The news: Walmart introduced tools to help customers shop through AI agents and make it easier for those agents to operate on its platform. The retailer also laid out clearer guidelines for what AI agents can and cannot do within its ecosystem.

The details: Starting next month, shoppers will be able to create agent profiles to better distinguish such purchases from their own. Customers will be able to authorize each individual AI agent via dedicated profiles within their account, allowing them to see each agent’s purchases and determine how much autonomy—if any—to allow. Shoppers can require approval for each purchase or permit agents to make transactions below a predetermined spending limit.

Walmart’s guidelines emphasize that customers are in the driver’s seat, and agents can only take action as directed by the shopper. Agents are also blocked from accessing or changing customers’ payment information and any other data irrelevant to their assigned task. Those that don’t follow Walmart’s terms risk being barred from the retailer’s site.

Having stricter controls could give shoppers more confidence in outsourcing purchases to agents. US consumers place greater importance on controlling AI shopping agents and reviewing and approving purchases than on the potential money or time savings that such tools can provide, according to Synchrony’s 2026 AI in Commerce Study.

Zoom out: Walmart is also making sure its website is equipped to handle the needs of AI agents, which have different requirements than human shoppers. The retailer’s new “Walmart Agent Gateway” uses a model text protocol (MCP) to give agents a faster, more reliable way to shop. The gateway limits the amount of customer data agents have access to, giving them just enough information—such as frequently ordered products—to carry out tasks without revealing a shopper’s entire purchase history or other personal information.

Still in its beta stage, Walmart Agent Gateway could become one of the company’s most critical investments. As agentic adoption grows, retailers will have to find ways to appeal to the LLMs themselves—a significant challenge, given their black-box nature. Features like the gateway that help make websites more accessible and readable to agents can enhance AI visibility and deliver a smoother shopping experience, which in turn could help shoppers overcome their hesitance to use agentic tools.

Recommendations for retailers: Agentic commerce adoption may still be in its infancy, but retailers need to make sure they can offer shoppers a consistent experience regardless of how they choose to shop—and who they delegate to make the purchase.

Ensure the website experience is optimized for AI agents. The surge of interest in Meta’s Muse shows that more consumers are open to using agents to shop, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg noting that shopping is currently the most common use case for Muse. Retailers that don’t foster agent-driven purchases risk losing sales to those that do.

Have clear guidelines for agents. Retailers, brands, and payment providers need to clearly define responsibility for agentic purchases and set up guardrails to prevent unauthorized transactions and protect sensitive data.

Make it easy for customers to manage their agents. Giving consumers more control over the agentic buying experience—such as the ability to introduce spending limits and require approval over purchases—can help increase trust in the overall experience, as well as reduce the risk of rogue activity.