What: Startups and tech giants are competing to make AI shopping agents a mainstream part of the consumer e-commerce experience.

Why it is important: The shift to AI-driven shopping experiences reflects growing consumer demand for personalisation and seamless automation, validated by recent adoption data.

AI-powered shopping agents are rapidly emerging as a transformative force in online retail, with both startups and established technology leaders striving to make these autonomous tools a staple of the consumer experience. These agents promise to revolutionize e-commerce by offering highly personalised product recommendations and even completing purchases on behalf of users, aiming to replicate the tailored service of in-store shopping. While major players like Google, OpenAI, and Perplexity are integrating such features into their platforms, a new generation of startups is developing proprietary agents with advanced capabilities, such as scanning virtual closets or matching celebrity styles. Despite significant investor interest and technological progress, the widespread adoption of AI shopping agents faces hurdles, particularly in building consumer trust and overcoming satisfaction with existing shopping habits. The technical demands of integrating these agents—requiring robust data infrastructure and seamless user experiences—remain a barrier, with only a small percentage of retailers achieving scalable success. As the industry evolves, the ability to deliver both personalization and operational excellence will determine which platforms become indispensable to consumers.

IADS Notes: The rapid emergence of AI-powered shopping agents is fundamentally transforming the retail landscape, as both startups and established tech giants race to deliver more personalized and autonomous online shopping experiences. This shift is validated by industry reports from January 2025 (“AI agents to reshape finding and buying products online,” BoF), February 2025 (“How autonomous AI shopping agents will transform retail,” Forbes), and March 2025 (“How AI-driven hyper-personalisation is transforming retail,” Inside Retail), which highlight how companies like Perplexity, Amazon, and OpenAI are leading the way in developing agents that can autonomously manage complex shopping tasks, with 32% of consumer goods companies already implementing generative AI for end-to-end automation. Investor enthusiasm is evident, as 87% of companies adopting AI have reported revenue increases of at least 6% (“AI agents are here. What now?,” Hugging Face, January 2025), and the drive for hyper-personalisation is now seen as essential, with 71% of consumers expecting tailored interactions. However, widespread consumer adoption remains a challenge, as many shoppers are still unaware of AI’s role in their retail journeys and cite satisfaction with current methods as a barrier (“Retailers face trust challenges as generative AI becomes more integrated,” Retail Dive, November 2024). The technical complexity of deploying these agents is significant, with only 10% of retailers successfully scaling their AI applications due to persistent infrastructure and data integration hurdles (“Laying the tech foundation for GenAI success,” BCG, December 2024; “Seizing the agentic AI advantage,” McKinsey, July 2025), reinforcing the necessity for comprehensive transformation and robust technical foundations.

What it will take for consumers to let AI shop for them