This week on The Voice of Retail, I’m joined by Jayme Johnson, Partner and Industry Leader, Consumer and Travel & Transportation Industries, IBM Consulting Canada. We unpack the biggest lessons from our New York retail store tour — from immersive flagships like Printemps and Gymshark to specialty concepts like Tecovas — and explore what authenticity and experience really mean in physical retail. Then we dive into IBM’s latest research on agentic commerce and how AI agents will soon be making purchasing decisions for consumers. If you want to understand where retail is heading — both in stores and in AI — this episode is for you.
In this episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc is joined by Jayme Johnson, Partner and Industry Leader, Consumer and Travel & Transportation Industries, IBM Consulting Canada, for a wide-ranging conversation that blends real-world store insights from New York City with a forward-looking discussion on AI, agentic commerce, and the future of customer experience.
The episode begins with reflections on the Retail Council of Canada’s Manhattan store tour, where Jayme shares observations from some of the most innovative retail concepts in the world. Highlights include the immersive French department store Printemps, which Jayme describes as more “a destination than a store,” combining hospitality, curated boutique brands, and experiential design to encourage lingering and discovery. Jayme and Michael discuss how authenticity and courage in design choices can create powerful emotional connections with customers, regardless of store format.
The conversation then moves through other notable stops, including Lacoste’s Fifth Avenue flagship, praised for reconnecting with its heritage through brand storytelling and disciplined merchandising, and The North Face, where massive digital walls create a cinematic sense of adventure. Jayme notes that while digital experiences are compelling, retailers could go even further by enabling customers to physically test products in simulated environments.
At Carhartt, the focus shifts to people and culture, with Jayme emphasizing how energized store associates drive engagement and reinforce brand identity. Gymshark’s Noho location sparks discussion around digitally native brands translating online communities into physical spaces, including the use of 3D-printed mannequins modeled after real athletes. The tour concludes with Tecovas, where hospitality, sensory design, and niche positioning demonstrate how specialty retail can scale into something “sneaky big.”
In the second segment of the episode, the discussion pivots to IBM’s latest research on agentic commerce. Jayme explains that while AI is already deeply embedded in product discovery and reviews, the next phase will see AI agents actively making purchasing decisions on behalf of consumers. In Canada alone, adoption of AI applications has increased by more than 80 percent in two years, signaling accelerating momentum.
Jayme outlines what this means for retailers: AI agents must be treated like a new customer segment, requiring structured product data, personalization, and governance. Trust, transparency, and explainability become critical as brands compete not just for human attention, but for algorithmic preference. Ultimately, Jayme argues that retailers who intentionally design for both people and AI will be best positioned to win in an increasingly automated shopping landscape.
IBM Research Insights: Own the agentic commerce experience