Observed Signal · Mar 26, 2026 · Conference Commentary · Source: Adweek · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
E.l.f.: AI Answer Engines Changing How People Shop
Industry voices at Shoptalk 2026 debate how generative AI and agentic systems will reshape commerce and retail media. Scot Wingo, co-founder and CEO of ReFiBuy, predicted onstage that 10% of commerce could be fully agentic by 2030. Retail media analyst Andrew Lipsman strongly disagreed, arguing that while large language models and AI-driven “answer engines” are collapsing parts of the traditional marketing funnel and changing product discovery, fully agentic bot-to-bot commerce is unlikely and shoppers will still move through funnel stages from awareness to purchase. The exchange highlights ongoing uncertainty about the pace and extent of AI-driven changes to ecommerce, retail media and marketing workflows.
Highlights an industry debate about agentic AI's potential to change commerce and retail media; signals direction of thinking but contains no major platform product launches or policy changes.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Comments were made onstage at Shoptalk 2026 in Las Vegas.
- Scot Wingo, co-founder and CEO of ReFiBuy, said 10% of commerce will be fully agentic by 2030.
- Retail media analyst Andrew Lipsman disputed that prediction, saying truly agentic "bot-to-bot" commerce is unlikely.
- The discussion centered on how large language models and generative AI are changing product discovery and compressing the traditional marketing funnel.
Connected Companies & Entities
2 Entities mappedOntology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
AI Becomes Our Shopping Adviser
The article examines how generative AI and chat assistants have shifted product discovery from a menu of options to a single recommended answer, changing who does the deliberation work in shopping. Surveys cited (Clutch, Klaviyo, Riskified) show widespread consumer use of AI for product research and notable shares acting on recommendations. Major platforms and retailers are moving toward "agentic" commerce: OpenAI experimented with checkout and began showing labelled sponsored messages in early 2026; Amazon’s assistant narrows choices and can now buy under set rules; Google announced a commerce standard at NRF with retailers and payment firms. The piece highlights emerging practices such as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) / Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), growing sponsored placements inside chat replies, trust issues (automation bias, mixed survey trust), and broader market effects including concentration of spend around the names AI surfaces.
AI Revolutionizes E-Commerce: The Rise of Agentic Shopping
An Adweek feature profiles six GEO startups (including Adthena and Profound) that are influencing the development of AI-driven shopping. The article says businesses are preparing for an era of "agentic commerce," where AI agents purchase on consumers' behalf, but notes that this is not yet happening at scale. Today, LLM-powered AI answer engines — such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode and Gemini — are guiding consumers toward purchases but have driven only a fractional share of e-commerce sales. Similarweb found that between August 2025 and January, AI answer engines sent 49.5 million visitors to the e-commerce sites of five major retailers (Amazon, Walmart, Target, Temu and eBay), with Amazon capturing 28% of that traffic and Walmart 27%. The piece outlines that multiple scenarios for future agentic commerce are emerging.
Agentic Storefronts Drive Conversational, AI-Led Commerce
A sponsored State of the Industry report by Glossy and Swap finds brands, retailers and agencies are rapidly adopting "agentic" commerce—AI agents and agentic storefronts that guide shoppers from discovery to purchase. The survey of 80 industry respondents reports high AI adoption (90%), substantial experimentation with agentic storefronts (70% experimenting, 40% actively deploying), and a mix of internal and third‑party implementations. Respondents cite data requirements, ROI measurement and cost as leading challenges, while early results (higher conversions, longer time on site, reduced returns) suggest meaningful business impact. The article references multiple industry estimates projecting large market opportunity for agentic AI through 2030.
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