Matthieu Guinebault
Published September 18, 2026Reading time
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Agentic commerce: what are its immediate implications for e-commerce?
Matthieu Guinebault
Published
September 18, 2026
The uptake of artificial intelligence is accelerating among online shoppers, 31% of whom already use AI in their shopping journeys, while the most frequent users rely on it for 73% of their planned purchases. This is according to a forward-looking study conducted by the French E-commerce Federation (Fevad) and KPMG, which outlines a new form of commercial intermediation taking place prior to the transaction, which will require retailers and brands to rethink their catalogues.
This development is taking on an increasingly urgent dimension. Before making a purchase, 58% of online shoppers regularly use AI-powered agents, with a reported level of trust standing at 47%. However, when it comes to the payment stage, usage drops to 27%, with confidence at 30%.
After the purchase, however, adoption rises slightly, with 35% using them regularly and a confidence rate of 43%. All of this is prompting e-commerce platforms to rethink their strategic priorities.
“Agentic commerce is shifting the centre of gravity in e-commerce,” says François Xavier Leroux, a partner at KPMG in France. “The aim is no longer simply to secure a click, but to be included in a recommendation generated by artificial intelligence, and retailers who can make their offerings clear, reliable and actionable by these new intermediaries will have a decisive competitive advantage in the years to come.”
Intent, search engine optimisation, and delegation
The commercial battle is therefore shifting, first and foremost, towards intent. Retailers are no longer seeking to attract consumers to their own pages, but are now addressing a machine capable of scanning their entire catalogue, comparing it with competitors’ offers, interpreting sales claims and filtering options.
Traditional search engine optimisation is therefore giving way to new strategies aimed at making their offering discoverable, complete and recommendable by an agent. This agent operates at various levels, from simple assistance with filling a shopping basket to the complete fulfilment of an order on behalf of the customer.
This raises the question of the monopoly that future dominant AI systems might hold, in areas where certain search engines previously controlled the visibility of product catalogues. It is with this in mind that players such as Google have rolled out standardised protocols enabling AI systems and portals to communicate. Above all, the merchant site would, de facto, lose its monopoly over the discovery, retention, and conversion of online shoppers, as these functions would be delegated to an external AI assistant.
“E-commerce has undergone numerous revolutions over the past twenty years, but rarely has there been such a rapid and profound transformation,” emphasises Marc Lolivier, executive director of Fevad. “With agentic artificial intelligence, the very rules of online commerce are changing in terms of how consumers make choices, how retailers reach their customers and how value is distributed among the various players, which makes it essential for retailers to prepare for this now if they are to remain fully-fledged players.”
This technological transition will run up against a growing demand for transparency. While consumers are willing to delegate the search phase, entrusting their payment to AI remains a sticking point. A seamless journey therefore requires explicit consent, traceability of shared data and the ability to reverse the action immediately.
Furthermore, integrating an advertising model into these generative conversations also poses an operational risk, given that 57% of refusals by internet users stem from doubts about the commercial neutrality of recommendations.
It remains to be seen what the commercial impact of this rise in agentic commerce within online retail will be. In France, the sector generated turnover of €196.4 billion last year, up 7%, across 3.2 billion transactions with an average value of €62, down 3%. Online sales thus accounted for around 12% of total sales of food and non-food products in France in 2025.
This article is a translation.
