For the last two decades, ecommerce has been built around search, scroll, click.

But these foundations are beginning to crumble in the latest seismic shift in the commerce landscape.

Website traffic and clicks are declining for many brands as consumers shift toward conversational AI tools that help them discover, compare, and buy without visiting a traditional site.

Gartner predicts a 25% decline in traditional search volume this year, forcing businesses to rethink their approach to online visibility.

We’re now entering the era of agentic commerce, where AI goes beyond helping shoppers browse by actively participating in the journey: discovering, comparing, recommending, and purchasing.

What was only recently a concept is now being rolled out by some of the biggest players in retail, payments, and AI.

And while it’s launching in the US first, agentic commerce is set to be turned on globally.

Top agentic commerce solutions

Several brands and retailers are now enabling purchases directly through agentic AI tools like ChatGPT. For example, OpenAI’s Instant Checkout allows users to buy from select Shopify merchants as well as Etsy sellers.

Instant Checkout runs on the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), built by OpenAI and Stripe.

Any brand can use it, whether they already work with Stripe or another payment processor, via Stripe’s shared payment token system.

In practice, this means when you click the “Buy” button in ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout, Stripe handles the checkout and payment behind the scenes.

You can pay with credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or other methods directly in the chat — with no need to leave the conversation or go to another website.

Within the payments ecosystem, PayPal became the first payments wallet embedded in ChatGPT.

Google is taking a different but complementary approach with its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). Rather than embedding checkout into a single AI product, UCP is designed as an open standard that lets AI agents, merchants, and payment providers speak the same language across any interface.

In effect, it turns existing commerce stacks into agent-ready infrastructure, so AI experiences like Google Search and Gemini can move from recommending products to completing purchases securely and at scale.

The early agentic adopters

US retailers including Walmart and Sam’s Club have also integrated with ChatGPT, letting customers complete grocery purchases natively in the conversation.

Initially confined to the US, agentic commerce is rolling out globally.

In Europe, Frasers Group brands, including Sports Direct and House of Fraser, are adopting agentic commerce using commercetools to enable in-chat purchases.

This marks one of the first mainstream rollouts of native shop-in-chat functionality outside North America.

Consumer confidence in agentic commerce

Despite the rapid rise of agentic commerce, businesses will need to ensure they’re bringing transparency to their customers.

In a Riskified survey, nearly 3/4 of international consumers say they’re using AI in their shopping journeys, with 70% saying they feel somewhat comfortable with an AI agent making a purchase on their behalf.

However, only 13% of consumers have completed a purchase after an AI agent sent them to a website.

This gap between interest and action highlights trust at the heart of agentic commerce.

Consumers like the idea of AI-assisted shopping, but they hesitate at the point of purchase.

Their biggest concern, according to the survey, is payment security, cited by about one-third of respondents, followed by worries about privacy, potential mistakes, and loss of control over decisions.

How brands can prepare for agentic commerce

Agentic commerce is changing the rules of digital commerce.

AI agents are becoming the first place customers go to decide what to buy, which means brands need to optimize not just for search engines but for decision engines.

Here’s how to get ready. 

1. Make your commerce stack agent-ready

Product data is how agents see your catalog.

AI agents rely on structured, complete data to represent your brand. This includes product information, pricing, availability, promotions, delivery options, and returns policies.

If your catalog only works for human browsers, agents won’t be able to accurately recommend or sell your products. Ensuring your data is organized and machine-readable allows AI to navigate your catalog, compare options, and complete purchases.

2. Rethink SEO as AEO

Traditional SEO (ranking for keywords) is still useful, but in agentic commerce, you need to focus on AEO: making your product and policy information clear and structured so AI can interpret it.

Agents need answers to questions like: What is this product? Who is it for? How much does it cost? When will it arrive? What happens if there’s a problem?

The clearer your answers, the more likely an agent will recommend your brand and complete a purchase.

KPIs also change. Traffic and pageviews become less critical. The key metrics are how often AI agents select your brand and how effectively they convert intent into purchase. Achieving this requires closer alignment across commerce, payments, data, and trust.

3. Create a single source of truth

Centralize all product data in one system that controls attributes, variants, languages, and updates. A product information management (PIM) system is key here: it ensures all product details are accurate, complete, and consistent across every touchpoint.

With a PIM, you can manage updates in one place, reduce errors or mismatches, and maintain reliable data for all your AI-assisted shopping experiences.

4. Design for trust and transparency

AI-assisted purchases will require consumer confidence. So make sure your policies, pricing, and payment flows are clear and easy to verify.

Offer familiar payment options, visible consent for purchases, and easy ways to review or cancel orders. The more transparent and reliable the experience, the more likely customers will let agents act on their behalf.

Your next steps for agentic commerce

If you want to understand how agentic commerce will impact your digital commerce strategy, now is the time to start the conversation.

The future of commerce won’t be built on clicks, but on how confidently AI agents can act on your customers’ behalf.