 39%, 44%, and 33% of respondents, respectively, the report said.

Thirty-two percent of mission-critical networks, storage, and servers have reached end-of-service status, whilst only 15% of retailers claim full utilisation of omnichannel systems, and 52% say cloud adoption occurred by accident.

Sixty-four percent of organisations revised cloud strategies due to data regulations and geopolitical pressures, and 56% report data inaccessibility in environments lacking proper decommissioning.

Looking ahead, retailers target inventory precision and stock keeping unit rationalisation in 2026, plan to consolidate complex systems into unified data platforms, and aim to deploy AI frameworks to better connect buyers and managers.