AI is everywhere in commerce. Except where it matters most when it comes to ecommerce.
For consumers, it’s how discovery begins. Today, shoppers aren’t starting on marketplaces. They’re prompting ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity to surface what to buy, where to get it, and why. The search bar is being replaced by the AI prompt.
In fact, 60% of consumers now use AI in some form during their shopping journey. Enterprise retailers, on the other hand, are still stuck in the pilot phase with only 35% of UK retailers planning to invest in AI within the next year to enhance their sales and marketing efforts.
The problem isn’t technical, it’s structural. Retailers are stacking AI onto outdated, disconnected infrastructure where chatbots are trained on stale data, dashboards surface signals with no clear owner, and recommendations ignore real-time inventory or fulfillment. These systems remain static when action is required.
The retailers moving AI forward are not experimenting, but taking the lead to execute with agentic commerce, the use of embedded intelligence to power systems that act, not just inform. They are embedding intelligence directly into workflows and connecting them for multi-departmental use to reduce friction, automate decisions, and respond in real time. It is a shift from AI noise to measurable results. Nowhere is this shift more needed, or more expected, than in customer service.
AI as the new CX engine
The most effective AI isn’t seen, it’s felt. It works quietly in the background, removing friction without drawing attention to itself. Today’s consumers expect AI to meet them where they are, not send them searching for support. Increasingly, people are turning to messaging platforms like WhatsApp to solve issues proactively, showing a growing demand for support that’s app-native, seamless and responsive. This shift is turning headless CX from a conceptual trend into a customer expectation.
The future of ecommerce lies in intelligent systems that personalise every moment, from discovery to delivery. These platforms don’t wait for user input. They anticipate it. They curate based on behavior, adjust to context, and surface exactly what matters without jumping through hoops.
Consumer AI adoption is already outpacing enterprise execution. Amazon’s AI assistant “Rufus” is just one example of how generative AI is being baked directly into the shopping experience. In fashion and beauty, AI is powering virtual try-ons and hyper-personalised style feeds. These innovations are shifting consumer expectations fast.
And as trust becomes harder to earn, explainability becomes the differentiator. AI that learns a customer’s preferences and transparently shares why it’s recommending something is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s how loyalty is built.
The cost of delay is rising
Despite the flood of new AI tools, most ecommerce businesses remain stuck. Legacy platforms, disconnected data, and uncertainty around privacy regulations keep teams cautious. But standing still is no longer neutral; it’s a liability. Brands moving now are already seeing results in conversion, order value and operational efficiency.
As third-party data collapses with cookie deprecation and evolving privacy laws, AI is becoming the most scalable path forward. Retailers finally have a way to unlock first-party data, turning real-time behavior, preferences, and interactions into immediate action across every channel.
And it goes beyond better offers. User-generated content is playing an increasing role in influencing purchase decisions. More than 70% of UK consumers say they find shopper-generated content useful when deciding what to buy, and 16% say they are likely to make a purchase based on things like reviews, ratings, photos and videos. In fact, 45% of shoppers say an item needs between 11 and 50 reviews before they’ll consider buying it. This makes social proof a powerful AI-enabled lever one that retailers can use to personalise, validate and accelerate buying decisions.
From assistant to orchestrator
The most advanced ecommerce brands no longer treat AI as a bolt-on feature. These AI-native platforms integrate across marketing, merchandising, logistics and service turning raw customer data into actionable, real-time decisions.
This means more than just dynamic product suggestions, but pricing that responds to demand in the moment, WhatsApp messages offering discounts to loyalty members who abandoned their cart, customer service that adapts based on sentiment and urgency, and fulfilment systems that reroute based on real-time stock and delivery windows.
The shift isn’t just about performance. When AI listens, learns, and anticipates, it helps retailers serve with greater precision and care. Internally, agentic commerce sharpens decisions, cuts guesswork, and accelerates testing. This makes teams more agile in a fast-changing market.
Catch up or get left behind
The brands committing to AI orchestration aren’t testing the waters, but building their future with end-users in mind. These are not short-term plays; they are long-term advantages.
Retailers who keep stacking features without fixing the foundation to embed intelligence and unlock agentic commerce will stay stuck. AI isn’t a tool. It’s the architecture. It must be adaptive, connected, and accountable. AI is already where the customer is. The only question is whether sellers will catch up.
