Australian retailers are turning to artificial intelligence to simplify and automate returns and exchanges, while strengthening loyalty programs and redemptions to maintain cashflow as consumers grapple with the post-holiday debt hangover.

With household budgets tight and consumer confidence fluctuating, retailers are under pressure to protect margins without alienating cautious shoppers. AI-driven technology for returns is emerging as a key part of that strategy.

Maurice Zicman, Vice President, CX Strategy at TP in Australia says major brands are using AI algorithms to fast-track refunds, exchanges and store credits by automating eligibility checks and decision-making. 

He says it makes the process faster for customers, while reducing labour costs and speeds up inventory recovery for retailers.

“Traditionally, returns have been one of retail’s most expensive and labour-intensive pain points. Items must be inspected, refunds approved and inventory updated, with customers left waiting for this process to conclude before a refund is issued. 

“Some retailers are now using AI models to instantly assess whether a return qualifies for immediate approval with many customers receiving a refund before the item is even shipped back through “refund without return.” 

“AI tools can also assess photos of returns for any damage and inspect the packaging to help determine whether products can be resold at full price, discounted or redirected to secondary markets.

“Retailers are also tightly integrating AI-powered returns with loyalty programs. Instead of issuing cash refunds, customers are increasingly offered instant store credit or personalised exchange options which are designed to keep spending within the brand.

Latest data shows Aussies spent an average of $828 on gifts, holidays and celebrations with fewer than a third managing to stick to a budget and 32% using a credit card. “The rising cost of living has left many households cautious about discretionary spending particularly in January and February, posing challenges for retailers looking to maintain sales momentum,” 

“Post-Christmas is not just about clearing stock but also leveraging insights from the holiday season to fine tune customer experiences and loyalty programs,” adds Mr Zicman.

Retailers are using a number of strategies to maintain momentum such as: 

• Easier Returns: Shoppers have grown accustomed to one-click buying and next-day delivery and their expectations for returns have risen just as fast. Retailers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to streamline the returns process, cutting wait times for customers while reducing costs and fraud for businesses.

• Data-driven personalisation: Retailers are leveraging data from holiday purchases to tailor marketing campaigns, with a focus on personalised offers and tailored discounts. 

• Omnichannel integration: Businesses are doubling down on their digital presence, ensuring seamless online, in-store and social media shopping experiences to capture a broader audience. 

• Customer care support: There’s a growing trend among retailers investing in scalable customer service solutions to handle post-Christmas inquiries. This ensures they can meet demand spikes and deal with returns and warranty issues without compromising service quality. 

“Retailers are navigating a complex landscape and they must be agile and proactive. The post-holiday period is a time to recalibrate, innovate and strengthen customer relationships to drive sustainable growth.

“As Australian businesses navigate economic uncertainties moving into 2026, their ability to embrace new and emerging AI technologies to adapt to consumer behaviour and market trends will determine their resilience in the months ahead,” says Mr Zicman.

Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company, has revealed nine future of work trends that chief human resource officers (CHROs) will need to address in 2026 and beyond to ensure their organisation achieves its desired talent and business outcomes.

“This year’s predictions address significant workplace forces CHROs must navigate in 2026: HR’s changing – and expanding – mandate, the AI-enabled workforce, mounting pressure for growth and the shifting employment deal,” said Emily Rose McRae, Senior Director Analyst in the Gartner HR practice.

The top nine future of work trends for HR leaders this year are: 

1. Reductions in Force (RIFs) Before Reality

Optimistic about the potential of AI investments to increase productivity and innovation, some CEOs have reduced headcount. Yet, current workforce reductions are not due to better performing AI – only 1% of layoffs in H12025 were the result of AI increasing employees’ productivity. This places business leaders in an impossible position – being asked to make cuts to their teams on the basis of AI returns that have not yet been realised and may never be. In some cases, organisations will end up needing to rehire for roles they have cut.

In 2026, CHROs must deliver any layoffs in a human-centric way that does not harm the organisation’s employment brand. Longer term, CHROs must lead “talent remix” efforts to ensure the size and structure of the current workforce can effectively and sustainably support their organisation’s strategic goals.

2. Organisations Face Culture Dissonance Amid Performance Pressure

Several high-profile organisations have embraced a startup-style culture featuring long hours, aggressive performance management and minimal flexibility. Organisations are expecting more from employees without offering more (compensation, flexibility or benefits) in return.

