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What Will It Take for Consumers to Trust Agentic Commerce?
Arjun Bhargava
Co-founder and CEO @ Rye
Sep 8, 2025
Many consumers, especially Gen-Z, are OK with the idea of AI buying on their behalf. Can agentic commerce match the recent openness with reliable, secure buying?
The idea of having a robot shopping on your behalf is no longer science fiction. Agentic commerce, where software agents not only recommend products but also complete the purchase, is rapidly becoming real. Widespread adoption will require real results to back up growing acceptance.
The idea of having a robot shopping on your behalf is no longer science fiction. Agentic commerce, where software agents not only recommend products but also complete the purchase, is rapidly becoming real. Widespread adoption will require real results to back up growing acceptance.
The idea of having a robot shopping on your behalf is no longer science fiction. Agentic commerce, where software agents not only recommend products but also complete the purchase, is rapidly becoming real. Widespread adoption will require real results to back up growing acceptance.
Trust Is Divided Along Generational Lines
Surveys have shown consumer concerns around agentic commerce are real. An Omnisend study in February 2025 found that two-thirds of consumers say they wouldn’t let AI buy products for them, even if it meant getting a better deal. Most cite concerns about how their personal data will be handled. The fear is understandable: LLMs are notoriously unreliable around data security. Plus, can you really trust a technology that can be gamed to order 18,000 cups of water from a fast-food restaurant to make sure the specific thing you want shows up in a few days on your doorstep?
But something’s changing. Quickly. Omnisend conducted its study again just five months later, and found that the number of consumers who say they wouldn’t let AI buy products for them had dropped from two-thirds to one-third. That’s a staggering drop over a period of just a few months. Part of it may be that Gen-Z is helping get shoppers overall used to it: According to research from eMarketer, a majority of Gen-Z consumers are already comfortable letting AI make purchases for them. They’ve grown up with algorithmic recommendations shaping their entertainment, their social media feeds, and even their financial decisions. Extending that trust to commerce feels like a natural progression.
It’s still important to note that consumer hesitation hasn’t gone away. The more recent Omnisend study found that 85% of shoppers still have concerns about AI shopping, with privacy and data security still topping the list. So while they may be open to the concept of agentic commerce overall, they’ll be on high alert and discerning about where they’re comfortable shopping. It’s crucial for AI companies to build a robust framework of trust to meet them where they are.
Consumers Recognize AI’s Strengths
While consumers are skeptical about AI-powered shopping, they also acknowledge its benefits. The eMarketer survey also found that consumers across the board agree AI is better than they are at finding deals, with the average shopper saving $83 last year by using AI-powered tools. In other words, consumers see the upside; they just aren’t ready to hand over the keys entirely.\
It doesn’t help that native shopping has had some major missteps. In its early days, TikTok Shop was full of scams. The interfaces for pausing or canceling an autoship subscription — the closest thing that many consumers have encountered to agentic commerce — are often so confusing and deceptive that the FTC unsuccessfully tried to mandate a “click to cancel” policy.
Fully agentic shopping has to get past these roadblocks.
While consumers are skeptical about AI-powered shopping, they also acknowledge its benefits. The eMarketer survey also found that consumers across the board agree AI is better than they are at finding deals, with the average shopper saving $83 last year by using AI-powered tools. In other words, consumers see the upside; they just aren’t ready to hand over the keys entirely.\
It doesn’t help that native shopping has had some major missteps. In its early days, TikTok Shop was full of scams. The interfaces for pausing or canceling an autoship subscription — the closest thing that many consumers have encountered to agentic commerce — are often so confusing and deceptive that the FTC unsuccessfully tried to mandate a “click to cancel” policy.
Fully agentic shopping has to get past these roadblocks.
