Your Next Customer Is an Algorithm: Why Brands Must Prepare for the Dawn of Agentic Commerce

Across search engines, smart assistants, and chat platforms, people are beginning to let AI shop for them.
These agents don’t browse, compare, or click. They decide.

In the next 12 months, more than 60% of shoppers say they will use an AI agent to research or complete a purchase.
This shift isn’t futuristic - it’s happening right now.

Agentic commerce is the next frontier in retail, where intelligent systems act as personal shoppers that think for us.
They already know our routines, our preferences, and our limits.
They’ll soon know our pantry levels and our sustainability values.

And that changes everything.

The Rise of the Autonomous Shopper

Agentic commerce represents a world where machines make purchase decisions on behalf of people.
These systems use natural language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Amazon Q to understand context, predict intent, and execute transactions.

When you tell your device, “Get my groceries,” it doesn’t browse online stores.
It checks availability, price, and loyalty data - then completes the order.
In this world, the algorithm is your new customer.
Winning its trust becomes more critical than winning attention.

The Numbers Behind the Shift

Here’s a snapshot of how fast the world is moving toward agentic shopping - and how deeply it’s reshaping consumer behavior.

Key Insights

60% of shoppers expect to use AI agents in the next 12 months.
Source: Martech.org
73% of consumers are already familiar with AI tools.
Source: Martech.org
71% of global shoppers want AI agents for faster service experiences.
Source: eMarketer
65% of consumers want AI that buys when prices drop, and 47% are open to AI purchasing recommended products.
Source: eMarketer
35% of UK consumers already use AI to shop - up 39% in just one year.
Source: Adyen Index 2025
54% of Gen Z shoppers in the UK use AI during their shopping journey.
Source: Adyen Index 2025
70% of travelers would use AI to book flights, and 65% would use it to book hotels.
Source: SellersCommerce
Only 1% of retailers currently use agentic AI - but 33% plan to by 2028.
Source: SellersCommerce
The AI commerce market will grow from $7.25B (2024) to $64B (2034).
Source: HelloRep / Precedence Research
9 in 10 retailers are adopting or testing AI in their operations.
Source: NVIDIA Retail Trends 2025
AI-driven shoppers show 10% higher engagement than traditional visitors.
Source: BCG 2025
Only 24% of U.S. consumers are comfortable sharing personal data with AI tools.
Source: eMarketer / CivicScience

What These Numbers Mean

The takeaway is clear:
AI isn’t just influencing buying decisions - it’s making them.

Consumers are increasingly open to letting algorithms act on their behalf, especially when those algorithms save time and money.
At the same time, trust is still forming - which means brands have a rare window to shape how agents perceive and prioritize them.

Retailers and platforms are already preparing for this shift.
Most are investing heavily in automation, predictive systems, and metadata enrichment.
For brands, however, the readiness gap remains huge.

What Brands Should Do Now

To compete in a world run by AI shoppers, brands must evolve from marketing to humans toward marketing to machines.

1. Get your data house in order

AI agents depend on structured, complete, and consistent product data.
Every attribute - from size and sustainability to delivery time - must be machine-readable.

2. Create APIs, not just ads

Agents will pull information directly from brand APIs.
Brands that make their data accessible and trustworthy will appear more often in automated purchase decisions.

3. Optimize for “Agent SEO”

Instead of chasing keywords, optimize for comprehension and verified accuracy.
Agents will prioritize clarity and factual integrity over persuasion.

4. Redefine your success metrics

Traditional KPIs like impressions or ROAS will give way to Agent Conversion Rate (ACR) - how often your product is chosen by an algorithm.

5. Invest in transparency and trust

The 24% trust gap around data sharing is an opportunity.
Brands that embrace responsible data practices and communicate them clearly will build agent-level preference faster than competitors.

How MediaAMP Can Help

At MediaAMP, we believe this moment is a once-in-a-generation reset.
Retail media taught brands to reach people.
Agentic commerce will teach them to reach machines.

Our mission is to help brands:

Audit and structure product data for agent readability.
Build metadata strategies that enhance discoverability across AI ecosystems.
Redesign measurement frameworks for agent-driven engagement.
Partner with AI platforms and retail networks to define the new playbook.

The brands that move now will not just survive the shift - they will define it.

Final Thought

The shopper is no longer at the checkout.
They’re in the code.

And the brands that understand how to speak to that code - clearly, credibly, and consistently - will own the future of commerce.