Agentic commerce: Are retailers ready to be found?

Key takeaways:

1. Agentic commerce is the next evolution of online shopping.
2. AI-powered agents search, decide and act on behalf of customers.
3. Deep research categories like tech and home will feel the impact sooner.
4. Discovery becomes the new battleground, as agents choose which products are surfaced.

Being found depends on accurate, real-time product and customer data.

Search is changing again.

Retail has been through a few evolutions already. We’ve gone from physical shelves to search engines, and from marketplaces to personalised recommendations. Each shift changed how customers find products – and which retailers win.

Now we’re entering the next evolution: agentic commerce.

The question for retailers is simple. Are you ready to be found?

Hold up, what’s agentic commerce?

Agentic commerce is reshaping online shopping. AI agents are starting to sit between customers and commerce, changing how products are surfaced, chosen, and bought. Instead of browsing endlessly, shoppers will increasingly ask an AI assistant to handle the work – find the best option, then compare prices and, in some cases, order it.

Instead of a shopper typing “best laptop under £1,000”, they might ask: “find the best laptop for remote work under £1,000 and order it”.

The AI agent interprets intent, navigates options and can even complete the transaction. ,This changes product discovery because the agent, not the human, drives decision making.

Consumer tech and home retailers need to move quickly.

Agentic commerce is coming for all retail, but some categories need to adapt faster.

Agents shine when deep research is important. These are purchases where shoppers want nuance, comparison and reassurance.

Consumer tech is a good example. Home categories too, where decisions are considered and brand trust matters. With agentic commerce, people will spend less time browsing websites and more time asking AI assistants questions.

If customers are researching through an agent, you need to make sure you’re found there.

Agentic commerce is here, now.

Agentic commerce isn’t a distant trend. It’s emerging quickly as platforms evolve to support autonomous shopping experiences.

At the same time, retailers are feeling the strain as paid search costs continue to rise as competition intensifies.

Consumers are spending more time in AI-powered discovery paths, using tools that surface answers directly rather than sending people through endless website journeys.

Shopping is full of friction: too much choice, too many steps, too many tabs. Agents are a response to that fatigue. They turn shopping into a delegated task, focused on outcomes rather than browsing.

Agentic commerce is a discovery problem.

The main premise is simple: if you can’t be found, you can’t be bought.

In an agent-driven world, discovery shifts from clicks to machine queries. Agents don’t scroll like humans do – they search with intent. That means being present online is no longer enough. Retailers need to be visible, accurate and understandable to AI agents.

Your product feed becomes your storefront to agents.

Agentic commerce rewards accuracy, speed and context.

Agentic commerce rewards three things: accuracy, speed and context.

• Accuracy means describing products in the way customers describe them. Not internal jargon, not half populated fields, not generic attributes.
• Speed means real-time truth. Inaccurate stock and availability information has been a problem in media for years. In agentic commerce, it becomes even more important. If the data isn’t current, the agent won’t trust it.
• Context means giving agents the information customers actually care about. What people like. What they don’t. How products compare. What goes well together.

Agents don’t just surface products. They surface understanding.

The real problem is broken commerce intelligence.

Most retailers aren’t struggling because they don’t spend enough on ads. They’re struggling because their product and customer data isn’t fit for this next wave of discovery:

• Stock data isn’t always real time, so ads promote products that can’t be purchased.
• Customer signals aren’t always fresh, so campaigns target people who have already bought.
• Product attributes are often generic, so descriptions don’t match how people actually search.

These issues waste money today. In agentic commerce, they will cost visibility entirely, as agents make decisions based on data quality.

Price, delivery and proposition become instantly comparable.

AI agents will also change what customers ask for. Instead of browsing one retailer at a time, people will ask:

• Where can I get this cheapest?
• Who delivers fastest?
• Which retailer offers the best service?

Agentic commerce makes comparison frictionless. That means retailers need to be clear about what they stand for – value, quality, speed, exclusivity, service?

If everything looks the same in the data, there’s no reason for an agent to choose you.

Your website becomes the checkout not the research engine.

Another shift is where research happens. With agentic commerce, customers will spend less time exploring your site and more time researching through agents.

Your website doesn’t disappear, but its role changes. It becomes the place the transaction happens, not the place discovery begins. That means the cross sell and up sell moments that used to rely on browsing journeys need to move earlier, into the agent-driven discovery layer, or into the checkout itself.

Retailers should start rethinking their digital experience with that in mind.

AI shopping agents rely on product feeds.

Agentic commerce readiness isn’t about building an agent. It’s about making sure your product feeds are ready for agents:

• Real time stock will be essential. Recommending an out-of-stock item breaks trust instantly.
• Product descriptions need to match how people think. Agents need clarity, not jargon.
• Reviews need to be structured. Trust signals only matter if they can be queried and understood.
• Affinity and cross sell intelligence becomes strategic. Agents will increasingly build baskets based on what products go well together.

Loyalty and personalisation are here to stay.

Agentic commerce won’t replace loyalty or first party relationships. Agents will help recruit new customers, but brands still need direct connections with people. If someone finds you through an agent and loves the experience, they’ll still engage with your loyalty programme, your app and your communications.

Agents become another acquisition channel, not a replacement for retention.

Agentic commerce is here – and it starts with being found.

Online shopping is evolving. AI agents will increasingly decide what gets surfaced, what gets chosen, and ultimately, what gets purchased.

The question for retailers is no longer: “How do we advertise better?”

It’s: “Are we discoverable, understandable and trustworthy to the agents that will shop for our customers?”

But you don’t need to rebuild everything overnight. Start with a few practical moves:

• Audit product feeds for stock accuracy.
• Enrich product attributes with customer-centric language.
• Structure reviews and sentiment so it’s usable by agents.
• Build affinity data into your product catalogue so cross sell flows naturally.

These steps don’t just prepare you for agentic commerce. They improve performance now.

At HyperFinity, we help retailers build the intelligence that makes them ready for what comes next. Want to explore what that looks like? Get in touch.