Social commerce — or shopping through platforms like TikTok and Instagram — hasn’t suffered much in the US due to the ongoing distrust of tech giants among consumers and big retailers. To help ensure that AI initiatives don’t face the same resistance, major payment processors like Visa and software startups like New Generation, which help stores develop or partner with chatbots, are trying to reach technology agreements with retail partners. “We think a service provider like ours will be able to quickly earn retailers’ trust, which is critical,” says Adam Behrens, CEO of New Generation.
Retailers want to get involved as chatbots have become an important tool for consumers to conduct research and validate purchases. Partnerships between AI and ecommerce companies can ensure that chatbots not only present accurate product information but also consume less computing resources while executing online orders. All of this can increase profits for both parties—if they can agree.
In one of the most candid comments ever made on agentic shopping by a top tech boss, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently criticized how agentic shopping currently works on other platforms. “I would say the customer experience is not good,” JC said on an earnings call last month. “There’s no personalization. There’s no purchase history. Delivery estimates are often wrong. Prices are often wrong. We have to find a way to improve the customer experience and get the value right.”
A simple task like adding eggs to an Amazon cart took the Opera browser’s AI agent 45 seconds in a WIRED test this month; It took one-third the time of doing it manually on Amazon’s shopping app.
Opera is inviting potential partners to workshops to consider security and design options. “If our agent doesn’t work with the biggest websites people visit, it will be a sub-optimal experience,” says Per Wetterdal, executive vice president who leads Opera’s commercial partnerships. “If no one benefits [a purchase] Ending up in the wrong place or in the wrong quantity.”
deal negotiation
As is often the case in the tech industry, money and data are at the center of the conversation. With agentic purchasing, the financial exchange can be straightforward. AI companies including Opera want a cut of sales to facilitate purchases. “If we do something that increases scalability, it’s very fair to be compensated for that,” Wetterdal says. OpenAI is leading the way by collecting “a small fee” from partners like Etsy for instant checkout purchases.
But sharing data can be more complicated. Retailers protect pricing and availability data as well as customer information to maintain an edge over competitors. AI companies want to preserve conversation histories to preserve the sense of intimacy that chatbots can provide. But chatbots need real-time information to fulfill user requests, and retail brands prefer more context to develop relationships with shoppers.