Editorial
The Gist
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Payments get smarter. Agentic AI allows bots to make purchases securely with tokenized payments. This helps shift trust and control dynamics in ecommerce.
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Search gets rewritten. Brands must optimize product data for AI agents as discovery shifts from SEO to intent-driven automation.
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CX gets invisible. Agentic AI compresses the entire buying journey into a seamless background process.
As much as agentic AI promises to make our lives easier, delegating tasks and errands is certainly not new. Even in our mobile-first, app-based reality, you can use Instacart for your groceries, Stitch Fix for your wardrobe, Uber to get driven to your next destination and countless other apps to get other people to help you get things done.
Yet all of those things still involve people to fulfill your requests. Shopping, planning and nearly everything else are gaining a whole new level of automation. This comes from deeper integration and the introduction of agentic AI into even the most complex and security-critical tasks we perform.
The recent developments in the payments space illustrate this well. Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have recently introduced agentic AI functionality so that software agents can swipe a “card” as easily as a human thumb‑printing a phone. For retail brands, the clock is ticking. Whoever serves these bots first will capture the carts they fill on behalf of their human customers.
Let’s look at three ways that agentic AI is going to transform the ecommerce buying experience.
Table of Contents
- Rethinking Payments for AI Buyers
- Getting Products Ready for AI Discovery
- Designing for the Post-Purchase Bot Journey
- Steps Retailers Should Take Now
Rethinking Payments for AI Buyers
First, let's discuss the biggest change that agentic AI payments introduce from a customer perspective. That’s handing over your payment information to an AI agent. Technologies such as Visa’s Intelligent Commerce and Mastercard’s Agent Pay create 16‑digit network tokens (think prepaid cards with parental controls) that an AI agent uses across the web without exposing details like credit card numbers or other PII.
While some shoppers may bristle at this idea, it can be a win-win from a convenience and security standpoint. Consumers can cap a bot’s weekly “allowance,” whether that’s total spend or on a specific list of items such as groceries.
Shoppers can also review an audit trail that shows every purchase the software made. Peace of mind replaces the low‑grade anxiety that has long haunted card‑on‑file commerce that doesn’t have the same types of protections.
Retailer Readiness for Tokenized Payments
What does this mean for retailers? This shift calls for several key implementations to support a seamless process. Checkout flows must be updated to accommodate the new token format and to surface agent-level permissions such as spend ceilings and stock keeping unit (SKU) categories. Creating data loops is also essential; receipt data should be fed back instantly so agents can reconcile budgets without guesswork. At the same time, fraud strategies need to be rethought. While chargeback risks may decrease, the intolerance for even a single false decline will rise.
While this may feel like a big shift for consumers, there have been small steps toward this already. Whether it’s digital wallets, saved payment sources or delegating shopping needs to less automated apps and processes, the next logical step is to allow agentic payments. Increased transparency and control make this even more compelling.
Getting Products Ready for AI Discovery
The next aspect is one that is fundamentally changing the way that brands are reaching their potential and current customers. While search engine optimization has played a key role in driving awareness and even repeat purchases, the rapid growth of AI-generated search results within platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT and even Google are changing the way customers discover products and services.
With the introduction of agentic AI and AI-based shoppers, the marketing funnel will shift from a predominantly human, keyword‑based search to include a greater focus on agent intent optimization (AIO), which means feeding AI-based integrations the richest possible product attributes so they can satisfy a shopper’s request (i.e., “vegan leather sneakers, size 9, under $120, carbon‑neutral shipping”).
Agentic AI Capabilities Transforming ECommerce
How autonomous AI is redefining the buying journey from discovery to post-purchase.
| Capability | What It Does | Impact on Customer Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Tokenized AI Payments | Enables bots to transact using secure, permission-based payment tokens | Delivers security and control without exposing personal financial data |
| Agent-Led Product Discovery | Uses AI-generated results to surface products based on shopper intent, not keywords | Shifts search from SEO to relevance-driven automation |
| Autonomous Shopping Assistants | Automates product selection, purchase and returns with little to no user input | Removes friction from routine purchases, saving customers time |
| Real-Time Trust Fabric | Validates agent identity, supports real-time cancellations, explains decisions | Builds trust and transparency in autonomous transactions |
| Audit Trails & Spend Controls | Allows customers to cap spending and review agent purchases post-facto | Replaces anxiety with oversight and accountability |
How AI Changes the Buyer’s Journey
The buyer’s journey will be forever changed by this change. While people shopping for themselves will likely never go away completely, the idea that a consumer could brief a bot once and outsource time-consuming searching, browsing and shopping behaviors, particularly for the more mundane items on their list, will win many shoppers over quickly.
