Independent Retail in the Age of AI: Lessons from Spring Fair 2026

Spring Fair 2026, one message cut through the noise for independent retailers: the path to purchase is no longer linear, and pretending it is could be costing you sales. 

In two exclusive sessions at the show, Google trainer Kirstie Kavanagh unpacked what she calls the “messy middle”, the complex, looping journey modern consumers take before they buy. With shoppers navigating up to 30 touchpoints before making a decision, she argued that success today isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about thinking smarter. 

Blending behavioural psychology, free digital tools and practical AI strategies, Kavanagh showed how independent retailers can compete, and win, in an increasingly crowded online marketplace. 

The Messy Middle: Understanding Modern Consumer Behaviour 

The traditional path to purchase has fundamentally changed. With almost 85% of UK consumers shopping online and digital habits permanently shifted post-pandemic, retailers can no longer simply build a website and hope customers find them.  

Think with Google’s research into the “messy middle” shows that it’s not just platforms that have evolved, but behaviour. Search queries have become more complex and intent-driven. As Kavanagh explained: “We’ve gone from pink trainers to how can I find a sustainable pair of pink trainers where the material has Gore-Tex.” 

The rise of AI-powered search features has further transformed how people discover businesses. Kavanagh noted that many consumers now use AI tools like Gemini or ChatGPT the way they would use a search engine, asking questions like "how do I do this? Where can I buy that?" 

The Psychology of Purchase: Five Triggers Every Retailer Must Know 

Kavanagh dedicated significant time to behavioural science principles that influence online purchasing. The five psychological triggers she outlined were: 

Social proof remains critical. For businesses exhibiting at homeware trade shows or operating in wholesale housewares, gathering and responding to reviews is essential.  

Authority bias leverages accreditations, partnerships, and industry recognition. However, Kavanagh warned against passive display of credentials, questioning how potential customers are being told about authority rather than just "sticking it in the footer of your website and hoping people see it because they scroll that far." 

The power of free centres on being genuinely helpful. Kavanagh cited HubSpot as an example, explaining that they "give out a lot of content that is useful for a business that isn't even big enough yet to subscribe to that CRM system." She clarified: "It's not always about a free gift, but sometimes it's about how helpful are you." 

The power of now reveals a psychological quirk about postage. Kavanagh explained: "We are more likely to pay more as a total fee if it says free postage and packaging.” 

Scarcity bias drives urgency. Using Booking.com as an example, Kavanagh illustrated how platforms use messages like "there is one room in this hotel left. Book it now." She noted the human reaction: "What do we do when we see it? We don't want to miss out." 

Essential Free Tools for Understanding Your Market 

Kavanagh highlighted free tools that independent retailers often overlook. 

Google Trends helps retailers understand not just what people search for, but when. In one example, searches for a sleep consultant consistently peaked between 2.30am and 4am. Instead of ignoring that data, the brand leaned into it, creating a “3am Club” content feature that directly addressed its audience’s real-world behaviour. 

“This builds into everything you do: your social content, your emails, your advertising,” she said. Even simple insights about timing and language can improve budget efficiency. 

Google Search Console, which she called “the forgotten cousin”, provides insight into organic search performance, site speed and mobile usability. “Ads are for your ads. Analytics is for your website data. Search Console is about how you appear in search,” she explained. 

Social Media Strategy: Moving Beyond Vanity Metrics 

Kavanagh shared a personal anecdote that illustrated the danger of focusing on vanity metrics. She posted a Marilyn Monroe filter on Instagram with the caption "Do I look like Marilyn Monroe or the drag queen from Shrek?  

The result? 

"50 million views and endless comments." But she asked: "Did it get me more work? Absolutely not. Nothing to do with what I do." Her point was clear: "It's not about followers. It's not about getting all the likes, going viral. It's about impact in your business." 

It’s all about measurement beyond surface metrics. She instructed: "When you measure those metrics, those likes, those shares, those comments, really what you want to then look at is over that same period of time what else has happened in your business further down the funnel. Otherwise, you fall into the trap of measuring just what we call vanity metrics and actually the impact is more important." 

