Deloitte 2026 Retail Outlook: 66% of Retailers Plan to Restructure Their Supply Chains This Year

Retail supply chains are about to undergo the most aggressive restructuring in a generation. That's not speculation—it's data from 330 global retail executives surveyed by Deloitte for their 2026 Retail Industry Global Outlook.

The headline number is staggering: 66% of retail respondents plan to restructure their supply chains through onshoring, nearshoring, and diversifying their supplier base if input costs rise in 2026. And with 95% of retailers expecting operating costs to increase this year due to global trade regulations, the "if" is quickly becoming "when."

This isn't gradual optimization. It's wholesale transformation—and it's happening now.

Why Two-Thirds of Retailers Are Rebuilding Their Supply Chains

The urgency behind these numbers stems from a convergence of forces that have made the status quo untenable.

Tariff exposure has become existential. U.S. trade policy shifts have upended cost structures for retailers dependent on single-source imports. Retailers that built their supply chains around low-cost Chinese manufacturing now face tariff regimes that can erase thin retail margins overnight. The Deloitte survey reflects an industry that's done waiting for policy certainty—they're moving regardless.

Consumer value perception is eroding. According to Deloitte's ConsumerSignals data, 47% of global consumers are now classified as "value seekers"—people who regularly make cost-conscious, deal-driven purchasing decisions. Even 35% of high-income households fall into this category. When consumers are hyper-focused on value, retailers simply cannot pass along inflated supply chain costs without losing volume.

The competitive landscape punishes rigidity. Deloitte's analysis is blunt: organizations over-optimized for scale in the old globalization paradigm "will likely have a harder time competing." The winners in 2026 will be nimble operators who can rapidly shift capability and capital as conditions change.

The Three Restructuring Strategies Retailers Are Deploying

The 66% figure breaks down into three primary approaches, and most retailers are pursuing multiple strategies simultaneously.

Onshoring: Bringing Production Home

Domestic production insulates retailers from both tariff risk and extended lead times. While labor costs are higher, the elimination of cross-border complexity, duties, and 30-to-60-day ocean transit times can offset the premium—especially for seasonal and trend-sensitive merchandise where speed-to-shelf determines sell-through rates.

Nearshoring: The Mexico and Central America Play

Nearshoring to Latin America offers a middle path: lower labor costs than domestic production, USMCA trade advantages, and dramatically shorter supply chains than trans-Pacific sourcing. According to Supply Chain Brain's analysis of tariff-driven restructuring, major retailers like Walmart have already diversified their supplier base to reduce single-country dependency, with cross-border trucking from Mexico becoming a critical logistics corridor—even as border delays have risen by 15%.

Supplier Diversification: The Southeast Asia and India Expansion

Perhaps the most far-reaching shift is the migration of sourcing beyond China to Southeast Asia and India. Deloitte's companion 2026 Consumer Products Industry Outlook found that 7 in 10 consumer product executives see high-growth opportunities in geographies beyond their traditional markets, with Southeast Asia and India as the top destinations for investment in distribution, digital, and e-commerce initiatives.

This isn't just about cost arbitrage. It's about building layered sourcing networks—what industry analysts call "China-plus" strategies—that blend domestic, nearshore, and diversified Asian sourcing to create resilience across multiple disruption scenarios.

The Technology Gap That Could Derail Restructuring

Here's the uncomfortable truth buried in the optimism: restructuring supply chains at this scale requires technology infrastructure that most retailers don't yet have.

Moving from a single-source, single-route supply chain to a multi-origin, multi-modal network exponentially increases complexity. Retailers need real-time visibility across suppliers in Vietnam, factories in Mexico, warehouses in the U.S., and last-mile delivery networks—all simultaneously.

The Deloitte report highlights that AI and predictive logistics are essential enablers of this transformation. Without intelligent routing, automated compliance documentation, and dynamic cost modeling, retailers will simply trade one set of supply chain problems for another.

Consider the compliance dimension alone: a retailer sourcing from five countries instead of one must now manage five sets of trade regulations, customs requirements, and documentation standards. Add UFLPA forced labor compliance, FSMA food safety traceability, and shifting tariff schedules, and the administrative burden can overwhelm manual processes.

What the Consumer Products Companion Report Reveals

The retail restructuring story becomes even more compelling when read alongside Deloitte's consumer products outlook. The CPG industry faces parallel pressures, with all surveyed executives taking at least one adaptive action in response to deglobalization.

Key findings from the consumer products report:

• Over half of CPG respondents expect to raise prices due to international trade policies, with 52% worried that price increases could result in lost sales volume or market share
• Two-thirds of companies are pursuing joint ventures and partnerships rather than acquisitions to explore new markets—a lower-risk approach to geographic diversification
• Half of respondents plan to rationalize SKUs, simplifying portfolios to reduce supply chain complexity while focusing on higher-margin categories

The message is consistent across both reports: the era of optimizing a single, global supply chain is ending. What's replacing it is a more fragmented, more resilient, and significantly more complex multi-regional network.

What This Means for Logistics Operators

For third-party logistics providers, freight brokers, and transportation companies, the retail restructuring wave creates both massive opportunity and operational challenge.

Lane diversity will explode. Shippers that previously moved containers from Shenzhen to Long Beach will soon need multimodal routing from Ho Chi Minh City, Chennai, Monterrey, and domestic manufacturing hubs. Logistics providers need systems that can optimize across this expanded network in real time.

Compliance complexity multiplies. Every new origin country adds customs documentation, trade agreement verification, and regulatory compliance requirements. Manual processes that worked for single-origin supply chains will collapse under the weight of multi-country sourcing.

Speed becomes the differentiator. With 47% of consumers classified as value seekers, retailers cannot afford the margin erosion of inefficient supply chains. Logistics partners that deliver faster transit times, fewer exceptions, and lower landed costs will capture the restructuring business.

How CXTMS Supports Retail Supply Chain Restructuring

CXTMS was built for exactly this moment—when supply chains stop being simple and start being strategic.

Our multi-modal transportation management platform gives retailers and their logistics partners the visibility and control they need to manage restructured supply chains across multiple origins, modes, and regulatory environments. From automated customs documentation and trade compliance workflows to real-time shipment tracking across ocean, air, rail, and truck—CXTMS turns supply chain complexity into competitive advantage.

Ready to restructure your retail supply chain with confidence? Request a CXTMS demo and see how our platform simplifies multi-origin logistics management for the new era of retail.