The Forrester Wave™: Commerce Services, Q1 2026
Commerce services providers are rewriting their playbooks with AI to address the new era of commerce transformations where consumers discover products through social commerce algorithms and answer engines, while business buyers use genAI as their top discovery source. Providers are reinventing themselves across both their offerings for commerce transformations and how they partner and co-innovate. Key focus areas include: 1) dual optimization of commerce experiences for both humans and AI agents, 2) AI-powered commerce operations for increased business resiliency, and 3) modern commercial models and commerce operating systems. The evaluation identifies 12 providers across Leaders, Strong Performers, and Contenders categories.
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Vendors must, among other requirements:
A: This research evaluates 12 commerce services providers across current offering capabilities, strategy, and customer feedback. The evaluation focuses on providers' abilities in dual optimization of commerce experiences for humans and AI agents, AI-powered commerce operations, and modern commercial models including commerce operating systems. It includes detailed scorecards for Leaders (Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, WPP, Accenture), Strong Performers (Merkle, IBM, Valtech, Tata Consultancy Services, DEPT), and Contenders (Capgemini, Infosys, EPAM).
A: Business leaders, commerce executives, and technology decision-makers at brands, retailers, distributors, and software vendors should use this research when selecting commerce services providers. It is particularly relevant for organizations seeking partners to help them prepare for agentic commerce, optimize AI-powered operations, implement commerce transformations, and navigate the evolving commerce landscape across B2B, B2C, DTC, and distributed commerce models.
A: To be included in this evaluation, commerce services providers must: 1) service more than 100 enterprise clients with demonstrated experience delivering commerce services with local teams across multiple geographies, 2) generate at least $250 million in annual revenue from commerce services in the past four quarters, 3) have a targeted go-to-market strategy with a platform-agnostic commerce services division focused on strategizing, designing, building, and running commerce experiences using talent, technology assets, media, and alliances, and 4) have significant mindshare among Forrester's enterprise clients through frequent mentions in inquiries, advisories, consulting engagements, and competitive references.
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A: Strength of Offering (vertical axis) measures current capabilities including commerce strategy development across B2C, DTC, and B2B; physical and digital commerce execution; technology implementation; AI-powered solutions; and delivery quality. Strength of Strategy (horizontal axis) evaluates future-focused elements including vision for the market, innovation investments, partner ecosystems, commercial models, talent development, and global delivery capabilities.