A new generation of AI might be stepping directly into the role of the shopper. This is the promise of agentic AI: autonomous digital agents that can not only search, inform, compare, decide, and plan, but also act in the real world! In a few years, agentic AI systems in retail could be executing purchases, making payments, booking services, and managing transactions on behalf of the user. This could automate the entire purchasing journey. Agentic AI can initiate an order, fill in personal data, complete checkouts, and even handle post-purchase tasks like tracking or reordering.
The race to build, integrate, or power this new layer of commerce is heating up. In just the past few months, from April to June 2025, several major players like Walmart, Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Perplexity have announced their moves in the realm of agentic commerce.