Edition 004 | November 2025
You're reading IF/Then by IFGlobal, the monthly newsletter for brands who don't compromise. For every what if, there's a then. If you're building your brand, then we're building with you. If you want scale, then you need strategy. If you're ready to grow, then this is where it starts.
The next frontier of ecommerce isn’t just personalisation, it’s delegation.
Autonomous AI agents are now performing shopping tasks for consumers; from researching products, comparing prices and even making purchases on their behalf. These digital shoppers don’t sleep, don’t get distracted, and act with the precise preferences of their human owners. This shift is redefining how people buy, and how brands must sell.
According to Omnisend, 55% of UK consumers use AI chatbots to help them when shopping online. With 31% of consumers now preferring to search for products with AI versus 21% who prefer legacy search engines, this stat also highlights a significant shift toward broad, unbiased results (adMarketplace).
These aren’t predictions for the future. They’re emerging consumer habits shaping the next wave of ecommerce. Brands that fail to adapt to agentic commerce risk becoming invisible to the very shoppers they aim to reach... both human and machine.
A landmark change just arrived in the US. ChatGPT now enables direct purchases within chat.
ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free users can now buy from US Etsy sellers without ever leaving the conversation, and integrations with over a million Shopify merchants, including Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, and Vuori, are on the way.
A shopper might ask ChatGPT, “Find me a minimalist gold necklace under $100,” and instead of linking out, ChatGPT can recommend, display, and complete the checkout all within the conversation window.
This new model is powered by OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, co-developed with Stripe and major retailers. It’s an open framework that allows AI agents, consumers, and merchants to transact securely, paving the way for a world where any brand can plug into AI-driven shopping flows.
For consumers, this means smooth, conversational commerce. For brands, it unlocks access to hundreds of millions of potential buyers who increasingly start (and now finish) their shopping journeys inside AI environments.
The entire commerce stack is being redefined around conversational buying and autonomous checkout. And the brands that act early can position themselves at the forefront of this, building discoverability, trust and transactional readiness where attention now lives.
Autonomous agents change the shopping journey from reactive browsing to proactive engagement. Instead of humans scrolling through endless options, AI evaluates features, prices, availability and reviews, narrowing choices before a customer even sees them.
Imagine an AI agent curating skincare products based on a shopper’s past purchases, ingredient preferences, and subscription timing. Now extend that thinking across industries.
For brands, this new ecosystem means your product must be AI-ready. That means easily identifiable, contextually relevant, and optimised for both human appeal and algorithmic recognition. Discoverability isn’t just about SEO - it’s about training the machines that will shop on behalf of your customers.
"Discoverability isn't just about SEO anymore. Brands need to train the machines that will shop on behalf of their customers, and adapt to be part of that decision-making loop or risk being bypassed entirely. Agentic commerce is shifting the focus, and we're seeing consumers delegating decisions to AI more and more." - Ryan Grimshaw, Head of Marketing and Communications at IFGlobal.
AI agents don’t buy emotionally; they buy efficiently. That’s why brand strategy now has to work on two levels; delighting human customers while also signalling value to autonomous agents. Done well, agentic commerce turns automated decisions into long-term brand loyalty.
For agentic commerce to work at scale, brands must make sure their fulfilment operation is machine-friendly.
Agentic commerce doesn’t eliminate the human experience of shopping. It elevates it. By removing friction and noise, it gives customers more time to enjoy the outcomes of their choices. For ecommerce brands, the mission is clear; be discoverable to AI, delightful to humans, and ready for both.
Book a discovery call to find out how we can help you with scalable fulfilment operations, whether the order comes from a loyal customer or autonomous AI agents.
There's still time to register for the South Coast eCommerce Meet-Up, a networking event for ecommerce professionals from the UK’s South Coast. Join us and hosts Real Agency at The Bournemouth Stable on Thursday 13th November to meet like-minded ecommerce professionals, exchange ideas, and discover how IFGlobal can support your brand’s growth.
You'll also find us at...
📍 Dreamland - Sponsored by Shopify - 5 Nov | 83 Rivington Street, London
📍 Organic Trade Association Conference - 6 Nov | The Barbican Centre, London
📍 Retail Supply Chain & Logistics Expo - 12 Nov | Excel London
📍 CoCreate 2025 by Alibaba.com - 14 Nov | InterContinental London
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