"For the past decade, it seems that while technology has become increasingly advanced, the online shopping experience has remained largely the same: endless scrolling, reviews we don't fully trust and price comparisons that often create more confusion than clarity. Despite improvements in logistics and payments, the core workflow-search, scroll, compare, repeat-has barely evolved. With the rise of A.I., that equilibrium is finally breaking."
"The rise of A.I.-native shopping, accelerated and exemplified by the first truly agentic holiday shopping season, has made one thing clear: it's no longer enough for brands to optimize for human shoppers alone. They must also optimize for the A.I. agents that increasingly discover, compare, validate and transact on those shoppers' behalf. Retail has acquired a new operating system, and it's powered by agency rather than search."
For the past decade online shopping workflows remained dominated by search, scrolling and manual comparison despite advances in logistics and payments. A.I. systems now interpret intent, synthesize options and act on behalf of consumers, creating a departure from static catalogs and keyword searches. Agentic commerce replaces the search-scroll-compare workflow with merchant-guided, intent-driven journeys that cut browsing time, reduce decision fatigue and raise conversion rates. Brands must optimize for A.I. agents that discover, compare, validate and transact for shoppers. Consumers frequently abandon baskets—74 percent reported doing so recently because they felt bombarded, overwhelmed and frustrated—making delegation to agents a practical remedy.
Read at Observer
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