--- title: "May 2026: the month AI started doing the shopping" description: AI started doing the shopping in May. Five signals UK consumer boards should act on now, from agent-ready catalogues to staycations and the new BNPL rules. image: https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/hubfs/may-2026-cover-1200x1200.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/blog/monthly-newsletter-may-2026-the-month-ai-started-doing-the-shopping#main-content) [![Logo\_Primary-1-remove-background.com](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo_Primary-1-remove-background.com.png?width=1001&height=338&name=Logo_Primary-1-remove-background.com.png "Logo_Primary-1-remove-background.com")](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk) - [Home](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk) - [Non-Executive Director](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/non-executive-director-services) - [Services](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/work-with-me) - [About](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/about) - [Contact](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/contact) - [Blog](https://matthewgauntassociates.co.uk/blog) - [Book Intro Call](https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/matthew-gaunt) # May 2026: the month AI started doing the shopping ## The month AI started doing the shopping Less drama than April, but more you can act on. Agentic commerce became a real product, the careful pound seems to have moved home and is set to stay for the summer, the hiring market loosened a bit, and two policy changes quietly impacted how consumer businesses run.  1 · Growth & Tech · AI ## The agent at the checkout May was the month the big platforms turned agentic commerce into a product. At [Google I/O on 19 May](https://www.azoma.ai/insights/google-i-o-2026-what-the-agentic-commerce-announcements-mean-for-brands), Google launched Universal Cart, with agent-led checkout coming to the UK. On 27 May, Amazon went further — any retailer can build its own AI shopping assistant on AWS in about 60 days, on the tech behind roughly $12bn of Amazon sales. [OpenAI widened ChatGPT shopping](https://www.fastcompany.com/91533534/shop-til-you-bot-google-openai-and-the-race-to-build-agentic-commerce) in parallel. The weak signal: most SME product feeds are not built for machines, so the agent skips you. The so-what (this month’s AI move) Is your catalogue agent-ready yet?: clean your product data, expose a live price and stock feed if you have one, and check your best sellers render in a, AEO friendly structured format. The first operator an agent can read and buy from may well still win share from their rivals. Agents are coming whether or not you are ready — the opportunity is to be ready first. 2 · Growth · Demand ## The staycation summer The [May spend data](https://home.barclays/insights/2026/05/April-2026-Spend-Trends/) tells a quieter, more useful story than the gloom in the headline news. Travel spend fell 5.7% and airlines dropped 8.3%, but arguably, the spending pound did not vanish — it moved. Nearly one in five people now plan a UK staycation, and digital subscriptions are up 9.2%. This is a reallocation, not a retreat: domestic hospitality, attractions and destination retail have a real summer window. The so-what for the customer Does your Summer trading and Marketing plan work for a staycation offer? Package a local summer reason to visit, promote it through June, and make the value obvious. The operator who can capture the staycation pound this summer could earn the loyalty that lasts past it. 3 · Cost · Labour ## Maybe hiring just got easier? After two years of a relentless wage climb, the [May labour data](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/may2026) marks a real turn. Vacancies fell to 705,000, a five-year low; payrolled employees are down about 210,000 on the year; unemployment is up to 5.0%. [Indeed’s data](https://www.hiringlab.org/uk/blog/2026/05/19/uk-employment-figures-may-2026/) shows low-wage postings 20% below baseline, led by retail, hospitality and leisure. Good people are available, and staying put is back in fashion. The so-what for colleagues Is this the opportunituy to both upgrade your skillsets and lock in your top performers? Fill the one role you have struggled with for a year?, have the retention conversations with your best people while movement is low? Stronger, empowered, motivated teams out-trade everyone - FACT! 4 · Policy · Cost ## Packaging recyclability re-pricing While the headlines chase energy and rates, a new cost is landing on consumer goods. [Extended Producer Responsibility](https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10352/) shifts about £1.2bn a year of packaging cost onto producers; year-one base fees are now live — [plastic at £423 a tonne, glass at £192](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/year-2-illustrative-waste-disposal-fees-extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging/year-2-illustrative-waste-disposal-fees-extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging). From 2026-27 the fees [flex by recyclability](https://www.packlab.gr/en/uk-pepr-2026-recyclability-based-costs/): red-rated packaging pays 1.2x, rising to 1.6x in 2027-28. Packaging design can now be a margin lever. The so-what for the business Audit your packaging  and ranking your top lines by recyclability. Switching the worst offenders to green-rated formats before the modulated fees bite can improve margin. Protecting margin and telling a cleaner story to the customer at the same time. The fee is fixed by policy — the design response is yours to make the most of. 5 · Policy · Payments ## Buy now, pay later comes inside the rules From 15 July, [BNPL comes inside the FCA’s rules](https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/regulating-buy-now-pay-later): affordability checks, the Consumer Duty and Section 75 cover. [Even sub-£50 micro-loans](https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/new-rules-for-buy-now-pay-later-schemes-to-protect-shoppers-from-2026-abQzF0V7RjMN) face checks. For retailers it is a conversion question: [fashion and lifestyle](https://www.concentrix.com/en-gb/insights/blog/bnpl-regulation-uk-2026-lenders-retailers/) — the heaviest BNPL basket — may feel a measurable impact here. The so-what for the customer Understand your BNPL dependency before 15 July. Look at the share of baskets and revenue that involve on it, and line up a clean second option so no sale stalls . Done well, the new checks can build trust rather than cost you the order. ## The bottom line: your first-party data is the asset now Thread these 5 things together and, on reflection, one job stands out: know which customers and channels actually pay. When agents mediate the sale, when demand shifts home, and when costs re-price by design and regulation, the average margin hides the truth. Build a view of profit by customer and channel before the autumn. You are where you are. The opportunity is to make the next ninety days clearer than the last — for the customer, for your colleagues, and for the business. Want the full briefing? The 19-page intelligence report has the data tables and sources for each theme. [Email Matthew](mailto:matthew@matthewgauntassociates.co.uk) — no pitch, just a conversation. ## Related Articles More board-level thinking on consumer businesses. 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