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IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Marketplace Platforms Software Providers 2026 Vendor Assessment

Ornella Urso, Cristiano Quattrini — Wed, 27 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study examines the key strategies and capabilities of global technology providers that enable the design, deployment, and scaling of retail marketplace platforms. This assessment evaluates vendors' strengths, including the breadth of marketplace functionality across seller onboarding, catalog aggregation, transaction management, and ecosystem orchestration, as well as the depth of capabilities supporting governance, monetization, and operational execution. It also assesses vendors' understanding of the specific challenges associated with operating multisided retail platforms, including partner management, data quality, fulfillment coordination, and customer experience consistency, ultimately enabling organizations to build and scale marketplace-driven business models.

In addition, this study evaluates vendors' ability to support ecosystem expansion through integrations and partner networks; their commitment to innovation across areas such as artificial intelligence, automation, and data-driven optimization; and their capacity to deliver measurable business outcomes through scalable, secure, and flexible platform architectures. The assessment also considers vendors' customer engagement models, including onboarding, enablement, and ongoing support, as well as their ability to adapt to evolving market dynamics, regional requirements, and emerging marketplace use cases across both B2C and B2B environments.

"Retail marketplaces are rapidly becoming the foundational architecture for next-generation commerce. The ability to orchestrate complex ecosystems of sellers, services, and data is emerging as a critical differentiator. Technology providers that can combine robust operational capabilities with scalable architectures, ecosystem enablement, and AI-driven intelligence will be best positioned to support retailers in transitioning from transactional commerce to platform-based growth models," said Cristiano Quattrini, senior associate advisor, IDC Retail Insights.

Wholesale Mobile Backhaul Opportunities in EMEA

Jan Hein Bakkers, Tolga Yalcin — Wed, 27 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective analyzes major trends and dynamics in the wholesale mobile backhaul services market in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). These services include dark fiber, optical, and Ethernet. The document also provides IDC's market outlook.

Mobile backhaul requirements will reach new heights as mobile operators in EMEA invest in improving coverage and 5G SA cores and user adoption as well as data traffic grow fast.

Adyen Acquires Talon.One, Placing a Big Bet on the Future of Agentic Commerce

Heather Hershey — Tue, 26 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective discusses Adyen's April 23, 2026, announcement of a €750 million all-cash agreement to acquire Berlin-based Talon.One. Adyen is betting that as raw payments processing commoditizes, the durable margin for its future lies in the commerce layer beyond payments.

"Adyen is placing a big bet that owning the customer identity plus decisioning layer at the moment of transaction is the most defensible place to stand for the next decade of commerce, regardless of whatever agentic commerce turns into," says Heather Hershey, director, AI-Enabled Digital Commerce at IDC.

NAB 2026 Insights and Observations

Alex Holtz — Fri, 22 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective details NAB 2026 insights and observations. NAB 2026 marked a decisive shift for the media industry from technology experimentation to operational maturity, with agentic AI, hybrid architectures, and orchestration now foundational to scalable, resilient, and monetizable workflows. The focus has moved from adopting individual technologies to integrating them into unified, governable models, emphasizing execution, trust, and business outcomes over novelty. Leading vendors showcased agent-driven solutions that automate, optimize, and connect production, distribution, and monetization, signaling a new era of intelligence-driven media operations.

"As media enters a phase of operational maturity, the question is no longer which technology to adopt, but how intelligently do we integrate AI, cloud, and hybrid architectures to scale, monetize, and govern content. Execution, not innovation, now defines leadership in the media industry." — Alex Holtz, research director, Worldwide Media and Entertainment Digital Strategies

Google Unveils Gemini 3.5 Flash at I/O 2026

Ramon T. Llamas — Thu, 21 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

At I/O 2026, Google introduced Gemini 3.5 Flash, its latest artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of analyzing and understanding data and creating and executing independent agentic workflows. At the same time, it introduced multiple upgrades to its generative artificial intelligence capabilities and breathed new experiences into some of its oldest and often-used applications, saving time and effort for the user.