“This is leading to cultural dissonance – when culture no longer reflects the reality of work,” said Kaelyn Lowmaster, Director in the Gartner HR practice. “As a result, we’re seeing “regrettable retention,” where disengaged employees remain in their role, and damage to the employment brand, both of which threaten CEOs’ performance ambitions. The most successful CHROs this year will be clear and explicit about the reality of their employee value proposition (EVP), including what they expect from employees (output, hours, location, etc) in return.”

3. AI’s Biggest Hidden Cost: Employees’ Mental Fitness

Preserving the resilience and safety of the workforce in the AI era is a core HR responsibility in 2026. CHROs must ensure managers and leaders are equipped to spot symptoms of disordered AI use or negative psychological, behavioural or emotional impacts of pervasive AI at work. They must also ensure their teams act now to prevent erosion of key skills. The most successful CHROs will also proactively work with legal and IT to have a plan for preventing and responding to AI-related psychological injury.

4. AI Workslop Becomes Organisations’ Top Productivity Drain

An overwhelming focus on AI adoption and improving individual employee productivity has led to “workslop” – an abundance of fast but poor quality work produced by or with AI. Employees are being pressured to adopt AI for as many potential use cases as possible, with no time or autonomy to discern if the output is high quality or fit for purpose.

“In 2026, the best CHROs will focus on saving employees effort, not just time, by aiming AI at the most arduous, friction-filled moments in employee work, rather than quick wins,” said McRae. “Effort, rather than time spend, is the most reliable indicator CHROs should use to understand where AI should reshape work and provide value.”

5. Employers Reverse the Candidate Fraud Arms Race

AI has made hiring an arms race: candidates use AI for easier application and to stand out, while organisations use AI to sift through a higher volume of candidates and to detect genuine, qualified matches and avoid malicious actors.

This leaves organisations faced with an overburdened and fraud-ridden process at the very moment recruiting headcount is under increased scrutiny. CHROs in 2026 will increase the value of the human in recruiting workflows by combining “high touch” approaches (in-person interviews, experiential skills assessment) with emerging AI tools.

6. Corporate Espionage Moves from the Pages of Fiction to Our Payrolls

The AI arms race and economic nationalism have drastically increased the risk of insider threats, specifically in the form of corporate espionage. Employers are also facing regulatory and reputational pressure to address technological sovereignty and to reduce dependency on technology from companies based in other countries.

HR must increase its role in protecting organisational security in 2026. In addition to organisations’ more intensive cybersecurity efforts, CHROs will need to invest heavily in the behavioural and motivational side of addressing and identifying sources of insider threats.

7. Tech-to-Trades Career Paths Blossom

As AI continues to proliferate, workers in some fields, such as software development, finance and professional services, will look to pivot to more “AI-proof” careers — such as the high-demand, hands-on, skilled trade work that is less likely to be fully automated in the near to medium-term. 

Retraining and apprenticeship programs will emerge in 2026 to help digital workers transition into skilled trade professions. CHROs must be proactive both in planning to retain their key digital talent, offering reskilling support where appropriate, and building new pipelines for skilled trade roles, potentially in collaboration with industry partners. 

8. Process Pros, Not Tech Prodigies, Unlock AI Value

Organisations are scrambling to hire talent with the latest AI skills and to upskill their existing talent to use existing AI tools effectively. However, success with one AI tool will not automatically result in quality output from another. Optimising individual use of AI-based productivity tools on its own does not lead to growth or cost reduction.

The most successful organisations in 2026 will prioritise finding work process experts — employees whose creativity and systems thinking allow them to redesign entire processes, not just optimise individual tasks. CHROs should update their recruiting processes to prioritise AI judgement and critical thinking over technical skill. They should also tap leaders to establish an employee working group to identify processes, not just tasks, that can be redesigned using AI.

9. Employees Get Paid for Training Their Digital Doppelgangers

In 2025, AI programs trained on real human artists to mimic their style, tone and behaviour in original works. In 2026, this trend will come to the broader workforce – digital twins or AI avatars are already being developed to replicate high-performing employees, and even CEOs.

Digitally replicating employees – specifically the knowledge, habits and individual behaviours that make them successful – opens uncharted territory in terms of compensation. Employees will demand to be paid, not just for training AI tools, but for the ongoing use of their digital likeness long after they’ve left the organisation. The best organisations will update their AI governance to protect and reward employees’ likeness as AI is increasingly shaped in their image.

Learn more via the webinar: The Gartner Top 9 Future of Work Trends for 2026 and Beyond. Additional information is available in the associated article “9 Future of Work Trends For 2026.”

