TL;DR:
Agentic AI isn’t just another shiny tech buzzword. It’s a silent disruptor that’s already tearing apart the traditional eCommerce playbook. As LLM-powered assistants go from answering questions to completing purchases — in seconds — retailers who aren’t plugged into these new systems may be left out of the sale entirely.
What Just Happened to the Funnel?
Remember how people used to open 10 tabs to compare deals before buying something online? That behavior is vanishing. Instead, a user asks an AI like Perplexity one simple question — and clicks “buy” based on its answer. No tabs. No research rabbit holes. No merchant websites.
And just like that, the traditional eCommerce funnel? Flattened.
So… Should Retailers Panic?
Maybe not panic yet….but they should definitely feel very uncomfortable. Because the AI agent doesn’t just suggest products. It completes the sale. It taps into live catalog APIs, checks inventory, applies discounts, verifies shipping, and even places the order — all without the shopper ever visiting your site.
That means if you’re not integrated into the right AI ecosystem, you’re invisible.
The Tech Behind the Threat
Companies like Firmly are leading the charge here. Their network already includes over 11 million merchants and interfaces directly with LLMs like Perplexity.
They’ve built a real-time, low-latency platform that does what browser automation and chatbots couldn’t: deliver seamless, reliable purchases. Want a red toaster? The agent knows if it’s in stock, whether it fits the shopper’s address, and if payment will go through,in milliseconds.
It’s fast. It’s frictionless. And it’s brutal for merchants outside the loop.
Death by a Thousand “Banana Peels”
According to Firmly co-founder Kumar Senthil, today’s checkout experience is full of tiny errors — “banana peels” — that kill conversions. Things like:
- Re-entering credit card info
- Forgotten passwords
- Promo codes that don’t work
- Out-of-stock surprises
- Endless redirects
Agentic AI sidesteps all of this.
But here’s the kicker: It also sidesteps your entire website.
If the funnel happens inside the conversation, why would the buyer ever visit your store?
The Brand Identity Dilemma
Many retailers will ask, reasonably.“But what about our brand? Our curated storefront? Our story?”
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most buyers don’t care.
As Firmly’s Scott Hendrickson puts it, most people encounter products now via TikTok, email threads, or inside an app. If your story takes more than a sentence or isn’t part of the conversation, it’s gone.
Agentic AI doesn’t kill your brand, but it definitely strips away the stage you used to tell your story.
Why It’s a Wake-Up Call for Merchants
Even if you’re not ready to jump in, your competitors might already be testing this tech — and that could tip the balance.
Today’s eCommerce battleground is shifting from who has the best website to who has the fastest, most connected agent.
And guess what?
Big-box retailers are already deploying this under the radar.
Meanwhile, smaller businesses, overwhelmed by integration costs and API headaches, risk being left behind or worse, completely excluded from the AI’s recommendations.
Who Owns the Customer? Spoiler: Not You
Another big fear: Data ownership.
If an AI agent completes the transaction, who controls the relationship?
Firmly says the merchant still owns the order and the loyalty path. But let’s be honest if the consumer never sees your brand, do you really have a relationship?
If that sounds harsh, think about what happened to hotels when booking sites like Expedia took over. Or what happened to restaurants when delivery apps became the middlemen. The same risk is here only faster, deeper, and AI-powered.
What Happens Next?
Here’s what you shouldn’t do: ignore it.
This is the same curve we saw with one-click checkout, curbside pickup, and TikTok commerce. First, it’s novel. Then it’s normal. Then it’s table stakes.
Senthil warns that the moment people realize agentic AI saves them time, clicks, and cognitive effort, they won’t go back.
Research that took hours? Now done in minutes.
Conversion rates stuck below 10%? AI might change that but only if you’re in the loop.
Bottom Line
Retailers have a choice:
- Lean in early and start testing conversational commerce integrations now.
- Or risk becoming another name on the long list of brands disrupted by a platform shift they ignored until it was too late.
Because when the funnel collapses into a sentence you don’t want to be the one left out of the conversation.
Source:
PYMNTS – Agentic AI Is Quietly Reshaping the eCommerce Funnel
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