The world of e-commerce is evolving fast, with tech giants like Amazon, Google, Walmart, OpenAI, and Shopify all vying to create AI shopping assistants that can handle purchases for you. In this shifting landscape, the winner won’t just attract traffic – they’ll control the customer journey from start to finish.
Today’s focus is on ‘agentic shopping,’ where AI not only recommends products but also completes transactions autonomously. Retailers that master this approach will guide every step of the shopping experience, from product discovery to building lasting loyalty.
However, tapping into this potential isn’t without its challenges. To fuel these innovations, companies need access to vast amounts of retail data. Yet, sharing this data can dilute direct consumer connections—a risk that makes many firms act defensively rather than leaping headfirst into adoption. Consider Amazon’s recent move to block Google’s Mariner shopping bot and pull its ads; it’s a clear sign of a broader strategy to keep competitors at bay.
At the same time, Amazon is not standing still. It’s developing its own suite of AI tools, like the Rufus shopping assistant and features for in-app purchases from other retailers, ensuring it stays ahead in the race. Shopify is updating its terms, insisting on human oversight in transactions while also advancing its own agent-driven marketplace. Meanwhile, Walmart, OpenAI, and Google are busy enhancing their AI offerings—Google, for example, has integrated an ‘AI Mode’ into its search platform, potentially reshaping how we shop online.
The industry is shifting from merely blocking competitor bots to negotiating controlled data access through secure APIs and emerging standards like the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which companies like Shopify and Microsoft have already embraced. This move could grant firms like Amazon and Google a competitive edge, giving them exclusive insights into consumer behaviour.
If you’ve ever struggled to keep your tech strategies up to date, these developments offer a clear call to action: reexamine your API policies, prepare for new attribution models, and reinforce your approach to AI. The future of retail hinges on these proactive steps.
This transition to agentic shopping isn’t just a technical upgrade—it’s a fundamental shift in how we connect with consumers. The change may be gradual, but its impact will be lasting, much like the rise of the search engine and digital marketplace eras.