One question I hear constantly from small business owners is: “How much is AI actually going to cost me?” The honest answer? Probably less than you think. But the real question should be: “Am I spending money in the right places?”

Here’s the reality most people won’t tell you. The biggest cost of AI integration isn’t the technology. According to HP’s recent survey of Australian small businesses, only 15% say they lack budget for AI tools. The real barriers? Skills and mindset readiness (53%), complexity and integration challenges (44%), and finding tools that actually fit their needs (54%). In other words, most businesses aren’t struggling to afford AI. They’re struggling to adopt it properly.

The Real Cost Categories

Most small businesses can get access to fantastic AI tools for under $100 per month in software subscriptions. Most AI platforms such as Microsoft CoPilot, ChatGPT, Claude and Canva have free versions you can use. If you need to expand your usage, you are looking at anywhere between $15 to $50 per month per platform which in the grand scheme of things is totally worth it for the value it brings.

The trap? Signing up for six different AI tools because they each promise something slightly different. Pick three that solve your actual problems and ignore the rest. Also be careful of what plans you sign up for. I’ve seen businesses waste money on enterprise-level tools when starter plans would do. I’ve seen sole traders paying for software designed for companies with 500 employees. Start with free tiers. Graduate when you hit genuine limits, not imagined ones.

I would also recommend setting up a spreadsheet so you can track what you have actually subscribed to. If you have a team, set up an AI email everyone can access, that you can use for subscriptions. This means you don’t waste money on multiple accounts, especially when you are testing new platforms.

Hardware is where things get tricky. If you have the wrong tech, i.e. an old laptop (over 4 years old) using AI can actually become inefficient because your tools can’t handle the horsepower required to run the latest programs. I had a laptop that was around 5 years old and kept crashing whenever I tried to use multiple AI programs. The constant restarting was not only frustrating but it cost me valuable time. Since I upgraded, I have been able to 10X my daily output with ease.

Now the tech industry loves telling you that you need the latest AI-ready device with specialised chips. But here’s what HP’s research revealed: 4 in 5 SMBs don’t fully understand what AI PCs actually do. If you’re a design agency running complex image generation locally, sure, invest in processing power. But if you’re using cloud-based AI tools? Your current laptop might be fine. The rule of thumb: if your AI runs in a browser, you don’t need new hardware. Once business owners actually understand AI PC capabilities, they’re more than twice as likely to see the value in upgrading. Education first, purchase second.

Training is the cost most businesses forget to budget entirely. With 57% of SMBs struggling with tech adoption and integration, this isn’t surprising. Budget time for your team to learn proper prompting, workflow integration, and troubleshooting. Also encourage them to spend at least 30 minutes a week trying and testing new AI tools and features. That time investment compounds. Skip it, and you’ll join the majority who buy tools they never properly use.

Making Smarter Decisions

What do SMBs actually want from AI? HP’s survey found the top motivators are refreshingly practical: affordable to implement (42%), easy to set up (41%), and guaranteed data privacy and security (37%). That’s not asking for miracles. That’s asking for tools that respect the reality of running a small business.

Match your tech to that reality. A boutique retailer doesn’t need the same setup as a professional services firm. Start with one problem AI could genuinely solve. Master that- then expand.

Here’s what makes this worth the effort: enterprise AI users report not just productivity gains, but improved work-life balance (69%) and reduced stress and burnout (68%). For time-poor business owners, that’s the real ROI.

If you want practical, jargon-free guidance on navigating how AI can help your business, the Byte Size podcast, which I co-host with Dr Matt Agnew, covers exactly these questions. We speak with real Australian SMBs about what’s actually working, what hardware you need (and don’t), and how to avoid the costly mistakes everyone makes.

The bottom line: AI doesn’t have to be expensive. But it will be if you don’t know where your money should actually go.

Contributed by Lisa Teh, Founder and Director of CODI Agency

This week At CES 2026, HP Inc. debuted new technologies that position personal fulfilment as the next frontier for driving the Future of Work.

Australian knowledge workers are feeling the pressure with just 14% having a healthy relationship with work. But given the right tools and technology, the likelihood of workers having a healthy work relationship more than doubles – and increases five-fold when the workforce sees their company investing in them.[i] In an era marked by disruption and change, HP recognises a growing fulfilment deficit in the workforce and is committed to empowering organisations to transform this challenge into an opportunity for innovation and resilience.

