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Missed the previous issue?
Your AI Strategy Isn’t the Problem. Your Data Is. We’re slicing into a topic that every retailer claims to have mastered and almost none actually have: data readiness. Yes, that thing everyone insists is “totally under control” while quietly ignoring the customer data silos multiplying like gremlins after midnight. (Bonus points if you’re old enough to remember that movie!) Ricardo and Casey sat down with Bruce Richards, from Adobe, to talk about the one thing standing between retailers and the AI‑powered future they keep promising shareholders…
Agentic Commerce Explained: Why AI Shopping Agents Are About to Reshape Retail
Welcome back, Retail Razor readers.
If you thought AI writing your emails was wild, buckle up — because AI is now starting to shop for you. Yes, we’ve officially crossed into the “my browser is making purchasing decisions” era.
And honestly… retail may never be the same.
In our latest episode of The Retail Razor Show, Ricardo and Casey sat down with Mike Edmonds, VP of Agentic Commerce & Commercial Growth at PayPal, to unpack what’s actually happening behind the scenes as agentic commerce moves from buzzword to reality.
Spoiler: it’s happening faster than most retailers think.
Wait… What Exactly Is Agentic Commerce?
If you’ve been nodding along in meetings pretending you know the difference between agentic commerce, agentic AI, and AI shopping agents…
Don’t worry, you’re in good company.
Mike breaks it down simply:
Agentic commerce is what happens when AI agents participate directly in the shopping experience, researching, comparing, recommending, and even checking out on your behalf.
Not in a sci‑fi “the robots have taken over” way.
More like: “Hey Copilot, find me a winter coat under $200 that won’t make me look like a marshmallow.”
And suddenly… it does.
The Three Use Cases You Need to Know
Mike outlines three major categories of agentic commerce, and they’re worth understanding:
1. CUA (Computer Using Agents)
This is when AI agents browse the web like a human: scanning sites, comparing products, building carts.
It’s cool, but slow. Great for hobbyists. Less great for anyone who doesn’t want to watch an AI scroll for 90 seconds.
2. Agentic Checkout (The Here‑and‑Now Use Case)
This is the big one.
You tell an AI agent what you want.
It finds it.
You check out right there inside the agent.
No redirect. No abandoned cart. No “where did that tab go.”
This is where PayPal is leaning in hard. And yes, we’re fully aware that OpenAI just pulled back on their Instant Checkout capability. This episode was recorded the week before that story came out, so we didn’t get an opportunity to discuss, but…
Keep in mind the ACP protocol is continuing. Copilot is still offering checkout, and we fully expect this scenario to be further built out in the future. OpenAI just wasn’t ready…. yet.
Their initial solution was really only half-baked and lacked key capabilities.
Little things like state sales taxes, for example.
You know, those small details that make millions of Shopify merchants watching the dozen or so that barely implemented Instant Checkout say, “Nah, we’re cool here.”
3. Fully Autonomous Agent‑to‑Agent Commerce
The sci‑fi version.
Your AI agent buys your essentials automatically.
You set spending limits. It handles the rest. We’re not there yet. But we’re closer than you think. You may have seen a demo or two of this, or read an article about it recently. But should you worry about supporting it as a retailer? Not quite…
Trust, Payments, and the Merchant‑of‑Record Battle
Here’s where things get spicy.
Retailers are asking the same question:
“If the AI agent handles the transaction, do I lose my customer relationship?”
Mike’s answer:
Not if you do it right.
Merchant‑of‑record models, identity verification, and payment rails become the backbone of trust in agentic commerce.
Because if shoppers don’t trust the agent, or the retailer, the whole thing collapses.
And yes, we talk about returns.
Because if an AI agent buys the wrong size boots, someone still has to deal with the fallout.
Loyalty Might Finally Get Interesting Again
Mike and Casey make a compelling point:
Loyalty programs have gotten… well… boring.
Agentic commerce might be the thing that forces retailers to innovate again.
Imagine earning loyalty points because you used an AI agent.
Or redeeming rewards directly inside an agentic checkout flow.
Suddenly loyalty becomes a competitive weapon again.
The Universal Cart: Are We There Yet?
Short answer:
Not quite.
Longer answer:
We’re closer than we’ve ever been, and agentic commerce might be the missing piece.
If you’ve ever tried to buy three items from three retailers and wished the universe would just merge them into one cart… you’re not alone. It’s why you like buying on marketplaces so much, but if the marketplace doesn’t have what you want…
Yeah, we talk about it just that scenario.
A lot. (Ricardo really wants that universal cart!)
What Retailers Should Be Doing Right Now
Mike doesn’t mince words here.
If retailers want to stay relevant in the next six months (which in agentic AI time is basically a decade), they need to:
Get their product catalogs agent‑ready
Understand the new payment and trust landscape
Prepare for multi‑LLM integration
Rethink loyalty
Stop waiting for “the dust to settle” — because it won’t
Want the Full Breakdown?
This newsletter barely scratches the surface.
Mike goes deep on:
• The future of agent‑to‑agent commerce
• How PayPal is building trust into the rails
• Why identity verification is the new currency
• What the next generation of retail leaders need to learn
• And how fast this shift is really happening
If you care about the future of retail, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.
What’s Your Take?
We’d love to hear from you:
What are your expectations for agentic commerce?
Will OpenAI’s pullback of Instant Checkout become a major setback or delay for agentic commerce? OR was this the reset retail needed to get it right?
Comment on this newsletter or join the conversation on LinkedIn! Your insights may help shape the topics we explore next.
Let’s explore the future of retail together.
Until next time! Stay sharp. Stay human. Stay ahead!
Sincerely,
Ricardo Belmar & Casey Golden
Co-hosts of The Retail Razor Show
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