Deep analysis and reporting on how AI agents are transforming commerce - from shopping assistants to autonomous buyers
Three grocery-sector examples show retailers using chatbots and AI assistants to move shoppers beyond keyword search and filters toward conversational product discovery.
Schnucks is rolling out an agentic shopping assistant designed to tailor grocery discovery around customers' health and wellness preferences.
A study reported by Reuters says Amazon and Walmart shopping assistants can identify false "Made in USA" claims but do not surface those findings to shoppers, raising questions about platform accountability.
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Groceryshop's 2026 program includes an AI-powered shopping series on retail discovery in answer engines, retailer-built shopping assistants, and personalization across digital and store experiences.
Reporting on allegations that Phia's shopping extension claimed affiliate credit through forced clicks illustrates how AI shopping tools can disrupt attribution, publisher economics, and consumer trust.
Kohl's has developed its seasonal gift finder into a digital assistant for product discovery, illustrating the retailer-led path into conversational shopping.
ESW's agentic-commerce integration with Microsoft Copilot connects AI-led product discovery with localized checkout for brands selling internationally.
Adobe found shoppers referred to retail sites by AI chatbots converted 40% more often during Prime Day than those arriving from search, email, or social. Amazon is simultaneously blocking rival shopping agents while developing its own assistant.
Walmart executives say their AI shopping agent, Sparky, is helping drive sales—an early indicator of how a retailer-owned agent could reshape product discovery and conversion.
A Google-linked Universal Commerce Protocol update describes an open architecture for checkout, catalog, cart, orders, REST, MCP, and A2A transport, with Shopify, Walmart, Target, Etsy, Adyen, Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa named as partners.
Conferences & summits on our radar
Kiri Masters joins WSL Strategic Retail's Future Shop to examine how AI referrals can bypass retail homepages, alter retail-media economics, and change the factors consumers use to choose where they buy.
Amazon is connecting AI discovery, external merchant feeds, checkout, advertising, and agent-access rules into a controlled shopping stack. What that means for DTC brands.
Retail Technology Innovation Hub reports PSE Consulting research showing consumers favor universal AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude for discovery, while still preferring recognized marketplace
Albertsons Media Collective is bringing Criteo-sponsored product placements into AI-powered conversational search, raising a strategic question about how retail media budgets will shape recommendation
A practical guide to Shopify’s agentic-commerce distribution advantage: one merchant operation made available across AI shopping surfaces, and the readiness work brands still own.
A practical guide to separating protocol specifications, integrations, and merchant-ready operations—without mistaking vendor marketing for deployment evidence.
Zero Click Project documents and analyzes the transformation of commerce as AI agents evolve from shopping assistants to autonomous buyers. We provide the intelligence layer for understanding agentic commerce.
As search engines, AI chatbots, and voice assistants increasingly answer queries and complete transactions without users clicking through to websites, the entire digital commerce landscape is being rewritten. This isn't a distant future - it's happening now.
Our mission is to help merchants, platforms, and technology providers navigate this shift with clarity, data, and actionable insights.
