Invisible Shopper & Agentic Commerce: It's complicated

Another interesting session from recent Tech Start-up conference, Elevate,  was Invisible Shopper - AI agents making purchasing decisions on your behalf.

Big swings consumer behaviour are not new. Cards replaced cash, ecommerce impacted Brick & Mortar, mobile meant we purchased on-the-go. We’re used to consumer behaviour change. We live it first hand.

But all of above meant that while the act of purchasing became easier, what we purchased was still complicated. The 'cognitive load' on the consumer to make a decision was still there - and apparently difficult. AI fueled Agentic Commerce can take all of that hardship away! You can delegate purchasing to your personal concierge.

Key issue is trust - from all parties. How will consumers trust that our concierge is acting on our behalf and our purchases are not being auction out to the highest bidder. How do merchants trust this sale is appropriate for that consumer (think constraints around sale of alcohol, tobacco, weapons etc). These - and many more like them - are tricky problems to solve.

On the plus side, AI can help you shop your value systems - e.g. small, local or  minority owned businesses. AI might help you discover niche products that would remain unseen in the standard search world. AI can automatically bake a broader range of customer reviews into the down selection process - something that would be too time consuming normally. That’s all good. I want that.

My personal view on all this…

1) AI can drive, AI can navigate but don’t let AI decide the destination- meaning AI doesn’t tell me I need a new watch. I decide that. But having decided (and set some parameters for price, features etc), my concierge can have at it.

BUT

2) Previously, a lot of money was spend on ads, SEO etc. to get customers to view products. If that is upended by Agentic Commerce, where will that money go? I need to very sure that brands are not bribing my concierge to buy Fruit Loops instead of Cheerios. And Big Tech doesn't have good track record of sacrificing ad $$$s in favour of consumer protection.

So I think I'll be a fast follower on this one. Maybe even a slow-ish follower, once the inevitable bribery scandals have been fully surfaced.

Note, no AI used in creation of this one. I didn’t have time to use AI. Now there's an interesting development!

If any of this strikes a chord, visit www.theohildyard.com or email me at info@theohildyard.com to get in touch.