Will AI Shopping Bots Change How You Buy Online?

You might have noticed that artificial intelligence (AI) is popping up everywhere, and now it's making its way into how we shop online. This new way of buying and selling is being called 'agentic commerce'. It basically means AI programs — like advanced shopping assistants — are doing more of the heavy lifting when we want to buy something.

Imagine asking an AI, like ChatGPT, to find you the best price on a new barbecue, including delivery to your postcode. Instead of just giving you a list of links, these AI agents might start to interact directly with online stores or marketplaces on your behalf. They could compare features, read reviews, and even complete parts of the purchase process for you. The article suggests this is already happening, with a huge jump in traffic referred by AI to retail websites.

For Australian small businesses, this could be a mixed bag. On one hand, if an AI agent helps a customer find your unique product, it's great. But it also means you'll need to make sure your online store and product information are clear and easily understood by AI. It might push more businesses towards larger online marketplaces, where AI agents can easily find and compare products from many different sellers.

For everyday shoppers, it could mean more convenience and potentially better deals, as AI hunts down exactly what you need. However, it also raises questions about whether you'll still discover those hidden gems from smaller, independent stores, or if the AI will always lean towards the biggest or most popular options. It’s a shift that could reshape our online shopping habits in a big way.

Ultimately, agentic commerce could make shopping faster and more personalised. But it also means thinking about how much control we want to give to AI in our purchasing decisions. It’s a space to watch, as these AI shopping assistants become more sophisticated and common.