uppr

Agentic Commerce: Preparing for AI Buyers

Marcel Schöne, founder and Managing Director of the performance-partnership agency Uppr, argues that increasing use of AI agents to search for and purchase products—so-called agentic commerce—is already reshaping the customer journey. In this guest commentary published on June 29, 2026 in HORIZONT, Schöne explains that marketing and e‑commerce teams must adapt their strategies, data practices and product information to be discoverable and actionable for autonomous agents. The piece frames the shift as a paradigm change that requires operational preparation across commerce, search visibility, and governance rather than incremental changes to existing marketing tactics.

AI Amplifies Affiliate Marketing's Scaling Risks

The article argues that affiliate marketing, long valued for data-driven efficiency, has become overly focused on low cost-per-order (CPO) and short-term scaling, eroding trust and strategic relevance. Generative AI intensifies existing problems by enabling automated content, large volumes of low-quality publisher pages, synthetic or unclear traffic sources, and opaque partner programs. The author warns AI acts as an accelerator of these systemic weaknesses rather than a fix and calls for institutional governance. As a solution, the piece outlines a Performance Partnership Governance (PPG) framework—including a modern Code of Conduct, an independent governance board, mandatory training and integrity clauses, strict risk management with sanctions, and continuous governance checks—to restore accountability, transparency and long-term value in affiliate ecosystems. The article cites Amazon's prior intervention against AI-generated self-publishing as a comparable precedent.

easy Marketing: Innovating AdTech Since 2010

easy Marketing GmbH is a Dortmund-based provider of tracking technologies and online-marketing solutions, operating since 2010 with a mix of office and home‑office work. The company develops software for affiliate networks and web analytics and names product lines such as easy.AFFILIATE and easy.ANALYTICS. easy Marketing cites enterprise customers and partners including Otto, MediaMarktSaturn, the agency uppr, and Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg as users of its systems. The About page lists the company’s core team (sales, technical leadership, account managers, developers, ops and finance) and invites candidates to join. The content is a company profile page describing history, core offerings, notable customers and the staff roster rather than a news event or product launch.