NRF: Agentic Commerce – from concept to commercial reality

At NRF Big Show in New York, agentic commerce emerged as more than a futuristic talking point.

Agentic Commerce – from concept to reality

The event revealed a retail and payments industry actively preparing for AI systems that do more than recommend products — they initiate, decide and transact on behalf of consumers.

The presence of Sundar Pichai underscored the strategic importance of the moment. Announcements from Google and Walmart framed agentic AI not as an experiment, but as a competitive battleground that could reshape digital commerce.

From Assisted Shopping to Autonomous Execution

Retailers and payments leaders agreed that consumers are already using AI in meaningful ways, but primarily as an assistive layer.

AI tools help compare prices, summarise reviews and surface options, while humans still make the final purchasing decision.

The shift now underway is towards autonomous execution, where AI agents complete transactions with minimal human intervention.

Microsoft highlighted this direction by enabling purchases directly through its Copilot assistant, while OpenAI reinforced its ambitions through retail partnerships, including its work with Target.

These initiatives point toward “zero-click buying”, where discovery, decision and payment converge into a single conversational flow.

Payments Infrastructure Is the Missing Link

Despite the excitement, industry voices were candid about the gap between today’s experiences and truly native agentic commerce.

According to executives at Visa, most current implementations rely on bilateral integrations that resemble conventional e-commerce journeys.

True agentic commerce requires agents that can securely navigate the open web, authenticate intent and initiate payments without breaking trust or regulatory compliance.

This places payments infrastructure at the centre of the transformation.

Consent management, identity verification, liability frameworks and dispute resolution must all evolve to support delegated purchasing.

Without these foundations, autonomous agents cannot scale beyond controlled environments.

Trust as the Adoption Constraint

Consumer trust emerged as the principal constraint on speed.

Surveys cited during the event showed strong interest in AI-assisted shopping, but reluctance to hand over full transactional control.

The distinction is critical: confidence in recommendations does not automatically translate into confidence in autonomous spending.

Retailers and payments firms therefore face a dual challenge.

Internally, organisations must prepare staff, systems and governance models for agent-driven commerce.

Externally, they must demonstrate transparency, explainability and safeguards that reassure consumers their money and data remain protected.

A Structural Shift, Not a Passing Trend

Agentic commerce dominated NRF not because it was flashy, but because it addressed a structural shift in how digital interactions are organised.

As shopping moves from search-based interfaces to conversational agents, control over payments, data and trust becomes the defining strategic asset.

The message from New York was unmistakable: agentic commerce is no longer speculative. The race is now about execution, infrastructure and credibility — and payments sits squarely at the heart of all three.