As agentic AI continues to grow in complexity, customers are gaining the ability to complete transactions without ever stepping foot in a retailer’s ecosystem.
Using agentic commerce technology from third-party platforms, retailers can smooth out a customer's experience by eliminating the friction between research and making the purchase.
While these partnerships enable new experiences, they also raise the question of who owns the experience and the customer data — the retailer or the AI platform?
Agentic AI is still in its nascent stage, but AI vendors and their customers alike are moving forward with the idea that the retailer will be the “merchant of record,” given the tools to fulfill its brand promises when customers interact through agentic platforms.
Google and OpenAI have baked the phrase into their respective agentic AI protocols, which aim to define the building blocks companies and tech vendors use for designing agentic commerce applications. Both vendors emphasize keeping retailers in control of the customer relationship.
The "merchant of record" distinction was top of mind for several large retailers at the National Retail Federation Big Show last week. Here’s what Home Depot, Wayfair and Urban Outfitters parent company URBN had to say:
URBN: It’s ‘critical’ to retain brand connections
The challenge of agentic commerce is enabling easy experiences while ensuring your brand still shines through, according to Rob Frieman, CIO at URBN.
URBN made Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie available for checkout directly through Microsoft Copilot earlier this month. It’s “critical” that these customers receive the same treatment as someone who made a purchase directly from the brand, Frieman said.
“That's really the crux of that smooth, frictionless customer experience, but also one that retains that brand connection,” Frieman said during an NRF session last week. “These customers are Anthropologie customers.”
The connection looks natural from the customer’s point of view, but it quickly becomes complicated behind the scenes, according to Frieman. UBRN needs to check inventory in real time, calculate tax based on shipping information and handle the other necessary actions that make the agentic journey feel as natural as any other e-commerce transaction.
URBN’s early adoption of agentic commerce will help it build the data set needed to improve customer experiences in the future, according to Frieman. Retailers need to learn how they can engage with customers on these new journeys, and how the technology can be used to grow customer acquisition and sales.
“It's a learning opportunity,” Frieman said. “There's some very sharp edges. We want to understand how customer behavior is changing. We don't have a lot of insights about that right now.”
Wayfair: Customers are still buying from the retailer
Even if customers want to discover, research and buy through a single third-party platform, it’s still up to the retailer to make sure CX tasks, from customer service to returns, run smoothly, according to Fiona Tan, CTO at Wayfair.
A customer is using the same retailer whether they make a purchase directly through Google’s platform or use it as a jumping off point to end up on Wayfair’s website, according to Tan. They won’t see a difference between the two journeys.
“People want to hear that we’re gonna look after you, your transaction, your customer service, your delivery, etc.,” Tan said during an NRF panel. “I think that's important.”
Returns are an important part of the customer experience for Wayfair as a home goods retailer, according to Tan. The AI platforms are unlikely to have the capabilities to deal with large pieces of furniture, which makes it important that Wayfair maintains its returns policy no matter how a customer made their purchase.
Home Depot: The transaction experience still matters
Home Depot sees agentic AI as the next evolution of search, with the advantage that it can take the customer directly from discovery to purchase and beyond.
While the company doesn’t know exactly what the agentic AI future will look like, it will be important for Home Depot to be present across the experience, according to CIO Angie Brown. Agentic commerce may start with another way to search, but it can extend well beyond the initial research phase.
“Maintaining the merchant of record is key for us because when you think about this buying experience, it's not just about the research that you do beforehand on the products or the projects,” Brown said during an NRF panel. “You also think about what happens as you are transacting with that retailer.”
The retailer’s involvement in customer service and returns is important as well, according to Brown. By working with the customer as the merchant of record, Home Depot can ensure that its brand remains part of the experience.
