Retail media companies have built advertising businesses on first-party shopping data, including searches, purchases, considered products and likely future purchases. The article says agentic commerce could change how consumers shop: instead of browsing stores themselves, customers may ask AI agents to find running shoes under $150, replenish household essentials with sustainable options or book a family-friendly hotel in Singapore for four nights. The agent can search, compare, filter and potentially buy, leaving retailers outside the initial product discovery.

Retailers’ purchase-intent data has helped them connect advertising exposure to sales, but an AI assistant comparing products across ten retailers could become the customer’s first point of discovery. Reuters reported in August 2026 that retailers were seeing growing shopping traffic from AI platforms while trying to protect direct customer relationships and data. AI-referred traffic was becoming commercially meaningful, while retailers still had an incentive to bring shoppers back to their own sites.

To serve AI agents, retailers may need product information that machines can reliably interpret and compare, including price, availability, size, attributes, delivery dates, return policies, ratings, promotions, compatibility, stock levels and transaction terms. Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol in January 2026 as an open standard for agentic commerce across discovery, purchasing and post-purchase experiences. The article says this reflects a shift toward making products understandable to machines as well as appealing to people.

AI shopping agents may prioritize whether products meet a customer’s requirements over advertising images or headlines. A product with accurate pricing, clear specifications, strong reviews, reliable availability and flexible returns could compare favorably against one with aggressive ads but incomplete information. The article does not say advertising will disappear; it says advertising may become more connected to the quality of commerce data.

Retailers still own products, fulfillment relationships, customer service, loyalty programs and transaction history, and may retain trust built through established customer relationships. They face a strategic choice over which parts of the customer relationship remain direct and which are mediated by AI. The article frames agentic commerce as a broader system for influencing and enabling decisions in automated shopping, requiring coordination across advertising, commerce, product, technology, data and customer experience teams.

Retail media companies have built advertising businesses on first-party shopping data, including searches, purchases, considered products and likely future purchases. The article says agentic commerce could change how consumers shop: instead of browsing stores themselves, customers may ask AI agents to find running shoes under $150, replenish household essentials with sustainable options or book a family-friendly hotel in Singapore for four nights. The agent can search, compare, filter and potentially buy, leaving retailers outside the initial product discovery.

Retailers’ purchase-intent data has helped them connect advertising exposure to sales, but an AI assistant comparing products across ten retailers could become the customer’s first point of discovery. Reuters reported in August 2026 that retailers were seeing growing shopping traffic from AI platforms while trying to protect direct customer relationships and data. AI-referred traffic was becoming commercially meaningful, while retailers still had an incentive to bring shoppers back to their own sites.

To serve AI agents, retailers may need product information that machines can reliably interpret and compare, including price, availability, size, attributes, delivery dates, return policies, ratings, promotions, compatibility, stock levels and transaction terms. Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol in January 2026 as an open standard for agentic commerce across discovery, purchasing and post-purchase experiences. The article says this reflects a shift toward making products understandable to machines as well as appealing to people.

AI shopping agents may prioritize whether products meet a customer’s requirements over advertising images or headlines. A product with accurate pricing, clear specifications, strong reviews, reliable availability and flexible returns could compare favorably against one with aggressive ads but incomplete information. The article does not say advertising will disappear; it says advertising may become more connected to the quality of commerce data.

Retailers still own products, fulfillment relationships, customer service, loyalty programs and transaction history, and may retain trust built through established customer relationships. They face a strategic choice over which parts of the customer relationship remain direct and which are mediated by AI. The article frames agentic commerce as a broader system for influencing and enabling decisions in automated shopping, requiring coordination across advertising, commerce, product, technology, data and customer experience teams.