Innovations Designed for the Future of Work

As businesses navigate unprecedented challenges, HP remains steadfast in its commitment to pioneering solutions that foster fulfilment and accelerate growth, ensuring that the future of work is both human-centered and technology-driven.

New products and solutions include:

• Designing for the future of work means creating solutions that move, connect, and adapt to any workspace. HP’s newest form factor, the HP EliteBoard G1a, is the world’s first full AI PC built into a keyboard [ii] and a CES 2026 Innovation Award Honoree.
• Built for leaders shaping the future of work, HP introduced its HP EliteBook X G2 Series, the next generation of premium business laptops built for the AI era and a CES 2026 Innovation Award Honoree.
• Bringing passion-ready experiences so consumers can work smarter, look sharper, and lead better, HP unveiled new updates to the full HP OmniBook consumer portfolio – including the new HP OmniBook Ultra 14 and HP OmniStudioX.
• Delivering AI-powered productivity right at the printer, HP introduced the first integration of Microsoft Copilot into HP Office Print devices with HP for Microsoft 365 Copilot, providing document summarisation, translation, and smart organisation to help businesses work faster, smarter, and more securely.
• Keep hybrid work running smoothly and strengthen IT’s ability to maintain business continuity across distributed environments with enhancements to the company’s Workforce Experience Platform (WXP) employee device management features.
• Pair your new HP PC with intuitive, ergonomic, and sustainable peripherals for every workspace, including a stylish pink version of the HP Tilt Ergonomic Mouse 720M, a new compact USB-C HP 65W GaN Wall Charger, lightweight and durable HP Protective Series laptop sleeves, and more.
• When it’s time to clock out, get your game on. HP is redefining how gamers play, create, and perform, unifying its OMEN and HyperX brands under one master gaming brand – HyperX – and engineering the world’s most powerful gaming laptop with fully internal cooling,[iii] the HyperX OMEN MAX 16.
• To understand your PC’s origin story, HP developed HP Digital Passport, a CES 2026 Innovation Award Honoree, giving customers one place to access PC essentials: from getting started, discovering unique product features and their device’s sustainability story, to finding support options as their needs evolve.

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As Australians return to work in 2026, burnout specialist and founder of The Big Refresh, Nick Orchard, says it’s time to scrap the resolutions. Instead, he’s urging professionals to install ‘burnout blockers’ – simple, preventative systems to protect against rising stress and exhaustion.

The advice comes as burnout hits crisis levels. In 2025, Bupa reported 70% of working Australians experienced burnout. The 2025 TELUS Mental Health Barometer found 41% were under constant stress, and more than one-third at high mental health risk. 

“Burnout doesn’t hit us like a truck. It’s an insidious creep that takes hold slowly over time,” says Orchard. “It begins to shape how we perceive ourselves, our work, the people around us, our ability and our worth.”

With the cost to Australian businesses estimated at $14 billion, Orchard says most workplace wellness efforts miss the mark by focusing on recovery rather than prevention, addressing the problem only after the damage is done.

In 2020, while in a senior government role, Orchard experienced a near-fatal burnout episode – waking behind the wheel at 130km/h on the wrong side of the road with no memory of how he got there. That crisis led to the creation of The Big Refresh, an evidence-based coaching program now used by executives, creatives and leaders across Australia.

The early warning signs of burnout

According to Orchard, burnout starts well before exhaustion with subtle shifts that many professionals ignore:

• Needing praise to feel competent 
• Imposter syndrome or fear of failure driving decisions
• Information overload making simple tasks hard
• Struggling to get out of bed in the morning
• Relying on caffeine and sugar to fuel the day
• Skipping restorative habits like sleep, nutrition, exercise, journaling and socialising 
• Taking on too much because delegating feels mentally harder
• Growing cynicism and detachment about work that once energised you
• ‘Sunday scaries’ starting earlier and lasting longer 
• Staying busy but achieving less – productivity theatre. 

“In this age of likes, instant feedback and being ‘always on’, we can get hooked on external validation to prove our worth. Like we’re sunflowers, basking in the glow of praise. But when the clouds come, we droop. We’ve forgotten how to nourish ourselves from the inside,” Orchard explains.

