Amazon blocked several OpenAI-affiliated crawlers from accessing its site, a move first reported by ecommerce analyst Juozas Kaziukėnas. That marks the retailer’s latest attempt to keep third-party agents from encroaching on its turf and endangering ad revenues. Amazon’s insistence on keeping AI agents at bay is the right move for the company for the time being. Adoption is minimal for now, hampered by trust issues, clunky UX, and minimal merchant participation. However, the gates will have to open at some point—and the longer Amazon waits, the more ground it cedes to rivals like Walmart.

In earnings calls from retail leaders, one of the biggest shared signals is that AI shopping assistants are becoming the new front door of the customer journey. Whether the retailer is in grocery, fashion, or general merchandise, conversational search is now the organizing principle for discovery.

Future-proofing against—and capitalizing on—advances in consumer-facing AI will be the overarching theme for retailers in 2026.

Amazon quietly introduced agentic shopping capabilities to its Rufus chatbot last week. Customers can now ask Rufus to monitor products and make a purchase when an item reaches a target price or discount level. Amazon’s “Auto Buy” feature could make Rufus more useful for deal-seeking shoppers this holiday season—provided they know the option exists and trust the chatbot’s accuracy. Over the long term, adding more agentic features to Rufus—which has been used by 250 million active customers this year alone—could enable Amazon to satisfy shoppers’ desire for AI assistance without ceding ground to platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity.

Google is adding agentic checkout to its shopping capabilities in time for the holiday season, alongside other genAI tools. These updates defend Google’s core search ad business as shopping queries move toward conversational interfaces, even as the company still dominates the search journey. They also position Google to benefit from increased genAI adoption this holiday season.

Automation, new commerce models, and a fresh generation of consumers are transforming the rules of connection and creativity. Explore the 11 trends shaping the digital future.

OpenAI’s push into commerce took a major step forward with the launch of in-app shopping on ChatGPT, though it will take time to gain traction as a meaningful retail sales channel.

Amazon is suing Perplexity, seeking to stop its Comet agentic AI browser from shopping on users’ behalf. Amazon alleges that Comet violates its terms of service and degrades the Amazon shopping experience. Perplexity called Amazon's actions a "bully tactic" and argued the company should appreciate agentic AI’s ability to make shopping easier. Amazon’s suit against Perplexity could become an important test case that helps define the limits for agentic AI and the actions retailers can take to protect themselves—at least temporarily—from the intrusion of AI agents. However, it will not stop AI agents from gaining traction in ecommerce.

Instacart has launched a new suite of AI-powered tools aimed at helping grocers deliver more personalized and efficient shopping experiences both in-store and online. The rollout includes features like Cart Assistant for customized recommendations, Store View for real-time shelf monitoring, and Agentic Analytics for data-driven insights. Instacart’s bet is that the more it can use emerging technologies to simplify life for both grocery shoppers and retailers, the stickier its platform will become.

Retail is on the brink of a digital sea change as agentic commerce slowly makes its way onto consumer-facing platforms.

Fintechs, big tech, and payment players are using genAI to redefine finance. To compete, banks must pair strategic genAI investment with hyper-personalization and human support to earn customer trust and loyalty.

PayPal deepened its commitment to agentic AI with two new partnerships, per press releases. PayPal’s been bullish on agentic technologies. To date, it’s struck partnerships with Perplexity, Google, and now ChatGPT for AI-led conversational commerce. A tie-up with AI-powered Rokt brought post-transaction ads to Venmo, PayPal, and Honey users. Fintechs, issuers, and payment rails cannot ignore the coming tide of agent-based payment methods. Striking early partnerships with major players allows all platforms to reorient for the future of ecommerce transactions.

Walmart Inc. announced a partnership with OpenAI to enable Walmart and Sam’s Club customers to make purchases within ChatGPT using the latter’s Instant Commerce feature. Even if agentic commerce’s adoption is gradual, early movers like Walmart will have the outsize advantage. Being discoverable in channels where users conduct product and pricing research could help retailers reinforce their value proposition and stay top-of-mind with prospective customers as this commerce scales up.

PayPal’s Honey browser extension will start recommending products based on users’ conversations with chatbots, per a press release. Relying on the Honey browser extension rather than striking individual partnerships with each major AI platform is a far more expedient pathway to broaden Honey’s reach across AI-based shopping. And by keeping the selection and checkout processes squarely in the province of the user, Honey gets to reap the benefits of the rise in AI-enabled product discovery without the associated risks of agentic commerce.

One in three Gen Zers and one in four millennials prefer to go to generative AI (genAI) platforms—not search, social media, or influencers—when deciding what to buy, per a new Future Commerce survey of consumers from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Trust in AI is a key driver, with these users viewing platforms as trusted companions, not just tools. Brands that design campaigns to build discovery and trust within AI-driven journeys will amplify their reach and relevance as AI-assisted shopping scales.

The news: PayPal and Venmo users can receive early access to Perplexity’s new browser, Comet, with a free 12-month trial of Perplexity Pro. Our take: Big Tech is betting that agentic commerce is the future of shopping, but consumers aren’t on board yet: Nearly 70% of US adults are not interested in AI-powered shopping assistants, per a September 2024 EMARKETER and CivicScience survey. While jostling for future positioning in the market, PayPal, Venmo, and Perplexity need to convince consumers that agentic commerce is a desirable payment option, lest they repeat a metaverse investment flop.

The insight: Amazon is trying to figure out how it can benefit from the AI agentic boom without giving shopping agents unfettered access to its site, according to a report by The Information. Our take: While agentic commerce is far from the norm for the time being, retailers need to be prepared. That’s especially true for companies with retail media businesses, given the potential for AI agents to upend their ability to monetize their sites.

The news: PayPal is launching storefront-style ads that allow users to buy products directly within display ads on publisher sites, using PayPal or Venmo without leaving the page. Debuting in the US with partners like Business Insider and Vox Media, the units will later expand to include carousels and listings. This move strengthens PayPal’s financial media network footprint after its 2023 Ads launch. Our take: As FMN spend is set to reach $1.78B by 2027, PayPal is embedding commerce where consumers already are. These shoppable ads address friction, drive impulse purchases, and position PayPal as a safeguard against rising AI-driven agentic commerce.