5 ways AI is rewriting the rules of commerce — and how commercetools empowers retailers and brands to win

How intelligent agents are reshaping the entire commerce journey

For years, AI in commerce meant better search results, smarter recommendations and faster service. But in 2025, the boundaries have shifted. AI is no longer just a layer on top of digital commerce: It’s beginning to run it. From how products are discovered to how decisions are made and purchases are executed, AI is now driving the end-to-end experience.

That shift has real implications. The “user” is no longer always human. Sometimes, it’s an AI agent acting on behalf of a person or a team. Commerce is no longer confined to your homepage, triggered by clicks. Now, it starts in a prompt, ends in an app or a car. In fact, the entire process can be AI-driven.

To compete in today’s AI-powered marketplace, retailers and brands can’t just adopt new tools — they need a clear, enterprise-wide plan. That means rethinking every layer of their operations: How data is structured, how decisions are governed, how experiences are personalized and how transactions flow across channels.

Here are five trends reshaping commerce in the age of AI and agentic workflows — and how commercetools helps enterprises prepare for what’s next.

1. AI is becoming the first point of contact with your brand

Shoppers increasingly start their journey by describing what they want in everyday language and expecting intelligent, real-time results with AI-powered assistants like Apple Intelligence, Google Gemini or ChatGPT. These tools then interpret, recommend and initiate action. 

For businesses, meeting this expectation means more than having machine-readable product data, structured responses and APIs that agents can query directly. It requires a strategic plan for how your product catalog, inventory, orders and checkout processes will integrate into these third-party agent ecosystems — streams you don’t own or control. Without that foresight, you risk being invisible in the very channels where customer decisions are increasingly made.

2. Autonomous agents are entering the market

Deloitte predicts that about a quarter of companies already deploying generative AI are expected to pilot autonomous agent solutions this year. In commerce, this shift is already surfacing in notable ways: 

• Digital assistants that automatically compare products across retailers.
• Procurement systems that independently make recurring purchases.
• Smart algorithms that trigger timely replenishment based on predictive analytics.

That naturally introduces a new kind of buyer: The software agent. They’re fast, they’re consistent and they don’t need user interfaces. These agents require clarity around what they can access, purchase or initiate, and they expect that logic to be built into the systems they interact with. For enterprise retailers, this calls for a new kind of control plane — and new levels of platform scale requirements.  

3. Governance is becoming the AI power tool

As AI systems take on greater decision-making responsibility, especially in pricing, inventory and customer data management, governance becomes more than compliance. It’s your strongest enabler of trust and precision. Team members, systems and even agents must operate under clear constraints, with full visibility into who made which decisions and why.

That’s especially true when AI interacts with pricing, inventory, customer data or anything with regulatory or brand implications. Compliance is key, but it’s primarily about earning and keeping trust.

While 93% of organizations now use AI, turning governance into a competitive advantage still has a long way to go: Only 7% have fully embedded governance frameworks and a startling 4% feel prepared to support AI at scale. That means most companies are vulnerable to unintended outcomes, from price bias to regulatory violations.

Robust governance — spanning transparency, auditability and accountability — is non-negotiable. Weak oversight isn’t a risk you can afford, especially in regulated sectors. As businesses scale AI-powered workflows, embedding governance into your architecture ensures you preserve the trust your customers and regulators demand.

4. Personalization is evolving into experience orchestration

Personalization is going way beyond tailored recommendations — it’s becoming the orchestration of dynamic, AI-driven experiences. Shoppers now expect a level of relevance that spans content, visuals, tone and context: Imagine a product description translated in real time paired with regionally appropriate imagery and messaging that seamlessly adapts per channel. Static templates can’t sustain this level of nuance and immediacy.

For businesses, this shift means building systems that can respond with agility. Over 70% of brands agree that AI adoption will fundamentally change personalization and marketing strategies. In addition, organizations leading in personalization grow at a 10% higher annual rate and can tap into a potential $2 trillion USD in value over the next three years.

To keep pace, enterprises need real-time orchestration: Coordinated delivery of customized visuals, copy, recommendations and promotions — adapted per user, per moment. This requires systems designed for flexibility, tightly integrated with real-time data and AI models, so experiences can adjust dynamically, autonomously and immediately in response to user context. Composable systems are a great example of this.

5. Commerce is being redefined by context, not channel

Social commerce, voice interfaces and in-car shopping aren’t new. What is shifting now is the expectation that these touchpoints support full transaction flows, powered by AI and real-time infrastructure, not just discovery or redirects. 

Shoppers want to complete a transaction without being redirected. AI agents expect to access pricing and inventory in real time. And each touchpoint, whether in-app, in-car or in-store, is expected to handle the complexity of modern commerce: Promotions, bundles, loyalty, tax, fulfillment logic and so on. 

For retailers, this means meeting customers where they are with the same level of service and flexibility they expect online. For B2B sellers, it means enabling transactions across portals, procurement systems and partner networks with logic that adapts by contract, region or buyer role.

For example, Jaycar,  a leading electronics retailer, uses commercetools B2C Commerce and InStore to power omnichannel checkout experiences across web, mobile and in-store. With real-time inventory access and flexible APIs, they enable fast, consistent transactions whether a shopper is online or at the counter.

Turn AI trends into action with commercetools

AI is already reshaping how discovery happens, how purchases are made and how teams operate behind the scenes. The real question today is how to build the right foundation so it can deliver real value.

At commercetools, we help enterprises prepare for this shift at every layer of the stack. Whether you're optimizing for agent-driven discovery, testing autonomous workflows or enabling embedded commerce across industries, our platform gives you the flexibility, control and composability to adapt faster and lead with confidence.

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