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Unite in Joint Venture Targeting Nationwide Wireless Dead Zones

Peter Chahal, Simon Baker, Ahmad Latif Ali, Jason Leigh — Tue, 19 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

On May 14, 2026, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announced an agreement in principle to form a joint venture (JV) to eliminate wireless dead zones across the United States. The JV will pool terrestrial spectrum resources and leverage satellite-based direct-to-device (D2D) technologies to extend mobile connectivity to rural, remote, and underserved communities where traditional cell infrastructure is absent or limited. While the venture remains subject to negotiating definitive agreements and satisfying customary regulatory closing conditions, it represents the most significant structural collaboration among the three dominant U.S. carriers in a generation.

IDC ProductScape: Worldwide Point-of-Sale (POS) Software Vendors in Grocery and Food Store Retail 2026

Filippo Battaini — Tue, 19 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

The IDC ProductScape offers a comprehensive guide on the key functionality of point-of-sale software solutions for grocery and food store retail, featuring products from Diebold Nixdorf, Flooid, GK Software, LS Retail, NCR Voyix, and Toshiba. The status of each functionality is categorized as Fully Supported, Partially Supported, Partner Provided, Roadmap, or Not Supported, which is intended to aid technology purchasers in quickly identifying which vendors align with their changing requirements.

Early Efforts to Win on the Agentic Web and Key Points of Failure

Gerry Murray — Fri, 15 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective explores the rise of the agentic web, which is emerging as a machine-to-machine internet layer where AI buyer agents autonomously discover, evaluate, and transact on behalf of humans. It details seven macrotrends reshaping buyer discovery, outlines five essential CMO capability initiatives, and provides a readiness diagnostic. The document argues that marketing must lead this transformation with IT, CISO, legal, and so forth to ensure they build structured, trusted, and agent-accessible presence that will dominate the next era of digital commerce.

"There are two ways to win on the agentic web. The most effective way is the brands' influence is strong enough that buyers mention your products in most of their requests to agents. That captures intent. Failing that, deals go to the brand with the first matching offer. That means your tech stack is your brand. Unfortunately, today's tech stacks are architected around a database marketing model that does not apply on the agentic web, which is all about intent-based marketing," Gerry Murray, research director, Enterprise Marketing Apps and Agents at IDC

The CMO Guide to Agentic Buyers: From Reach to Response

Gerry Murray — Fri, 15 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective is written for CMOs preparing to compete in the agent-mediated markets by 2030. It examines the emergence of autonomous, AI buyer agents transacting on behalf of individuals and organizations and the implications for enterprise marketers. It covers the agentic shopping maturity model, infrastructure landscape, B2B and B2C marketplace developments, and a 24-action implementation road map.

"Agentic shopping is the first digital channel that makes database marketing practices and infrastructure obsolete. IDC forecasts AI agents will drive $500 billion in U.S. digital commerce, representing 25% of U.S. retail digital commerce by 2030. I would not want to be in the position of a CMO that is unprepared as 25% of revenue shifts to a channel I cannot compete in," said Gerry Murray, research director, Enterprise Marketing Apps and Agents at IDC.

VodafoneThree Launches 5G Fixed Wireless Access for the U.K. Residential and SMB Markets

Alejandro Cadenas — Tue, 12 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

On May 11, Vodafone announced the commercial launch of Vodafone 5G Broadband, a fixed wireless access (FWA) service powered by the 5G network, following the merger with Three UK, bringing VodafoneThree into existence as the UK's largest mobile operator by spectrum and coverage. The service targets an estimated 3.7 million U.K. homes currently unable to access fiber, offering speeds of up to 150Mbps, unlimited data, and instant self-installation. The proposition is positioned as a credible and cost-efficient alternative to part-fiber connections, with no engineer visits or upfront costs. The launch builds on VodafoneThree's £11 billion network investment program and leverages multi-operator core network (MOCN) technology across more than 10,000 shared sites. Combined with its existing full-fiber footprint of 23.2 million homes, VodafoneThree can now address over 26 million U.K. homes.