The State of Play in Agentic Commerce, by Max Sinclair (CEO & Founder of Azoma)

Agentic commerce represents a fundamental shift in consumer behavior, moving from traditional keyword-based search to AI-driven discovery and purchasing. As AI agents like Amazon’s Rufus, Google’s Gemini, and Walmart’s Sparky become the default interface for shopping, brand visibility is shrinking, forcing companies to optimize for LLM world knowledge rather than simple keyword signals. Data indicates that these agents significantly boost conversion rates, with consumers increasingly trusting AI recommendations over friends, family, or traditional search engines. This transition mirrors the early 2000s search inflection point, where early adopters of new algorithms gained massive market advantages. To succeed, retailers must adapt to this agent-to-agent landscape, where personalized, proactive AI assistants manage the entire purchasing journey, from research to checkout, effectively redefining the relationship between brands and their customers.