For brands, this means that having their products show at the top of a Google search isn’t quite the prize it used to be. Instead, they need their SKU on bots’ short lists to remain relevant.
Preparing Product Data for Agent Discovery
Retailers will need to take steps here to make sure they are as agent-optimized as they are currently search-optimized. This includes investing in product‑information hygiene by creating exhaustive attributes, standardized taxonomy and plain‑language “why buy” notes an agent can quote back to a shopper. They’ll also need to expose their inventory and price APIs to make sure that recommendations incorporating their products stay current. Lastly, brands should focus on the details by tagging sustainability, warranty and fit‑and‑feel data, as many agents will rank based on sustainability or the likelihood of returns.
Related Article: Is AI Your New Shopping Buddy?
Designing for the Post-Purchase Bot Journey
Because of its highly autonomous nature, agentic commerce collapses discovery, comparison, payment and even returns into a single behind‑the‑scenes flow while the consumer is able to sit back and do something else.
In this scenario, consumers will come to value time over price in many cases. While some decisions may always be most influenced by price, when consumers are able to benefit from time savings and convenience, their loyalty is likely to shift to whichever merchant makes their agent’s work the easiest.
New Security Standards for Autonomous Commerce
Brands accustomed to the current set of security and risk mitigation standards will quickly be introduced to a whole new set of protocols. For instance, payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard are insisting on a trust fabric that verifies agents, explains decisions and supports real‑time cancellation. This is critical in a fast-paced environment.
Building Agent-Friendly Post-Purchase Journeys
Retailers will need to rethink some of what they currently have in place and approach it with an agentic mindset. This includes publishing post‑purchase status hooks such as shipping updates, estimated arrival times and exchange labels that agents can poll without scraping customer email confirmations. Policies also need to be machine readable. Everything that typically appears in the fine print, including refund windows, warranty terms and sustainability scores, must now be agent-friendly so the agent can justify its choices and make sure decisions align with the human buyer's requirements. Transparent recourse paths are also essential. That means building dispute APIs and providing clear human override options to build the transparency that agents need to recommend your brand over countless others.
Related Article: AI Transparency and Ethics: Building Customer Trust in AI Systems
Backend Actions CX Leaders Must Prioritize for Agentic AI
Steps brands should take now to accommodate autonomous AI shoppers.
| Action Area | What to Do | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout & Payment Systems | Enable network-issued agent tokens and support spend ceilings and SKUs | Ensures smooth, secure transactions for AI agents |
| Product Information Management | Standardize taxonomy, attribute depth and plain-language summaries | Optimizes product visibility for intent-based AI queries |
| Inventory & Pricing APIs | Expose real-time inventory and pricing data to agents | Keeps agent recommendations accurate and up-to-date |
| Post-Purchase Integration | Publish machine-readable updates, returns and policy terms | Supports seamless agent follow-through after checkout |
| Compliance & Risk Management | Adapt fraud strategy, build dispute APIs, align with emerging trust protocols | Reduces false declines and meets evolving AI commerce standards |
Steps Retailers Should Take Now
With all of these potential opportunities and challenges introduced with agentic AI in e-commerce, there are many potential starting points. Let’s look at a few things that retailers can do in the months ahead to prepare.
Start by getting your platform ready. Determine if your current checkout platform can already accept network-issued agent tokens. If it can’t, consider what it would take to make that happen. Next, get your products ready. Audit your product catalog to understand every attribute a human shopper can quickly identify. This will help clarify how AI agents will interpret your catalog.
Mapping the Post-Purchase Path
Plan ahead to smooth the journey for both agents and customers. Map the post-purchase path to identify where an agent might get stuck today and how those blockers could be removed. Finally, stay one step ahead of potential risks. Stay current on compliance and best practices, as this is a fast-moving space. The payments industry may be subject to shifting regulations and security best practices, and providers such as Visa and Mastercard are expected to formalize trust protocols soon.
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The Competitive Edge of Acting Now
Retailers that take the next step to adopt agentic AI to complete purchases while reducing or eliminating friction within the process will emerge as winners in the next race to improve the buyer’s journey. Brands that hesitate may discover that future shopping carts are filled long before they even realize a bot has already walked through the (virtual) door.
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