Europe’s consumers will be faced with a major innovation in online retail in 2026: the introduction of AI agents who can carry out shopping orders, holiday bookings and the like largely independently.
“We will see the first pilot next year,” says Pascal Beij, chief commercial officer at payment service provider Unzer. AI providers, large US technology companies, credit card companies, but also travel and other online portals are making preparations. “That will definitely happen.”
In the tech industry, the further development is called “agentic AI”. But how does this differ from the usual generative AI? Currently, ChatGPT and other AI models answer questions and generate text, images and sound at the direction of their users. In online shopping, the functions have so far been largely limited to answering questions and providing help with product searches.
AI agents can shop almost autonomously
AI purchasing agents, on the other hand, will also be able to order and pay, including time-consuming tasks. An example: planning a family vacation by booking flights, hotels and train tickets. “Technically, this will work in such a way that users will deposit their payment details with the respective company, but will always have to give the final “go” for the payment to be approved,” says Beij.
Agentic AI could have a market share of 20 to 30 percent in online retail in three to five years. “It is completely unclear whether and who will become dominant in the end,” says Beij. One company that has completed its preparations is an international major power in payment technology: the US company Visa, best known as a credit card issuer. “We have already carried out hundreds of transactions in the USA. This will happen in Germany and Europe over the next year,” says Germany boss Tobias Czekalla.
The next revolution?
He compares the innovation to the start of e-commerce in the 1990s. “Now we are on the threshold of the next revolution,” says the manager. “This is the first time in history that machines are shopping for people.” However, people always have the last word.
In surveys, however, many consumers have so far been more than just skeptical. In a survey by the retail research institute IFH, 60 percent of those surveyed said that they could imagine having support from an AI shopping agent when shopping. However, only nine percent would let AI handle the entire purchase process, including payment.
If retail and the financial sector want to help AI purchasing agents achieve a breakthrough, they must overcome this negative attitude. “The key point is trust,” says Visa Germany boss Czekalla. “Customers need to know that this works simply, safely and reliably.”
Prevention against manipulation
Accordingly, Visa and other providers take extensive security precautions. Both consumers and retailers want to be convinced that AI is not playing tricks. Visa, for example, checks every AI agent, as Czekalla says. And the operators of online shops and portals want to make sure that there is really a human behind the AI agent making the purchase. “By exchanging cryptographic keys, we ensure that there are no malicious bots at work.”
Naturally, the use of agentic AI will not be limited to retail or tourism. “This is of course not only suitable for private customers, but also for companies’ B2B business,” says Czekalla. It is a given in the IT world that AI agents will take on a wide range of tasks in completely different industries in the future, from production planning in a factory to securities trading.
An opportunity for medium-sized businesses
According to the payment service provider Unzer, in retail it is by no means only large corporations that will benefit from the development. “The use of Agentic AI offers medium-sized companies the great opportunity to be seen in online retail without a huge advertising budget,” says Beij.
“But to do this, the website must be optimized for AI-driven search engines: The product descriptions should be very precise and detailed. The better the product description, the easier it is to be found.” The reviews and posts on discussion forums like Reddit also poured in. “Objectivity will play a greater role. AI can therefore function as a kind of trust pilot in purchasing.”
Hesitant dealers could get lost
The development will change both the customer and retail side, says Bernd Ohlmann, spokesman for the Bavarian Trade Association in Munich. “AI is a huge opportunity for small and large companies alike.” However, in Ohlmann’s opinion, this is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed: “If you don’t jump on the bandwagon, you can quickly get under the wheels and lose customers and therefore sales.”
Artificial intelligence has already changed shopping behavior, comparison portals and search engines are becoming less important. The survey by the retail research institute IFH Cologne shows: Around two thirds of consumers see advantages such as time savings and better recommendations in using AI chatbots. Almost half are convinced that they can find better prices and offers this way.
AI providers as shopping portals?
“With ChatGPT and Co., new competitors are emerging who want to capture product searches and convert them directly into purchases,” says IFH expert Ralf Deckers. “As a result, online shops end up in the role of shelf space that is simply walked through in search of products.” Deckers sees the biggest hurdle in storing the payment data: “Many people don’t want to hand the AI their wallet, but rather make the final purchase decision themselves.”
However, according to a survey by the digital industry association Bitkom, the younger generation is less skeptical: According to this, 43 percent of 16 to 29 year olds would let the AI do their shopping alone.