Agentic commerce or AI shopping may shift the e-commerce scene in a profound way. Of course, it’s hard to tell just how the future of e-tail will be shaped by the rise of AI agents and whether online shoppers will be quick to embrace the technology, and by what means the agents will transact (will it be via credit cards, cryptocurrency, a BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) service, or something else?).
While it might seem hard to pick the winners in these very early stages, I do think that the AI shopping has the potential to be revolutionary, if not once agents become mainstream, perhaps in a decade or so from now.
Of course, it can be quite risky for one’s budget to let agents spend on one’s behalf. Pretty much all of the friction has been taken out of the transaction. In any case, I think there’s a huge opportunity for the merchants that not only can gain greater agent visibility but can keep costs at a minimum. Arguably, AI shopping might be what drives down prices as it becomes as easy as ever to compare across the web.
Indeed, the rise of zero-click commerce and agent-to-agent negotiation has the potential to be a game-changer. But not every e-tail play is worth adding to your shopping cart right here.
Arguably, the best AI shopping winners might actually be underrepresented in e-commerce today. You might not even think of them as e-tail plays! In any case, here are three names I think have a good shot to win as agentic commerce begins its multi-year ascent.
Costco
Costco (NASDAQ:COST | COST Price Prediction) isn’t exactly an e-commerce play that comes to mind. In fact, the warehouse retailer has been quite slow to jump into the e-tail era. Arguably, there’s still work to be done to catch up to the likes of its rivals. In any case, the rise of agents, I think, presents an opportunity for the king of bulk buys to even the playing field. Indeed, when it comes to low-cost buys, it’s hard to top Costco.
As warehouse robotics, autonomous delivery, and all the sort come into play, I think it’ll be interesting to see how many new members the firm can bring aboard that are solely in it for delivery. Of course, the in-person experience cannot be replicated online, at least until virtual reality hits the mainstream. But, until then, I think Costco has all the makings of an agentic shopping winner.
In any case, it might come as a surprise to learn of all the AI innovation going on behind the scenes of a low-tech retail play that many don’t associate with tech. As an unrecognized “invisible AI” play (where AI powers gains behind the curtain), Costco is a standout stock to load up the cart with at around $1,000 per share, at least in my view.
Walmart
Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) joined the Nasdaq for a reason; it’s an innovative firm with a tech edge. Its e-commerce platform has improved by leaps and bounds over the years. And as agentic commerce comes into play, I think the low-cost retailer stands to get even stronger. For those who don’t want to buy in bulk or pay an annual membership fee, Walmart is the low-cost place to shop.
As long as Walmart can keep prices low, I think loyal customers will be more than willing to let an AI agent take care of that weekly grocery haul. With the rise of Walmart’s AI Sparky and “predictive basket” tech, perhaps the sci-fi scenario that sees the milk arrive at your door before you knew you were running low could play out.
The big opportunity, I think, is what agentic shopping could mean for discretionary goods. Any way you look at it, Walmart is a winner on price, and with more AI-savviness than many give it credit for, I think Walmart is an agentic commerce winner in the making.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks