AI Agents and the Trust Issue in the Future of Commerce
While AI agents are used in the discovery phase of consumer shopping, merchants worry about liability, trust, and losing customer relationships.
Consumers' use of artificial intelligence for discovery purposes in shopping marks a new turning point in the commerce sector. However, merchants approach this process with caution due to concerns over trust, liability, and the loss of direct customer relationships.
The Era of AI in Shopping
Consumers continue to actively use artificial intelligence tools during their shopping processes for discovery, ranking, and comparison purposes. Gaurang Shah, executive vice president of Global Acceptance and Merchant Solutions at Mastercard, notes that consumers are trying out this technology because access is very easy.
Conflict of Liability and Security
It is stated that agent-assisted payments require not only money transfer, but also trust and proof. While consumers expect protection when any issue arises, merchants argue that the liability should lie with the intermediary AI platform.
Merchants' Concern for Direct Relationship
AI agents emerge as a new intermediary layer positioned to decide which merchant wins. This situation increases merchants' desire to differentiate through elements other than price and to protect their direct customer relationships.
Price and Brand Value Competition
Shopping agents' tendency to find the cheapest acceptable product can pose a serious risk for brands. While price is easily measurable, encoding elements such as brand value, service quality, and loyalty into artificial intelligence presents a more difficult process.