While consumers are skeptical about AI-powered shopping, they also acknowledge its benefits. The eMarketer survey also found that consumers across the board agree AI is better than they are at finding deals, with the average shopper saving $83 last year by using AI-powered tools. In other words, consumers see the upside; they just aren’t ready to hand over the keys entirely.\
It doesn’t help that native shopping has had some major missteps. In its early days, TikTok Shop was full of scams. The interfaces for pausing or canceling an autoship subscription — the closest thing that many consumers have encountered to agentic commerce — are often so confusing and deceptive that the FTC unsuccessfully tried to mandate a “click to cancel” policy.
Fully agentic shopping has to get past these roadblocks.
Building the Trust Framework
There’s a parallel here to how e-commerce was adopted in the first place. 25 years ago, consumers were hesitant to even put their credit card data online. Legacy credit card companies and digitally native companies needed to make sure consumers saw them as trustworthy and reliable. In PayPal’s case, this involved deploying then-pioneering security measures like CAPTCHAs, making it clear that the seller would not receive the buyer’s financial data, and partnering with relatively more established companies like eBay.\
Right now, consumers don’t adequately trust AI to complete the full transaction successfully, without compromising their personal data. For agentic commerce to go mainstream, brands and platforms will need to build a framework of trust that goes beyond flashy product recommendations. That means:
Transparency: Consumers want to understand when and why an AI is making a purchase recommendation or decision.
Control: Delegation works only if shoppers feel they can set parameters — budget, preferences, delivery timelines — and override them at any point. In a system built for the shopper’s confirmation, the final order approval step should appear quickly.
Accountability: When something goes wrong (the wrong product, a delayed shipment, a bad fit), there must be a clear path for refunds, returns, and customer support.
This trust framework needs to be adopted by both the agent the consumer uses as well as the backend technology. It’s also in retailers’ best interests to allow commerce agents to bring them legitimate buyers instead of blocking them with overbroad bot shields. When an agentic checkout fails, it reflects back on the brand experience—of the interface, the retailer, even the manufacturer—not just the software behind it.
There’s a parallel here to how e-commerce was adopted in the first place. 25 years ago, consumers were hesitant to even put their credit card data online. Legacy credit card companies and digitally native companies needed to make sure consumers saw them as trustworthy and reliable. In PayPal’s case, this involved deploying then-pioneering security measures like CAPTCHAs, making it clear that the seller would not receive the buyer’s financial data, and partnering with relatively more established companies like eBay.\
Right now, consumers don’t adequately trust AI to complete the full transaction successfully, without compromising their personal data. For agentic commerce to go mainstream, brands and platforms will need to build a framework of trust that goes beyond flashy product recommendations. That means:
Transparency: Consumers want to understand when and why an AI is making a purchase recommendation or decision.
Control: Delegation works only if shoppers feel they can set parameters — budget, preferences, delivery timelines — and override them at any point. In a system built for the shopper’s confirmation, the final order approval step should appear quickly.
Accountability: When something goes wrong (the wrong product, a delayed shipment, a bad fit), there must be a clear path for refunds, returns, and customer support.
This trust framework needs to be adopted by both the agent the consumer uses as well as the backend technology. It’s also in retailers’ best interests to allow commerce agents to bring them legitimate buyers instead of blocking them with overbroad bot shields. When an agentic checkout fails, it reflects back on the brand experience—of the interface, the retailer, even the manufacturer—not just the software behind it.
There’s a parallel here to how e-commerce was adopted in the first place. 25 years ago, consumers were hesitant to even put their credit card data online. Legacy credit card companies and digitally native companies needed to make sure consumers saw them as trustworthy and reliable. In PayPal’s case, this involved deploying then-pioneering security measures like CAPTCHAs, making it clear that the seller would not receive the buyer’s financial data, and partnering with relatively more established companies like eBay.\
Right now, consumers don’t adequately trust AI to complete the full transaction successfully, without compromising their personal data. For agentic commerce to go mainstream, brands and platforms will need to build a framework of trust that goes beyond flashy product recommendations. That means:
Transparency: Consumers want to understand when and why an AI is making a purchase recommendation or decision.
Control: Delegation works only if shoppers feel they can set parameters — budget, preferences, delivery timelines — and override them at any point. In a system built for the shopper’s confirmation, the final order approval step should appear quickly.
