Signals

: Chanel’s partnership with Shanghai’s Power Station of Art offers one such antidote. The new Espace Gabrielle Chanel is the first public library in mainland China dedicated entirely to contemporary art and design, and positions documentation as a living cultural resource. Through exhibitions, talks, workshops and publishing, it invites the public into communal engagement with ideas. This aligns with a broader movement of temporary reading rooms and public knowledge spaces emerging in galleries and cultural spaces. These initiatives demonstrate that cultural institutions and brands can play a role in creating environments oriented towards slower learning and collective reflection to counterbalance the reactive tempos of online discourse.

: Meanwhile, digital culture is developing its own versions of these reflective spaces. The growing conversation around digital gardening highlights a shift toward non-linear thinking, personal knowledge ecosystems and collaborative idea-building. The recent launch of YOO, a spatial 3D creative network for deeper learning and multidimensional self-discovery, extends this trend. Described as a place to gather inspiration, thoughts and memories, YOO functions like a next-generation Myspace: part digital world-building tool, part communal mind map, encouraging users to step into each other’s ideas and connect them in new ways. Other notable mentions include Soot, Sublime and Capacities for your digital gardening needs. In contrast to our persistently algorithmically optimised feeds, these platforms promote exploration over reaction, curiosity over outrage, and signal an evolving desire for more meaningful, self-directed modes of connection online.

UK – New research from PSE Consulting, a UK payments and technology consultancy, reveals a sharp rise in AI-enabled shopping tools in the run up to Christmas, marking a pivotal moment for consumer trust in agentic commerce. Nearly half of UK adults (49%) use AI regularly, with 22% planning to rely on it for festive shopping.

Uptake is highest among 18–34-year-olds, 42% of whom intend to use AI for deal hunting and gift buying. These statistics highlight growing consumer adoption of AI-driven shopping tools, which are emerging as the next era of conversational retail and a move towards fully automated purchasing. 

Of those planning to use AI this season, 85% say they would trust it to place orders and complete payments autonomously, signalling a shift from AI as a recommendation engine to a fully transactional shopping agent. PSE Consulting notes that this aligns with forecasts that automated shopping tools could influence ‘several trillion dollars’ in global retail spending by 2030. 

The findings follow the launch of OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol with Stripe, which is expected to reach Europe within months. Yet, PSE Consulting reports, there is still concern: 49% worry about data privacy, 46% worry about fraud and 41% fear incorrect purchases. 

Chris Jones, managing director of PSE Consulting, said, ‘What’s remarkable is how quickly AI has moved from novelty to an integral part of shopping,’ adding that an ‘AI confidence divide’ is shaping behaviour as early adopters embrace automation while older consumers hold back. 

The agentic retail section of our macrotrend report Culture-coded Retail explores how consumers are eager for AI-informed shopping, will embrace AI-driven decisions and value AI concierges for personalised experiences.