Bain & Company says agentic AI is on track to reshape how consumers shop online, even as roughly 50% of shoppers remain cautious about letting AI handle purchases from start to finish. In its new Agentic AI in Retail report, the firm argues that autonomous shopping agents are already changing discovery, loyalty, and media economics, making it urgent for retailers to define their agentic commerce strategy.
Consumers are already starting journeys with AI
According to Bain’s Consumer Lab Generative AI survey, around 30% to 45% of U.S. consumers use Generative AI for product research and comparison. Roughly 17% of unique online shoppers say they will begin their holiday shopping on an AI platform such as ChatGPT or Perplexity, while about 30% plan to start with Google search, which is now also AI‑enabled.
Younger shoppers are leading this shift. Among unique shoppers, about 52% of Millennials and 25% of Gen Z say they will use an AI assistant to start their holiday shopping, signalling how quickly AI is becoming the default entry point into the retail journey for key demographics.
Agentic AI emerges as a retail disruptor
Bain defines agentic AI as systems that combine memory, reasoning, and tool use to act semi‑ or fully autonomously across the shopping journey, from product research to checkout. These agents move beyond simple chatbots, with the potential to compare products, make recommendations, and even place orders on a shopper’s behalf.
AI already accounts for up to 25% of referral traffic for some retailers, though it is still less than 1% of total traffic overall. Bain likens this moment to the early days of search engines, suggesting that as agentic systems mature, they could become a primary driver of discovery and conversion in e-commerce.
Third‑party agents vs retailer‑owned agents
The report highlights three broad types of AI agents: third‑party “objective” agents such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, on‑site retailer agents that live on a brand’s own properties, and off‑site retailer agents embedded into partner channels. Bain warns that third‑party agents pose the greatest disintermediation risk because they sit between customers and brands, controlling which products are surfaced.
Right now, consumers trust retailers’ on‑site agents roughly three times more than third‑party agents. However, the firm expects this trust gap to narrow as shoppers gain more experience with external platforms and as those agents deliver more personalized and reliable results, raising the stakes for retailers that are not well represented in these ecosystems.
Caution remains around fully autonomous purchases
Despite growing comfort with AI for research and comparison, around 50% of consumers say they are cautious about letting AI agents autonomously complete purchases from end to end. Shoppers remain wary about handing over full control, especially for higher‑value or more complex items where fit, feel and brand trust still matter.
This suggests the near‑term opportunity is in AI‑assisted rather than fully automated shopping. Agentic systems are most likely to act as co‑pilots—filtering options, highlighting trade‑offs, tracking prices, and pre‑filling carts—while humans keep the final “buy” decision.
Three moves Bain says retailers must make
To get ready, Bain outlines three strategic moves retailers should prioritize now. First, dig the customer moat by investing in exclusive products, differentiated loyalty rewards, and value‑added services—such as installation, setup, or protection plans—that deepen relationships and create forms of scarcity AI agents cannot easily mimic.
Second, redefine retail media networks. About 65% of retail media spending still happens onsite, which could be at risk if discovery shifts to AI‑driven search; at the same time, in‑store and offsite channels already account for roughly 15% and 20% of retail media investments, pushing retailers to test new ad formats that monetize natural‑language queries.
Third, retain ownership of data and checkout by protecting first‑party data, watermarking content, and setting clear data‑sharing terms in AI partnerships. Bain urges retailers to keep control over fulfillment and checkout wherever possible so they preserve data visibility, pricing accuracy and the end‑to‑end customer experience.
The next phase of retail strategy
Bain frames agentic AI as a major shift in retail discovery and loyalty on par with the rise of search engines, with systems that are “beginning to act independently across the shopping journey.” The firm argues that winning retailers will either build their own agentic capabilities or form smart collaborations with major AI platforms, using both paths to strengthen relationships with customers and algorithms alike.
