Agentic Storefronts and Ecommerce's Next Phase

What if a shopper never had to set foot (physically or metaphorically) in a brand’s storefront to make a purchase?

The idea of physically buying a product was absurd until catalogues changed that more than 100 years ago. Then the ecommerce revolution took over and added sophistication and breadth to the non-brick-and-mortar concept. And now we’re on the cusp of another shopping era with the rise of the agentic storefront. 

You didn’t think we’d talk about the future of commerce without including AI, did you? And there’s a reason for it, because consumer behaviors are evolving in their favor. eMarketer has reported that 58% of people have already swapped their search engine of choice for a generative AI tool (like ChatGPT or Gemini). Meanwhile, Gartner predicts that 33% of enterprise apps will include agentic AI by 2028, automating 15% of decisions, while 20% of digital storefront interactions will be done with AI agents.

The Automated Purchase

So what do we mean by an agentic storefront? Currently, the majority of use cases for agentic AIs related to commerce are around helping consumers with product discovery and consideration. They offer options to choose from and provide links and recommendations.

But the consumers themselves are still required to go to the brand’s site and complete the transaction. That’s all going to change. As we said, people are already using generative AIs for product discovery and consideration. Soon they will use AI all the way through the purchase.

Consumers will be able to tell the agent what they’re looking for and how much they’re willing to spend, and the agent – with the key connection being some form of tokenized payment system – can handle the rest of the transaction that a human has been forced to handle themselves up to this point. 

What It Would Look Like

The best way to picture this is with a real-world scenario. I’m a runner, so let’s say I’m in the market for new running shoes. I go to one of the main large language models (ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot) and tell it that I’m looking for shoes with the following stipulations:

• Great arch support
• In my size (10.5) 
• In either white, blue, or green
• That costs no more than $150

The agent presents three options – with the top recommendation being a pair of white Asics for $120 – and asks me if I want to buy it, which I agree to. Using a single-use, preauthorized token from a company like Visa, Mastercard, or Stripe, the agent processes the payment, applies any loyalty points or rewards that I might have, and coordinates the shipping. The token is then destroyed so it can’t be stolen and reused, and the remaining $30 goes back to my bank account.

Four days later, the shoes arrive on my front porch without me ever appearing on a brand’s site or checkout page. Amazing, right? I don’t have to deal with clunky checkout experiences or make sure I have my credit card with me (or saved on file).

What It Would Require

Much of the technology to make this a reality already exists and is rapidly improving. But there are still a few factors to consider. To start, your ecommerce platform will have to be compatible with the agentic AI to be able to properly access data, sync with fulfillment, and process payments. It doesn’t do much good if the LLMs can’t view your products to recommend them in the first place.

Your content and data also have to be in good shape. This is something our VP of Web Jim Noellsch has written about, that generative search optimization is on the rise and the future of on-site search is changing, bringing in new criteria. 

And then there are the partnerships to make the tokenized payments happen. Some of those companies I mentioned above, like Stripe, are already investing in agent-based transaction infrastructures.

But the payoff for this effort could be huge. Competitors who are “agent-ready” could win disproportionate share, locking in AI-agent recommendations early. The ROI of this would be massive. For one, you would increase the efficiency and speed of the sale that agentic storefronts are able to create. But also you need to be where your customers are, and when you get there early, your products get to be recommended and not your competitors.

The next wave of commerce is already fast approaching. You might as well jump on board.