Retailers pivot to agentic commerce as operational complexity grows

Retailers are moving beyond simple digital upgrades, treating the shift toward agentic commerce as an fundamental operational challenge rather than a mere technology task. Paul Sims, former Chief Architect at M&S, notes that the industry is transitioning from users acting as operators to managers who set goals for AI agents.

While brands are increasingly deploying custom AI agents—often seeing higher conversion rates among those who use them—actual agent-to-agent transactions remain sparse across Europe. Sims emphasizes that companies should prioritize agnostic capabilities like accessible APIs and real-time data rather than betting on specific protocol wars. He argues that intent data, such as a single conversational query for a specific occasion, offers far deeper customer insights than months of traditional clickstream tracking. Despite this potential, many businesses fail to capture these rich conversational inputs within their CRM systems. The sector remains in an early, experimental phase where the promise of autonomous commerce outpaces current widespread consumer adoption.