An artificial intelligence-driven "shopping revolution" is quietly emerging, which could fundamentally transform how consumers interact with brands.

In recent months, leading AI companies including OpenAI, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Perplexity have launched new features. These AI systems can understand user needs through chatbots, search for products, and even complete orders on behalf of users, transforming the shopping experience from tedious web browsing to direct conversations with AI.

This shift directly impacts traditional online marketing models. Brands and advertisers are urgently adopting new optimization techniques to ensure their products can be "seen" and recommended by AI systems. Meanwhile, market data confirms this trend: Gartner's analysis predicts that traditional search engine traffic will decline by 25% next year due to the rise of generative AI.

This suggests that the value chain in the e-commerce sector is being restructured. Future leaders may no longer be e-commerce platforms with the most traffic, but companies that master the most efficient and trusted AI agent technologies, with the entire industry's profit models and competitive landscape facing a reshuffle.

Tech Giants Compete for AI Shopping Agents

AI companies are rapidly commercializing shopping scenarios.

OpenAI has released its updated shopping system "Agent" and plans to take a commission directly from merchandise sales completed through its platform by introducing integrated payment functionality in ChatGPT. Alphabet has launched a new "AI mode" and product price tracker, with Product Vice President Lilian Rincon stating that this move aims to save consumers "time and effort."

Additionally, Perplexity and Microsoft have also respectively launched AI tools with similar shopping task processing capabilities.

Brand Marketing Logic Restructuring

The rise of AI agents is forcing brands to relearn how to "be seen."

Data shows that nearly 60% of European Alphabet searches no longer generate clicks, with users instead relying on AI-generated summary information. To address this change, marketers are beginning to adopt new strategies.

Forrester analyst Nikhil Lai points out that brands need to focus more on product description specificity and optimize technical details such as website loading speeds. Meanwhile, "semantic search" has emerged, with users describing needs in broader language, such as "clothing suitable for weddings in southern France," requiring brands to reorganize product catalogs to match new search styles.

Controlling Consumer Choice?

In the future, the location where transactions occur may shift from brand websites and e-commerce platforms to AI chatbots.

Dimi Albers, CEO of media agency company Dept, believes that brands need to prepare for a world where transactions occur on third-party platforms.

However, this convenience also comes with risks. John Bruce from Inrupt, a company co-founded by World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, warns that AI agents could lead to "stores and brands no longer being important," with systems filtering products for users, essentially limiting consumer choice.

He states: "Today you give up the choice of a pair of shoes for convenience, who knows what you'll give up tomorrow?"