E-commerce retailers plan hefty investments in agentic commerce, study finds

"Nearly 96% have invested in AI capabilities. Notably, the top applications are customer-facing, including AI-powered product discovery, AI chatbots, and personalized recommendations. Nearly half—47%—plan to invest $1 million or more into agentic commerce in the next 12 months."

"The question isn't about whether to keep humans involved; it is where in the customer journey that involvement matters most and how you design for it. Beyond revenue growth and improving the customer experience, e-commerce decisionmakers cited investing in AI for cost reduction and operational efficiency."

"Many of these agents sit in an uncomfortable middle ground, neither convincingly human nor comfortably machine. Responses can be hollow, nonsensical, or arrive too late to matter, and either way, the experience actively damages the brand it was meant to serve."

E-commerce retailers are rapidly adopting agentic commerce and AI technologies to drive revenue growth and enhance customer experience. A LogicBroker survey of over 600 enterprise leaders reveals that 96% have invested in AI capabilities, with customer-facing applications dominating adoption. Nearly 47% plan to invest $1 million or more in the next year. The approach has shifted from keeping humans in the loop on backend systems to deploying AI directly to customers. However, AI chatbots present mixed results—while customers value 24/7 availability and fast responses, they struggle with complex inquiries and often frustrate users seeking human interaction. The challenge lies in determining where human involvement matters most in the customer journey rather than whether it should exist at all.

Read at www.customerexperiencedive.com