Agentic commerce: how AI is transforming eCommerce

Artificial intelligence is changing the way people discover products, make decisions, and shop online. In this new landscape, agentic commerce proposes a significant evolution: moving from searching for and comparing products to delegating part of the purchasing process to artificial intelligence agents.

In a new episode of Espacio Shopify, we talk with Antonio Martínez Bretón, Head of LATAM Partner Management at Shopify, about how this transformation can impact brands, online stores, and the future of eCommerce.

What is agentic commerce?

Until now, much of the online shopping experience begins when a person enters a store, uses a search engine, compares alternatives, and decides what to buy.

With agentic commerce, that journey can change.

Instead of performing each step manually, a person can tell an artificial intelligence model what they are looking for and delegate part of the exploration, selection, and purchasing decision to it.

This transforms the relationship between consumers, brands, and e-commerce platforms. AI can not only help find information: it can become a new intermediary between people and products.

The catalog becomes fundamental

In this new landscape, product information becomes even more relevant.

For an AI agent to discover, interpret, and recommend a product, it needs access to complete, accurate, and structured information. A catalog with incomplete descriptions or incorrect information can cause a brand to lose sales opportunities without even detecting where that loss occurred.

That is why catalog quality is no longer just an operational issue. It also becomes a key factor for the discoverability of products in new channels driven by artificial intelligence.

The ability of platforms to connect that information with new shopping journeys will become increasingly important.

What place will online stores occupy?

The emergence of agentic commerce does not mean that online stores will lose relevance.

On the contrary, the store continues to be a central space for selling, presenting products, and building a brand's identity. The difference is that consumers can reach it through new ways of discovery and purchasing.

Brand experience, curation, and the ability to offer a unique value proposition will continue to be fundamental, even when part of the purchasing process is managed by AI agents.

Shopify and the new stage of commerce

During the conversation, Antonio Martínez Bretón also explains how Shopify is preparing for this new landscape and the role that new capabilities linked to artificial intelligence and agentic commerce will play.

The evolution also poses a challenge for brands: preparing so that their products can be discovered and considered in shopping experiences that no longer depend exclusively on a person browsing an online store.

In this context, aspects such as data quality, catalog architecture, user experience, and the ability to measure new sales channels acquire increasing importance.

Towards more connected and personalized commerce

Agentic commerce is part of a broader transformation of eCommerce, in which the boundaries between digital and physical channels are increasingly blurred.

Artificial intelligence can reduce friction, better interpret each consumer's needs, and personalize recommendations. At the same time, brands will have to adapt to new ways of discovery and decision-making.

The challenge is no longer just having an online store. It is being prepared so that products, the brand, and the experience can be part of an increasingly intelligent, connected, and agent-mediated commerce ecosystem.

About Espacio Shopify

Espacio Shopify is the first and only podcast produced in collaboration with Shopify in Latin America. From LOP, we talk with Shopify leaders, brands, and ecosystem specialists to share success stories, trends, and best practices in digital commerce.