How AI is about to change your online shopping experience

By Jennifer Ivanov

Research at the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business is helping shape conversations about how artificial intelligence could transform the future of online shopping.

Jan Kietzmann, professor of innovation and information systems at UVic’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, recently co-authored an article in the Harvard Business Review examining how AI shopping agents could fundamentally change the way consumers interact with digital platforms—and how companies make money online.

Kietzmann’s current research focuses on emerging technologies and their impact on organizations and society. In the article, How AI Is Threatening Platforms’ Revenue Streams, co-authored by Yuanyuan Gina Cui and Patrick van Esch, the researchers explore how “agentic AI” could reshape online commerce by allowing AI to shop on behalf of consumers.

“We’re at a bit of a fork in the road right now,” says Kietzmann. “Some people will say, ‘I hate this idea and I don’t want any part of it.’ Others can’t wait for it to begin. For them, it’s about training an AI agent and allowing it to make choices for you in all kinds of areas—from shopping to medical treatment.”

In today’s digital economy, online shopping platforms rely heavily on consumers spending time browsing websites, clicking ads and comparing products. Those interactions generate billions of dollars through advertising, subscriptions, commissions, sponsored placements and transaction fees.

But according to the researchers, that model may be on the verge of a major disruption.

Instead of shoppers scrolling through websites themselves, AI agents could soon handle much of the process automatically—instantly scanning platforms, comparing products, evaluating reviews and selecting purchases based on a user’s preferences, habits and budget. The authors describe this as “zero-click commerce,” where purchases move from intent to checkout with little or no browsing at all.

That shift could make shopping more efficient, but it may also reduce the spontaneity and discovery that traditionally shape online experiences.

“As shopping becomes more personalized and sophisticated [with AI], we may lose those moments where you casually browse without a clear destination and stumble across something unexpected,” explains Cui. “With agentic and zero-click commerce, that curiosity or serendipitous moment could start to fade away, and I don’t necessarily see that as a good thing.”

The researchers argue that the implications extend far beyond consumers. Because AI agents do not engage with ads or spend time browsing platforms the way humans do, companies that have traditionally modelled their businesses to appeal to a consumer’s emotions may need to rethink how they operate.

“Agentic AI agents will be able to draw data together from everything we do, and as a result, the filters will be much clearer and will be much more based on personalized shopping rather than segment-oriented shopping,” Kietzmann explains. “It will make recommendations because it knows your calendar, your email, your browsing behaviour—it has a clear idea of what you're going through in your life.”

“When we first started looking at this, our initial discussions were around how this was going to impact not only mom-and-pop businesses but also giants like Google, Amazon and Spotify,” adds Cui. “They survive and thrive based on user attention, subscription fees, advertising revenues and platform lock-in. When you think about the way AI is already being used to authorize payments, it’s already affecting our wallets. It really points to a major shift away from the platform revenue stream.”

Business leaders need to prepare for change

Big businesses like Google, Walmart and Amazon are already investing heavily in AI-powered shopping tools and assistants, but the path forward may be more challenging for smaller businesses.

“You’ve really got to understand, as a business, what distinguishes your product. You need to be agent ready,” explains Cui. “You need to make sure that everything that you're offering can be extracted by an AI agent. What is the value proposition that cannot be replaced by AI? What's something that's really worthy of being celebrated and makes you so unique that the agent selects your business every time?”

“I suppose the future depends on what the leaders of these platforms decide they want to do about it,” adds Kietzmann. “Initially, there might be some big court cases challenging the technology. Others may try to build their own agents. The big ones, with deep pockets, might be able to survive a little longer, but eventually, everybody will need to figure out how to optimize for agentic clients rather than human clients.”

As AI becomes more integrated into everyday life and business, the researchers say organizations can no longer afford to treat it as a distant possibility. Consumers are already using AI tools to make decisions and act on their behalf, meaning companies that fail to adapt risk losing not only their competitive edge, but also the very foundations of their business models.

Supporting impactful research

Research at the Gustavson School of Business plays an important role in driving innovation, tackling real-world challenges and creating opportunities for collaboration and learning.

“Research has great value,” says Kietzmann. “Not only does it help our reputation externally, it also helps the focus internally. It generates interesting conversations among people in the hallway and leads to new collaborations and ideas.”

Kietzmann has been a professor at Gustavson for nearly a decade. His research explores innovation and the societal impact of emerging technologies. His publications can be found on Google Scholar.