Instead of pressure-filled resolutions, Orchard advocates for ‘burnout blockers’, simple systems that build boundaries and protect energy:

1. Boundary rituals: End your work day with a clear signal – a walk, shower or outfit change. Shut devices off. Silence work email notifications after hours. 
2. The Daily Win: Break larger tasks down into small one to two-hour tasks with a clear start and finish, so you finish what you start and build momentum. 
3. Focusing on what’s in your control: Write two lists: what’s within your control and what’s not. Now, throw the ‘out of control’ list in the bin, and focus exclusively on things within your control for the week to come.
4. Broccoli time: Invest 15–30 minutes each morning in your most avoided but important task – like strategy, budgeting or a difficult email. Then no matter where the day takes you, you’ve already ‘won the day’ before it’s even begun.
5. Hard conversation habit: It’s the hard or uncomfortable conversations we avoid, the ones about boundaries, relationships, or expectations, that bite us down the track. Build the habit of “just saying the thing” in the moment so it doesn’t fester.
6. Circuit breakers in routines: Schedule micro-breaks to interrupt long stretches of intensity. Take a 10-minute walk between meetings. Set a hard stop time in the evening.

“Just like sunscreen protects us from getting burned, burnout blockers shield us from burnout. 2026 can be the year of high performance, sustainability, wellbeing and joy, with just a few minor shifts to your daily practice,” says Orchard.

As professionals gear up for the year ahead, Orchard is calling for a fundamental shift. The industry has normalised exhaustion as the price of success, but burnout isn’t a badge of honour – it’s a warning sign that’s been ignored for too long. Prevention, he insists, doesn’t require massive lifestyle overhauls. It just requires paying attention to the early signs and acting on them.

Shopify a leading commerce technology company, has unveiled its Winter ‘26 Edition, RenAIssance, the eighth showcase of its latest products and innovations that redefine how merchants build commerce operations and how shoppers discover products. 

Shopify’s Winter ’26 Edition introduces a new wave of practical, business-ready AI innovations that supercharge human creativity and act as a true force multiplier for merchants, developers, and partners. Featuring more than 150+ updates, this Edition includes significant improvements to Sidekick, introduces Shopify Agentic Storefronts a tool that puts merchants products directly into AI conversations on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot and features many more key updates across POS and development tools. Together, these capabilities help businesses work smarter, adapt faster, and meet rising consumer expectations with greater ease.

“Australian retailers are operating in one of the most competitive and dynamic markets in the world,” said Shaun Broughton, Managing Director, APAC & Japan, Shopify. “Consumer expectations are rising quickly, and merchants need tools that help them act on signals in real time while removing as much operational friction as possible. This Edition, we’re giving Australian businesses AI capabilities that streamline the work behind the scenes – refining storefronts, simplifying merchandising and making day-to-day operations more efficient. This allows retailers to focus on creativity, innovation and serving customers, whether they’re just starting out or scaling across markets.”

“We chose the Renaissance theme for this Edition because it symbolises progress, momentum, courage, new beginnings, and redefining what’s possible,” said Vanessa Lee, VP, Leading Product at Shopify. “It’s a compilation of 150+ product updates across our platform that help merchants and developers make the most of the latest technologies and advancements in AI and beyond. Many of these features weren’t possible a year ago and they redefine how we achieve our mission of making commerce better for everyone.” 

Sidekick: The ultimate commerce AI assistant

Sidekick, already a powerful AI tool built for commerce, sits at the centre of this Edition. Supported by a complete AI ecosystem, Shopify is setting the standard for intelligent, merchant-first technology that’s shaping the future of commerce.

Sidekick now offers:

• Personalised suggestions on Home: Sidekick is moving from reactive to proactive. It can now surface personalised, high‑impact tasks on Home to help merchants act on what matters most.
• Admin app builds: Sidekick now generates admin apps from a prompt, so merchants can build custom tools, no code required. 
• Customised themes: Theme settings are customisable through natural language commands, allowing merchants to adjust theme configurations without navigating complex menus.
• A repository of Sidekick prompts as “skills”: Merchants can save, reuse, and share their best Sidekick prompts as “skills” thanks to a user-scoped repository of quick actions and commands. Merchants can create shortcuts for repeat tasks, launch them from the skills tray or with a slash command, and open shared links that prefill the prompt safely, ensuring merchant data and dangerous prompts are not shareable, in chat.
• Working Flow automations generated from natural language descriptions: Merchants no longer need deep Shopify knowledge and programming skills just to get started with Flow. Sidekick generates working Flow automations from natural language descriptions. 
• Edit product photos with Sidekick: Brings state‑of‑the‑art AI image edits to the file editor so merchants can produce better product photos, faster.  

