The Agentic Commerce Paradox: It’s Already Here, and it’s Also Still Evolving

AI-powered agentic commerce, while still representing just a small fraction of all retail sales, has been growing so quickly that that fact is likely to change — and soon. In fact, that’s the one constant about AI: it’s changing, practically every day.

That was apparent at Shoptalk last month, with AI facts, data and opinions shared in virtually every session. One of the few points of consensus is that AI will shake up retail in ways that might be even more significant than other watershed developments, like the birth of ecommerce or the iPhone introduction that led to mobile commerce’s growth.

And not only will AI’s impact be bigger, but it will take place in a much shorter time frame. Agentic commerce, the latest phase in AI-powered shopping, also has the potential to radically reshape retail. In fact, agentic commerce is making demands on retailers and brands in terms of richer product data and AI discoverability.

To vastly oversimplify, it’s no longer simply about SEO (search engine optimization); it’s also about GEO (generative engine optimization). Agentic commerce isn’t “experimenting and pilots any more — it’s here, it’s active and it’s being seen,” said Kelly Moran, Managing Director, Deloitte Digital during a Shoptalk session.

“These are real-world use cases that are active and in place.” Retail Industry Leads in AI-Powered Traffic Growth It’s certainly true that AI growth rates have been staggering. While every industry tracked by Adobe saw an AI traffic boost in Q1, retail led in growth by a wide margin, rising 393% year-over-year. Travel, in contrast, grew “only” 233%.

A March 2026 Adobe Consumer Survey revealed that 39% of consumers have used AI assistants for online shopping, with 85% of those who use AI saying that these assistants have improved their online shopping experience.

This growth has been providing real-world bottom-line results: Adobe reported that one year ago, AI-referred visitors converted at nearly half the rate of non-AI traffic, but in March 2026, they converted 42% more, reflecting how AI assistants have evolved from a browsing tool to a purchase driver.

A similarly dramatic reversal was seen in AI-driven Revenue Per Visit (RPV): in March 2025 RPV for non-AI-driven visits generated 128% more revenue than AI-driven ones; by March 2026, AI traffic was outstripping non-AI traffic by 37%.

However, to put these figures in perspective, AI’s impact on total digital commerce sales remains low, according to Kapil Dabi, America’s Market Lead, Global Industries and Solutions, Retail and Consumer at Google. “Agentic commerce is growing, but it still represents a miniscule amount of total digital commerce sales,” he said.

“It’s not even 2% at this point.” Agentic Commerce in Action Home improvement retailers have been some of the earliest adopters of agentic commerce, including Lowe’s, which introduced its Mylow customer-facing AI-powered app in March 2025.

“Mylow offers agentic shopping — customers can check their order status and discover products but they also can ask how to paint their cabinets, what plants work in their zip code, what kitchen designs are trending in their area,” said Joe Cano, SVP Digital Commerce at Lowe’s during a Shoptalk session.

“We’ve injected not just product information but also content articles, 4,000 or 5,000 of them. We’ve seen engagement increasing every month, and these customers are converting at a 2X rate compared to non-Mylow shoppers.”

Lowe’s wants its associates to be as well-informed as its customers, and Mylow is the tool for this purpose as well: “Every single associate now has access to the entire database via Mylow,” noted Cano. “They’re looking at problems and using agentic AI to help.”

Lowe’s competitor The Home Depot introduced the Magic Apron AI assistant in March 2025, and the retailer has been fine-tuning the customer experience on an ongoing basis. “Customers want to be helped in the right moment, by the right tool,” said Jordan Broggi, EVP Customer Experience and President of Online, The Home Depot during a Shoptalk session.

Magic Apron “asks questions in a conversational way, but we don’t want to make it too intrusive. It’s a balance, and what we constantly ask ourselves is, is this a helpful experience?”

Rising Trust in AI Likely to Expand Agentic Usage It’s important to note that consumers’ use of agentic AI tools also is shifting, as greater familiarity and higher trust levels lead them to delegate more elements of their shopper journey to the agent.

Bret Taylor, Co-founder and CEO of Sierra and Chairman of the board at OpenAI, described a recent experience using ChatGPT to plan a trip to Copenhagen, a city he had never previously visited. “ChatGPT planned everything,” including transportation, lodging, entertainment suggestions, etc. , said Taylor during a Shoptalk session.

“It acted as a personal agent, but I didn’t have it fulfill all those transactions, as I might do in the future. In fact, there’s a large class of purchases i