In retail, trust has always mattered. Today, increased choice, AI-powered shopping journeys, and rising concerns around safety, make trust a core driver of purchase decision-making. More than ever, brands build, enable, and reinforce trust through the people who represent them.
One of the major trends shaping retail in 2026 is shoppers actively looking for signals that they can shop safely (Forbes). Safety now goes beyond payments and data. It includes confidence in pricing, authenticity, fulfilment, returns, ethics, and how brands behave across the customer journey. Trained, confident people deliver these signals at the point of interaction, not just systems.
At the same time, customers are no longer the only ones engaging with brands. At NRF New York this year, our team saw Agentic AI featuring prominently across keynotes and vendor discussions, highlighting the growing role of autonomous agents in shopping journeys. These agents compare, recommend, negotiate, and even purchase on behalf of consumers. Retailers now build trust not only with humans, but with machines designed to detect risk, inconsistency, and opacity.
Trust signals for humans and agents
Human customers build trust through experience. AI agents build trust through structure and verifiable information. Retailers now need to deliver both, and training plays a critical role in aligning intention with execution.
Shoppers look for clear signals: a recognisable brand voice, consistent pricing across channels, transparent policies, and responsive support. According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, 81% of consumers say that trusting a brand to do what is right is a deal-maker in their purchase decisions. Trust drives conversion and forgiveness, but only when retailers equip their teams to deliver consistently.
AI agents, meanwhile, evaluate brands based on reliability, accuracy, data integrity, and governance. When retailers publish inconsistent product data, unclear returns policies, or misleading claims, AI agents downgrade them or remove them from consideration entirely. Increasingly, in-store experiences shape the data that these systems learn from and rely on.
Human trust is built by human teams
Retailers increasingly rely on a strong human foundation as they rethink how to enable in-store and management teams in an AI-enhanced world.
At Stellar, we use training not only to build capability, but to create confidence, consistency, and credibility with our clients and, critically, with their customers.
The Currys Specialist Experience Program, we deliver in partnership with Currys and ten of their suppliers, illustrates this approach in practice. The programme equips Currys teams to deliver the best possible in-store service, while giving suppliers robust reporting and actionable insights to guide decision-making. Through structured training, ongoing coaching, and performance tracking, we develop a highly trained, enthusiastic field team and integrate seamlessly with Currys’ processes. Training becomes the bridge between brand promise and customer reality.
As part of the Marvesting Group, we reinforce this philosophy through tools like Marvin Manager, which connects skills development, execution, and sales performance across field teams. Emma Ede, CEO of Stellar Global, explains: “One of the biggest benefits of being part of the Marvesting Group is having access to products like Marvin Manager that have been tested and refined over time. It allows us to offer our clients proven tools and approaches that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to develop alone, backed by the scale and experience of a €200m revenue business.”
Trust as a competitive advantage
Trust breaks when customers are forced to repeat themselves, receive conflicting answers, or feel that no one truly owns their problem. It is built through consistent experiences over time and space. Retailers that invest in transparent experiences, strong data foundations, and well-trained human teams earn trust not just from customers, but from the AI agents acting on their behalf.
In the Agentic AI era, trust is no longer just how customers feel about your brand. It is how confidently others, human or machine, can represent it.
We work as long-term partners to help brands turn their retail strategy into consistent, trusted execution. Get in touch today!