Sidekick has already proven its value, being used by Shopify merchants in 100 million conversations since its inception. 

“We use Sidekick to quickly uncover actionable insights about shopper behaviour,” said Dan Small, Chief Customer Officer at Boody. “With a number of proven hero products that are day-in and day-out best sellers, sometimes we can overlook small changes in consumer behaviour. Sidekick helps us identify these subtle shifts by showing how different customer segments engage with bundles and promotions in real time. This enables us to optimise offers and marketing strategies responsively, sharpening human decision-making and allowing us to spend less time analysing data and more time acting on what truly matters to our customers — which is what modern retail is really about.”

Shopify Agentic Storefronts: Your products in agentic conversations

Shopify Agentic Storefronts puts your products directly into AI conversations on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. One setup in your admin and your products are immediately discoverable by many agents. No complex integrations, no separate apps for each platform—just your products showing up exactly when and where customers need them.

Customers buy without leaving their conversations, and you decide where and how your brand shows up. Your checkout experience, your customer relationships. Toggle which platforms display your products and watch attribution data flow directly into your admin. Commerce is happening in conversations—Shopify Agentic Storefronts ensures you’re part of them.

POS Hub: Reliable, connected in-store selling

For Australian retailers prioritising the in-store experience, Shopify’s new POS Hub strengthens in-person retail by connecting merchant checkout hardware – card readers, printers keyboards, scanners and more – to their POS tablet for fast, reliable wired connections on iOS and Android. Designed for flexibility, POS Hub can be mounted discreetly under the counter or displayed on the counter-top, with a sleek look that is customisable to a variety of store aesthetics and layouts.

The first-of-its-kind professional POS Hub provides a strong, dependable plug and play setup so users can sell without distraction.

Designed for Shopify POS, the new hub:

• Is purpose-built specifically for retail
• Has the power of a computer with built-in software to keep data flowing between merchant hardware and Shopify Point of Sale all day
• Is Apple MFi-certified for multi-device wired connections and supports a wider range of hardware 
• Resilient by design thanks to built-in monitoring and automatic updates for your POS hardware.

Cross-Border Profitability Insights Report

Shopify has also introduced a new Cross-Border Profitability Insights Report globally, helping merchants understand where duties, taxes and shipping adjustments are impacting margins so they can make more informed international pricing and fulfilment decisions.

Rollouts: Native experimentation capabilities built into the core workflow

Rollouts brings native experimentation capabilities directly into the platform, giving merchants the power to schedule changes, run experiments, understand buyer behaviour, and make data-informed decisions within their core workflow. By tapping into these capabilities, merchants can use real data to refine the buyer experience, improve conversion rates, and drive stronger revenue growth.

SimGym: Empowering merchants to test ideas without guesswork

SimGym is a new app being released as a research preview that uses a novel application of AI to help merchants explore the potential of their ideas through realistic simulations. Designed to give small businesses the confidence and clarity typically available to larger brands, it uses AI shopper agents with human-like profiles to model how different customers might experience a storefront, compares themes, surfaces issues, and recommends changes before launch.

Drawing on insights from billions of purchases each year, SimGym can model shopper behaviour at both broad and store-specific levels – from casual browsers to high-intent buyers – allowing merchants to run storefront changes through simulated evaluations without needing high traffic, while larger brands can gather early signals before testing with real shoppers. In summary, it reduces guesswork so merchants can focus their energy on creativity, innovation and validating the ideas that set their business apart.

AI-native dev platform: Expanding developers creative potential

Shopify’s AI native developer platform is a standout example of how AI boosts efficiency and productivity . The shift to an AI-powered development environment enables teams to build more and faster, and operate in a frictionless environment. Instead of spending resources and time on setup and tasks, teams can now move directly into building.

The platform now offers: 

• End-to-end AI support for development workflow:
  • AI agents can create dev stores, scaffold apps, run GraphQL operations and generate validated code, allowing developers to focus on architecture while AI handles setup and other repetitive tasks.
  • Dev platform allows developers to ask questions in natural language and receive working, validated code. 

Shopify has also introduced:

• MCP UI Components: Delivers centralised, interactive commerce components, such as product details and variants from MCP servers to ensure consistent, rich UIs across AI agents.
• Shopify Catalog: Enables your agent to search across hundreds of millions of products.
  • Developers can use the Shopify Catalog to enable AI agents to search product data from shops across Shopify.
  • The Shopify Catalog server lets your agent search across billions of products on behalf of a buyer.