Kavanagh encouraged detective work: "If you have had a really great campaign on whatever social platform you've chosen to do and it's gone really well and the metrics are super high and then you look down that funnel, you think, well, we've been getting loads of comments, loads of shares, loads of likes, new followers, but when we come down to sales, we've not had any increase. Your job as the detective, what's missing?" 

Google Analytics: Making Sense of Your Data 

Kavanagh addressed a common frustration about Google Analytics. When she asked who "opens Google Analytics and every time they open it know exactly what they want and where to go to find that information," only one person raised their hand. "It's interesting, isn't it? Because it's a tool that we've all heard of, but when it comes to actually using it, we sort of know it's useful, but we don't know how." 

She outlined the Life Cycle reporting structure, explaining it through the traditional marketing funnel. Using the framework of "See, think, do, care," she broke down the four reports: 

"Acquisition: if you are trying to answer the question how did my customers find me that is going to be an acquisition top of the funnel how did they see me." 

"Engagement: everything in engagement is going to answer that question, when they found me what did they do and is the consideration phase of your funnel." 

"Monetisation: it's the action. It's the do part of your sales funnel. And you're answering the question, what's bringing value into my business? What are people buying? What are they clicking?" 

"Retention sits within that care and it's answering the question, how are people coming back? When are they coming back?" 

On the AI features, she noted: "Google Analytics 4 is built with machine learning from the ground up. What that means for you in a practical sense is now you can use the AI powered search bar to look for very specific things. So just like a search engine, you can say how many people are on an iPhone in the past seven days and then it will find you that report using AI and based on your information in your account." 

Core Principles for Digital Success 

Throughout both sessions, Kavanagh emphasised three core principles for digital presence. 

Be helpful: She stressed the importance of focusing on humans. "Far too many times, I have a lot of people come to me and say, 'Oh, but I just need to write for a search engine or more recently, I need to write for AI.'  

Remember, the purpose of all of those tools, the purpose of those tools is to provide the most relevant, most useful information to you as a user. So, it doesn't matter how you're writing. We're not writing for machines. We're writing for human queries on the other side of the machine." 

On algorithms, she was blunt: "That dreaded word, the algorithm. If you meet any gurus and they say, 'Oh, I'll help you beat the algorithm.' Tell them where to go because algorithms change hourly, daily. We're not beating any algorithms here. We're writing for humans on the other side." 

Be easy to use: Technical requirements matter. She referenced usertesting.com as a resource, explaining: "You can sign up, they'll pay you to do it as well. Just do one thing as a user tester and understand what you are asked to look for on an app or a website and then do that for yourself. Because if people go on your website and they can't find the navigation, they can't find the returns policy, there's so many simple things. If they can't do what they need to do on your website, how are you making a connection?" 

Be up to date: She emphasised consistency. "Long gone are the days of build a site and they will come put it up there and they'll find me. Doesn't work like that. It is a consistent cycle of work and it's a lot of work." 

Key Takeaways for Retailers 

Kavanagh left attendees with specific homework assignments. 

On platform audits, she instructed: "Go away and look at all the platforms that you're on for your business and next to each platform write why you're there. And if you struggle why you're there," she reminded them of the time riddle, emphasising that if you can't write why you're there, "think of all that time you could be putting strategically elsewhere in your business." 

On experimentation, she was encouraging: "Your imagination is your restriction here. I talk a lot about divergent thinking." She referenced children's curiosity, noting they "ask something like 120 questions a day when they're about five." Her challenge: "Can you tap back into that? Because as we get older, we sort of lose that. We lose that ability to just be, to just ask, to be curious. But what AI is allowing us to do is just that." 

She emphasised safe experimentation: "If you can release that restriction and just ask why, why did you come to the output? What if I tried this and go wild? If it doesn't work, it's in your own space. You haven't put it on your socials. The experimentation is the biggest part of getting to use some of these tools. And that's how you're going to get better at them."