What: AI shopping agents are transforming retail by automating the consumer journey and shifting power from retailers to digital intermediaries.

Why it is important: The rapid adoption of AI shopping agents underscores the necessity for retailers to build robust operational foundations and embrace generative experience optimization to remain competitive.

Agentic commerce is rapidly redefining the retail landscape as AI shopping agents become central to the consumer journey, automating everything from product discovery to payment and delivery. This shift is fundamentally altering how consumers interact with retailers, as AI agents embedded in platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini increasingly mediate purchasing decisions and erode direct customer relationships and brand loyalty. The rise of these agents is pushing retailers toward a new reality where traditional e-commerce websites and homepage-centric strategies are losing relevance, replaced by algorithmic mediation and data-driven engagement models. As a result, retailers face significant risks of disintermediation, with tech giants and AI platforms controlling access to consumers and diminishing the value of first-party data. To remain competitive, retailers must invest in generative experience optimization and generative paid media, shifting from SEO to strategies that prioritize visibility within AI-driven ecosystems. The urgency to develop proprietary AI-driven customer experiences and robust operational foundations is underscored by the rapid adoption of generative AI, with leading retailers reporting notable gains in revenue and efficiency. Looking ahead, the evolution toward agent-to-agent commerce—where autonomous AI agents transact with minimal human involvement—demands that retailers adapt swiftly, recalibrating their digital strategies and ensuring their platforms are optimized for both human and machine interactions. 

IADS Notes: Recent industry analysis from September and October 2025 confirms that agentic commerce is shifting power structures in retail, with AI agents automating transactions and redefining consumer relationships. Reports highlight that 38% of global consumers are already using AI shopping tools, and 87% of retailers implementing generative AI have seen at least a 6% increase in revenue. The transition is validated by major retailers like Walmart and Amazon, who are actively reinventing their strategies to remain visible in AI-mediated commerce. The need for robust standards of trust and transparency, as well as the importance of generative engine optimization, is emphasized across multiple sources, with Target and other leaders preparing for agent-to-agent commerce and contextual product discovery. These developments collectively demonstrate that the window for retailers to lead in this new era is rapidly closing, making strategic adaptation an urgent imperative.

Agentic commerce is redefining retail—Here’s how to respond