Imagine a browser that helps keep you ahead, secures your privacy, and learns what matters to you without making things complicated or leaving you unsure about your privacy and digital safety. Norton, a leader in Cyber Safety and part of Gen, is making Norton Neo available globally for free, with no waitlist. This smart, AI-native browser, released in an early access version in May, was built from the ground up to make every day online safer, smarter, and brighter.

Norton Neo was created to make the web feel safe again in a world transformed by AI. As technology has rapidly evolved, online experiences have become noisy, overwhelming and harder to trust. Norton set out to build a browser that combines its leadership in Cyber Safety with AI innovation to bring safety, clarity and confidence back to browsing.

“Many AI browsers promise intelligence, but few deliver safety,” said Howie Xu, Chief AI and Innovation Officer at Gen. “Only Norton could build a browser that harnesses the power of AI for good while protecting you from malicious AI threats. Neo puts AI to work for you by anticipating your needs, protecting your privacy and helping keep you safe online. It redefines what an AI-native browser can be: simple, smart and safe.”

Norton Neo acts as your personal digital assistant. It proactively helps you, anticipating your needs, reducing your workload, and saving you time, without you having to constantly ask it to do things. Whether it’s quickly summarising articles, suggesting calendar reminders, or rounding up your open tabs, Neo’s “zero-prompt” approach means you never need to learn new tricks or manage a long list of commands.

What makes Neo truly special is how it combines intelligence with safety. Its Configurable Memory gives you full control: you can easily tell Neo what to remember, like details for your next big project or favorite sites and decide what to forget or turn memory off completely. All of this is managed through a simple, friendly chat, and everything Neo remembers is visible in your settings for easy editing or deletion. With Norton Web Shield blocking malicious sites and phishing attempts, Neo helps keep you protected while delivering all the value of AI in a safer, more personal way.

Norton Neo features:

• Privacy-First Security: Benefit from Norton’s leading privacy expertise, built-in ad-blocking and powerful in-flow phishing detection.
• AI Assistance: Get helpful suggestions and actions right when you need them.
• Smart Tab Management: No more tab overload. Neo groups tabs by topic to help you focus.
• Configurable Memory: You control what Neo remembers, ensuring a truly personal and private browsing experience.

This is only the beginning for Norton Neo. Just one year ago, Neo was being Alpha tested internally at Gen. Now, an early access version of Neo is now available worldwide in English language on MacOS and Windows and coming soon to additional platforms. Experience Neo and share your feedback to help Norton shape the future of safe, easy browsing. Head to neobrowser.ai for more information and to download Neo today.

Australian small businesses are being hit harder than ever by costly disruptions, with new data by leading insurance comparison site BizCover showing claims for severe weather events have almost doubled in the last three years, with power outage, fires and storm damage ranking as the top threats to operations nationwide. 

The data shows that severe weather events jumped from 9.6% in FY 2023 to 16.8% in FY 2025, with businesses typically claiming up to $39,000 in damages and as much as $200,000. 

BizCover General Manager Brad Miller says the findings highlight the mounting pressure on businesses as extreme conditions intensify. 

“Severe weather events and unexpected power outage can take a real toll on small business owners. It’s a wake-up call for businesses to assess their risk exposure and ensure they’re adequately protected against these sorts of business interruptions,” says Mr Miller. 

“Even a relatively short interruption can lead to lost revenue, supply delays and costly repairs. These are the kinds of impacts some small operators often can’t absorb without the right insurance cover in place,” he adds. 

“If you’re a retailer such as a butcher, a power outage can mean losing your cool room and thousands of dollars’ worth of stock in a matter of hours. A fire or flood could be even more devastating, potentially shutting down a business for weeks or months.” 

The new BizCover data also found:  

• From FY 2023-25, damage to buildings and contents made up 81.3% of all claims due to severe weather events with businesses typically claiming up to $53,000. While claims that came under business interruption made up 21.6%, with businesses typically claiming up to $22,000. 
• Claims for accidental property damage saw Glass claims as the biggest category, making up 72.9% of all claims from FY 2023-25, while water leak damage saw more than 90% of claims under Building and Contents. 

Mr Miller adds that businesses in Queensland and NSW were hit the hardest by weather events over the past three years, with Queensland seeing the biggest increase with severe weather events making up 20.6% of all claims, the second largest category behind theft.  

In NSW, severe weather events made up 13.3% of all business claims and in Victoria accounted for 8.2% of claims, he says. 

Latest data from the Insurance Council of Australia shows extreme weather has been responsible for a 67% increase in household and business insurance claims over the last five years.  

Mr Miller urged business owners to look beyond immediate risks and consider the broader impact of disruptions beyond their control. 

“Business insurance can act as financial protection against unexpected claims. Too many businesses underestimate their exposure or carry inadequate cover, leaving themselves vulnerable when disaster strikes,” he says. 

Top three causes of business disruption 

• Power outage: Outages can cripple operations, whether caused by storms, grid failures, or heatwave-related strain. Reliable electricity is vital across all industries – from retail and healthcare to professional services. 
• Fire: From accidental kitchen fires to electrical faults or bushfires, flames and subsequent water damage can destroy equipment and premises, sidelining businesses for months. 
• Storm damage: Strong winds, hail and flash flooding can damage stock, infrastructure, and transport links — disrupting both operations and supply chains. 

He warned that many small businesses insure against Public Liability but overlook key risks such as stock loss, property damage or loss of income. 

“It’s not just about repairing damage. It’s often about keeping your business running. 

“The right cover, including Business Interruption insurance, can help replace lost profits and support recovery after a shutdown.” 

Mr Miller added, “While many business owners have seen premiums rising, BizCover can confirm that we have seen no major price increase to our product offering. One reason that business owners often put off reviewing or purchasing insurance is because they believe it’s too expensive. But 87% of BizCover customers say they have saved money by switching to BizCover.”  

One in 10 Australian businesses with insurance now use BizCover to compare and purchase cover online with the platform serving more than 280,000 businesses.  

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, has released its 2026 Consumer Security Predictions Report, warning that the coming year will see scams reach unprecedented AI-driven scale as automation reshapes how fraudsters target victims. From synthetic relationships to multi-channel fraud journeys, cybercriminals are merging automation with emotional manipulation, creating unprecedented speed, realism, and scale.

Ashley Millar, Director of Consumer Education at Trend Micro:
“Today, AI is transforming how scams are created and delivered, making them more convincing, more prolific and harder to recognise. In fact, nearly half of Australians say they encounter AI-generated content very frequently or constantly online*, blurring the cues people once relied on to spot something suspicious. The challenge ahead is ensuring consumers have the awareness, skills and tools to verify what they see before they act, so they can protect themselves from today’s modern digital threats.”

The report highlights how AI-generated personas, deepfake media, and agentic automation are transforming global scam operations. Fraudsters can now clone voices, write personalised messages, and shift conversations across SMS, chat apps, and fake websites more efficiently than ever before. Furthermore, multi-channel scams, where victims are lured from social media or text messages into encrypted chats and fraudulent payment pages, will become the dominant pattern in 2026.

Relationship and investment scams will continue to drive the highest financial losses. AI chatbots, deepfake companions, and manipulated imagery will blur the line between real and synthetic interactions, while crypto-related investment fraud will expand through sophisticated scam-as-a-service networks. At the same time, instant payment fraud is expected to surge as criminals exploit peer-to-peer money apps and irreversible transfers.

High volume impersonation scams, including delivery, billing, and subscription renewal fraud, will remain the most common global threat. These campaigns increasingly rely on localised smishing kits and professional-grade branding, making them nearly indistinguishable from legitimate communications.

To help consumers navigate this new era of AI-driven scams, Trend Micro highlights its ScamCheck tool as a key protection layer.

ScamCheck allows users to instantly verify suspicious texts, links, social messages, and phone numbers – directly addressing the multi-channel fraud journeys outlined in the report. It analyses impersonation patterns, risky URLs, and behavioural cues commonly seen in delivery, billing, investment, and relationship scams. ScamCheck gives consumers immediate verification guidance, helping them spot AI-engineered or highly polished scams that bypass traditional forms of detection.

Trend advises consumers worldwide to adopt new “verification-first” habits as tactics evolve. AI-enhanced fraud is making older warning signs, such as poor spelling or grammar, obsolete. Instead, users must rely on identity checks, cross-channel verification, and an awareness that even convincing messages can be engineered to manipulate trust.

Trend’s 2026 consumer predictions underscore a future where scams operate as AI-scaled ecosystems. Those who stay informed, use secure-by-design platforms, and adopt modern verification practices will be best equipped to protect themselves in an increasingly deceptive digital world.

To read more about Trend Micro’s 2026 Consumer Threat Predictions, visit https://www.trendmicro.com/explore/2026-consumer-threat-predictions