Retail 2.0: Agentic commerce and the future of how customers buy

How AI assistants are changing ecommerce and customer relationships – and what it means for customer acquisition, marketing, and the future of CX

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In the early 2020s, the tools emerged for consumers to change how they discover, engage with, and buy from organizations across all industries. In response, the big tech names developing LLMs for public use started to add dedicated features to facilitate agentic commerce.

Today, some AI assistants can close purchases within the chat interface, bypassing retailers altogether. 

As a result, agentic commerce and AI-first journeys are changing the rules of discovery, loyalty, and who owns the customer relationship – and it's front of mind for CX practitioners. By current estimates, Gartner says these tools will drive at least 20 percent of all revenue by 2030, representing a "trillion-dollar opportunity".

This report explores what is happening and what it means for those who design and deliver retail experiences. It includes case studies from Fun.com and Orpi, and insights from practitioners at Walmart Canada, Super Retail Group, Trustpilot and Metro Bank, as well as subject matter specialists Katja Forbes and Heather Holmes, and consultants from PR, marketing, and CX.

Download this report to find out about: 

  • The changing power balance in retail, and what it means for engagement and loyalty.
  • The key capabilities all organizations need to capture customers from zero-click search.
  • What happens to customer personas in an agentic trading environment and how to own and build the customer relationship.

 

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