Robin Gustafsson,
CEO Avensia Information Management
AI is transforming e-commerce at every stage of the customer journey, from research to purchase. During the holiday Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping event, one of our clients saw 60% of their webshop traffic coming from bots, with ChatGPT leading the way. This is partially due to retailers that have begun to integrate AI directly into their webshops, with AI agents like Amazon Rufus, which function as personal shoppers within the retailer’s ecosystem.
In the long run, AI will shift further into the hands of consumers, evolving from retailer-controlled assistants to highly personalized “butlers.” These AI-driven assistants will understand a user’s full context—wardrobe, interior design preferences, dietary habits, and more—allowing them to offer more informed and relevant recommendations than any personal shopper ever could.
This shift means the power of product presentation will move away from retailers, bypassing traditional webshops. Instead, product discovery and recommendations will be dynamically generated in the consumer’s personal context by their AI “butler.” The rise of agentic browsers marks the beginning of this transition. As a result, the art of influencing customers will no longer rely on compelling website design but on precise, structured data. For retailers, this signals a shift in investment priorities—from web development to advanced data management solutions.
Today, more than half of shoppers abandon a purchase when they can’t find sufficient information about it online. With agentic browsers, this number could essentially reach 100%. The risk of poor or incomplete e-commerce data is incredibly high.
Here’s an example of how transactions may transpire in the not-too-distant future:
You’re redecorating your living room. Your AI butler already has a sense of your space—its layout and color scheme—based on your photos. It can know your room dimensions and placement of furniture from data it gathered from your automated floor sweeper. Next, you show the butler some inspiration—perhaps from influencers, social media, or even ask it to generate suggestions based on your personal taste. You set your budget and specify that you want everything completed by late March.
The butler then curates a selection of potential redesigns, complete with product recommendations that align with your vision. These suggestions are presented through text, images, and even videos. As you review and provide feedback, the AI refines its recommendations, adjusting for budget constraints and estimated delivery times—all while staying within the parameters you set.
Once you finalize your choices, the butler seamlessly handles the purchasing process, ensuring that deliveries arrive at optimal times to minimize storage needs. It can even coordinate the resale of any furniture or decor you no longer need, making the transition as smooth as possible.
For retailers, this shift means that success no longer depends on how products are presented on their own platforms. The recommendations are made without a human shopper ever visiting. The only interaction on the website might be the transaction at the cart.
So in addition to maintain their online content for those browsing, they also must focus on complete, accurate, high-quality product information at the core—detailed images, 3D models, textures, dimensions, weights, pricing, discounts, and logistics details. As shoppers consolidate and focus their buying around AI-enhanced agents, retailers also must ensure their information is accessible to these agents.
While the shopper may remain in control of how they search for and buy items, those businesses that can make their data easily accessible and AI-friendly will have a competitive edge. In this new landscape, data quality will be the key to remaining relevant.
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