As our new research reports outline, brands can prepare for the agentic future by relying on their commerce marketing past.
By Amy Andrews, Mars United Commerce
The more I learn about this new agentic shopping phenomenon, the more similarities I see to the existing ways that people shop and marketers engage with them.
Mars United teamed with the industry analysts at EMARKETER and our colleagues at Publicis Commerce in early 2026 to survey 1,110 consumers about their use of conversational search agents and how they feel about the experience so far. (You can find the report here.)
We already know that adoption rates for agentic search are climbing. Amazon says that its internal search engine, Rufus, has been used by 300 million shoppers globally. Industry-wide, it’s estimated by various sources that 20% to 25% of consumers are already using agents — and as many as 70% are interested in using them for shopping assistance, according to PYMNTS.
As the report notes, the question of whether agentic search is having an impact on commerce has already been answered. We wanted to dig deeper to better understand how deep the impact might already be, to learn exactly how — and how often — these early adopters are interacting with agents.
While we may not have been surprised by what we learned, we were impressed: early adopters are already using the technology for more than 40% of their shopping trips, and 20% of them are starting their trips there.
“AI influences consumers at every stage of the path to purchase,” the report states. It’s enabling product discovery that many respondents consider to be more unbiased than retailer-owned platforms. It’s simplifying consideration, reducing time and effort by eliminating many of the steps often required for product evaluation. It’s helping make purchase decisions — with roughly 15% of respondents labeling agents as the primary decision-maker. And yes, it’s even facilitating on-platform purchases for 10% of early adopters.
Shopper behavior is clearly changing, and brands need to develop an effective strategic response. But as I review the report, it also seems clear that several fundamental aspects of commerce marketing and shopper engagement are still playing a critical role:
1. Agentic shoppers are still buying from retailers.
The vast majority of AI-inspired purchases (82%) among respondents takes place through existing retailer-operated channels: mobile apps (36.0%), websites (33%), and even physical stores (14%). It’s worth noting that some of these digitally focused, early adopters sometimes head to a store to buy the products recommended by an agent.
“In the near term, AI’s role in the path to purchase remains upstream. It shapes discovery, compresses consideration, and nudges brand choice, while retailer ecosystems continue to control the transaction itself,” says the report. “Despite its growing influence, AI rarely operates in isolation. Instead, it functions as one input within a broader decision-making process, rather than a closed loop from discovery to checkout.”
2. Digital shelf optimization is still critical.
Sure, 28% of respondents are relying on agents to help make their decisions, and another 23% are getting actionable recommendations from them. But where do the agents get their information? From the same sources that are already driving both shopper decisions and organic search results: brand content on product detail pages and elsewhere online.
We also just released a report with our Public Commerce colleagues at Profitero+ that finds the most effective way for a brand to improve its recommendation rate on Amazon’s agentic search agent is to intensify its digital shelf optimization efforts. We’re confident this finding is applicable across all agentic search agents. (You can find the Decoding Rufus report here.)
What’s more, 60% of respondents to the EMARKETER study say they still conduct their own research after getting the agent’s recommendation — reading reviews, visiting retailer sites, and confirming product details elsewhere. And nearly one-third (29%) of them immediately navigate to a retailer PDP.
“Before agentic commerce scales, brands need to get the fundamentals right: clear product data, consistent positioning, credible third-party validation, and a strong digital shelf,” concludes the EMARKETER report. “These basics determine whether AI can accurately interpret and recommend a brand in the first place.”
3. Brand equity still matters.
Brand trust has always been a critical aspect of the purchase decision, and marketing has always been a key driver of brand trust. The study strongly suggests that both of these facts hold true.
Yes, 49% of respondents say they would consider switching to a different brand or product if an agent recommends one. But an equal 49% say they’re more likely to trust the agent’s product recommendation if they’re already familiar with the item. So the equity that a brand has previously built, and the relationships it has established with shoppers, is still a factor in many of these purchase decisions.
This is subject to change as consumers develop a greater trust for shopping agents. And it’s unclear if branding will have any impact on purchase decisions made entirely by an agent. But for now, just because AI is presenting a challenge doesn’t mean it will defeat brand loyalty entirely.
“AI is shaping brand choice earlier, faster, and with fewer frictions. In the near term, that means competing for visibility and credibility within AI tools. Longer term, it raises the stakes as AI becomes more agentic, potentially taking a more active role in narrowing, prioritizing, and even executing purchase decisions,” the report concludes.
Fortunately, we’ve already got plenty of the chips we’re going to need in hand.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As President of Mars United Commerce, Amy Andrews leads the commerce marketing company’s strategy and operations in North America. She has spent her 20-year marketing career focused on understanding how shoppers shop and creating engaging commerce experiences on both the agency and client side, including leading the shopper marketing & insights team at Ubisoft Entertainment.
In her nearly 15 years of tenure at Mars United, she has co-founded an in-house strategic consultancy, launched the first international office in London, and opened the company’s first Seattle office to service Mars’ clients’ growing Amazon business. Most recently, she served as Chief Business Strategy Officer, overseeing activity for all North American brand clients. Amy became President when Mars United Commerce was acquired by The Publicis Groupe in 2024.
