Agentic AI is reshaping commerce by removing friction from the middle of the funnel. As shoppers delegate comparison, evaluation, and planning to AI agents, the journey from intent to action is accelerating, raising the stakes for trust, transparency, and brand presence in fewer, faster interactions.

A faster path to purchase

The biggest impact of agentic AI will come the moment a shopper decides to buy, easing the transition from intent to action.

“Agentic AI will change the top of the shopping journey first,” said Kaare Wesnaes, head of innovation for Ogilvy North America. “The moment someone decides they need something, they’ll no longer open ten tabs or read 20 reviews. They’ll ask an agent to understand their needs, scan the market, factor in price, delivery, sustainability, return policies, and previous purchases, and bring back a recommendation they can trust.”

This shift is already underway.

• 38% of consumers use AI when shopping today, and 80% expect to use it more, primarily for comparing options and getting decision support, found the IAB.
• “Agentic AI is likely to grow fastest in helping shoppers narrow choices, weigh tradeoffs, and reduce the effort involved in evaluating products,” said Collin Colburn, vice president of commerce at IAB.

Agentic AI will be especially effective at planning-oriented and repeatable decisions.

“I think agentic AI will change behavior fastest in 2026 in the ‘help me figure this out’ middle of the journey,” said Julie Towns, vice president of product marketing and product operations at Pinterest. “You’ll see the biggest impact in planning-driven, repeatable decisions: Outfits, rooms, gifting, seasonal refreshes, even weekly shopping.”

Beyond automation, agentic AI will help shoppers by remembering preferences, maintaining continuity, and improving recommendations over time.

“Shoppers will give a loose brief like ‘help me plan a coastal living room’ or ‘build outfits around these shoes,’ and the agent is expected to remember preferences, narrow choices and update suggestions over days or weeks,” Towns said.

Simplification becomes a competitive advantage

Agentic AI will continue to simplify the shopping journey, from automatic grocery replenishment to deal-finding, according to Adam Skinner, managing director of unified retail media at Epsilon.

“I am predicting that the fastest shift will occur in the mechanics of transaction and the automation of deal-finding and content generation, moving the battlefield from human attention to agent-to-agent negotiation,” he said.

The first tasks to go agentic will be those that are time-intensive but low risk.

“Agents will rapidly take over high-friction tasks: Price comparisons, credibility checks, return policy scanning, and review validation,” said Tom Burke, CEO of AtData. “Consumers won’t browse; they’ll delegate.”

Agentic is also having an effect on the overall retail landscape.

“Consumer behavior changes that took 10+ years [during the] rise of ecommerce are now transforming in 12–24 months just as dramatically, if not more,” said Megan Hoppenjans, executive director of strategy at VML, noting the fastest changes will occur around household replenishment, price comparison, and product discovery.

The limits of agentic automation

Even as momentum builds, there are still barriers to full adoption.

“Where agentic AI will still be underdeveloped through 2026 is in fully autonomous, end-to-end shopping across brands and channels, especially for high-stakes or complex purchases,” Towns said. “People will still want to stay in the loop for big decisions and for anything that touches identity, health or finances.”

Trust remains the biggest obstacle.

• Only 46% of shoppers fully trust AI recommendations today, and 89% still check the information before buying, according to IAB.
• In addition, 88% of shoppers want clear sourcing, 87% want verified reviews, and 75% want to understand how AI responses are generated.
• “Agentic AI will drive product discovery in 2026, but trust will determine whether it also drives transactions,” said Colburn.

Some categories will remain particularly resistant to automation.

“Where this will remain underdeveloped is in categories where the decision isn’t about correctness, it’s about identity,” Wesnaes said. “The head will automate quickly; the heart will take longer.”

Even as agents improve, human curation still matters. “AI isn’t replacing human curation for complex or aspirational purchases,” said Matt Grandchamp, vice president of sales at NowThis. “That allows us as marketers to continue building consumer relationships through our work.”

This was originally featured in the Retail Daily newsletter. For more retail insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.