Shopping could soon be as simple as saying “yes.”
Imagine: your personal AI agent notifies you that a hair dryer you’ve been eyeing is now on sale. The product page highlights benefits tailored to your curly hair, while the agent confirms it will arrive before your upcoming trip.
With your approval, the agent handles the purchase through your secure wallet. Later, it proactively suggests complementary hair care products for the summer season.
This world of autonomous commerce isn’t as far off as it seems. Tech and e-commerce leaders — including OpenAI, Nvidia, Amazon, Walmart, Google, and Apple — are already building AI systems that are steps away from conducting transactions.
AI agents will impact each stage of the customer journey, streamlining the path to purchase and fundamentally transforming how businesses build relationships with consumers and drive loyalty.
We use CB Insights data on early-stage fundraising, public companies, and industry partnerships to analyze how generative AI — especially AI agents — is transforming the customer journey.
In the 11-page report, we cover 3 predictions that emerged from our analysis:
- First-party transaction data will shape the future of AI-driven personalization. As personalization becomes more sophisticated at the awareness and consideration stages, companies with direct access to first-party data will have an edge.
- Direct-to-agent (D2A) commerce will kill traditional loyalty. With AI agents handling browsing and shopping, traditional loyalty programs will lose effectiveness as agents optimize shopping across a select group of merchants.
- A few AI agents will own the customer relationship. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple — with critical distribution and financial services infrastructure — are well-positioned in commerce.
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