AI in retail is no longer just about automation. It’s about creating smarter, more personalized, and seamlessly connected shopping experiences, ones that fundamentally redefine how customers discover, decide, and buy.
As Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, aptly puts it:
“AI is becoming transformative for our business, and we really haven’t had a technology revolution as large as this since the start of the internet.”
From Features to Intelligence-Led Commerce
Ecommerce technology has evolved rapidly. We’ve moved from early innovations like chatbots, AR/VR trials, and Wi-Fi–powered devices such as Amazon Dash buttons, to a far more sophisticated era, one driven by artificial intelligence in ecommerce.
Today’s online stores are powered by AI agents, drone delivery services, hyper-personalization, cashier-less retail, and data-driven insights that influence real-time decision-making. The modern ecommerce landscape is no longer defined by isolated features, but by AI-first, intelligence-led experiences.
How Retail Leaders Are Using AI in Ecommerce
Top retailers like Walmart and Amazon have already embedded AI assistants directly into their ecommerce websites and apps, Sparky and Rufus, respectively. In October 2025, Walmart further reinforced its AI strategy by partnering with OpenAI, signaling a clear shift toward more intelligent, conversational shopping experiences.
This evolution isn’t limited to retail giants alone.
AI is now a core layer across popular COTS ecommerce platforms. IBM was an early pioneer, integrating Watson with IBM WebSphere Commerce as early as 2015. Since then, the ecosystem has expanded rapidly with platform-native AI solutions such as:
- Einstein (Salesforce)
- Sensei (Adobe)
- Loomi (Bloomreach)
- Joule (SAP)
These platforms embed AI deeply into search, personalization, merchandising, ecommerce virtual assistants, and AI-driven workflow automation for ecommerce.
The Rise of Agentic AI in Retail
Over the past year, Agentic AI in retail has fundamentally changed how online shopping works, for both customers and retailers.
For shoppers, AI agents can:
- Compare prices across sites
- Apply the best available coupons
- Automatically purchase recurring needs, such as a weekly grocery list
For retailers, AI agents enable:
- Dynamic pricing based on demand and competition
- Smart restocking driven by trend analysis
- Instant resolution of customer support tickets
Customer journeys are also shifting, from keywords to natural conversations.
Instead of searching for “Milk” or “Diapers”, shoppers now express goals like:
“I’m hosting a themed birthday party for my 7-year-old this Saturday. I have a $100 budget. Can you handle decorations and goody bags and deliver by Friday?”
The shift is clear: from browsing lists of products to expecting solutions, recipes, bundles, carts, and instructions, built by AI agents for ecommerce, rather than manually clicking “Add to Cart.”
Google’s Open Standard for Agent-Powered Commerce
Google recently announced a community-driven open standard, Universal Control Protocol (UCP), designed to integrate retailer checkouts directly with Google Gemini.
With UCP:
- AI agents can guide customers across any brand’s ecommerce website
- The entire ecommerce flow, from product discovery to cart management and checkout, becomes agent-assisted
- Shopping shifts from navigation-heavy journeys to conversational, intent-led ecommerce experiences
More on UCP, along with key AI innovations in ecommerce unveiled at the recently concluded NRF (National Retail Federation) event, coming up in Part 2.