Accountability: When something goes wrong (the wrong product, a delayed shipment, a bad fit), there must be a clear path for refunds, returns, and customer support.
This trust framework needs to be adopted by both the agent the consumer uses as well as the backend technology. It’s also in retailers’ best interests to allow commerce agents to bring them legitimate buyers instead of blocking them with overbroad bot shields. When an agentic checkout fails, it reflects back on the brand experience—of the interface, the retailer, even the manufacturer—not just the software behind it.
Why Technology Partners Matter
Making AI shopping reliable requires solid, purpose-built infrastructure: real-time checkout with the ability to buy from millions of merchants, accurate resolution of shipping and taxes, fraud resilience, and the safe handling of credit card data and personal information. It also needs to work reliably and quickly, minimizing routine failures like canceled orders because a product turned out to be out of stock. Without that, consumer trust will collapse the first time an order fails.
At Rye, we’ve built the Universal Checkout API, a system designed to make agentic commerce possible at scale. Finally, AI platforms can buy on any site. It’s secure by design, and works as quickly as humans do. By abstracting away the complexity of programmatic checkout and ensuring that transactions are fast, reliable, and secure, we provide the technical backbone that lets brands and AI platforms focus on user trust and experience.
Crucially, Rye does it in a way that is all upside for the companies that call the API. Rye handles payment and shipping info in a way that keeps the integrator out of the transaction, so they don’t have to deal with PCI compliance, returns, chargebacks, taxes, and all the other hassles of online sales. Buyers get emails directly from the merchant, a reassuring confirmation of a successful order.
Making AI shopping reliable requires solid, purpose-built infrastructure: real-time checkout with the ability to buy from millions of merchants, accurate resolution of shipping and taxes, fraud resilience, and the safe handling of credit card data and personal information. It also needs to work reliably and quickly, minimizing routine failures like canceled orders because a product turned out to be out of stock. Without that, consumer trust will collapse the first time an order fails.
At Rye, we’ve built the Universal Checkout API, a system designed to make agentic commerce possible at scale. Finally, AI platforms can buy on any site. It’s secure by design, and works as quickly as humans do. By abstracting away the complexity of programmatic checkout and ensuring that transactions are fast, reliable, and secure, we provide the technical backbone that lets brands and AI platforms focus on user trust and experience.
Crucially, Rye does it in a way that is all upside for the companies that call the API. Rye handles payment and shipping info in a way that keeps the integrator out of the transaction, so they don’t have to deal with PCI compliance, returns, chargebacks, taxes, and all the other hassles of online sales. Buyers get emails directly from the merchant, a reassuring confirmation of a successful order.
Making AI shopping reliable requires solid, purpose-built infrastructure: real-time checkout with the ability to buy from millions of merchants, accurate resolution of shipping and taxes, fraud resilience, and the safe handling of credit card data and personal information. It also needs to work reliably and quickly, minimizing routine failures like canceled orders because a product turned out to be out of stock. Without that, consumer trust will collapse the first time an order fails.
At Rye, we’ve built the Universal Checkout API, a system designed to make agentic commerce possible at scale. Finally, AI platforms can buy on any site. It’s secure by design, and works as quickly as humans do. By abstracting away the complexity of programmatic checkout and ensuring that transactions are fast, reliable, and secure, we provide the technical backbone that lets brands and AI platforms focus on user trust and experience.
Crucially, Rye does it in a way that is all upside for the companies that call the API. Rye handles payment and shipping info in a way that keeps the integrator out of the transaction, so they don’t have to deal with PCI compliance, returns, chargebacks, taxes, and all the other hassles of online sales. Buyers get emails directly from the merchant, a reassuring confirmation of a successful order.
The Path Forward
Consumers are already signaling what it will take for them to let AI shop on their behalf. Gen-Z is eager. The rest of the market is cautious but curious. The technology is ready, but adoption will hinge on whether brands, platforms, and infrastructure providers can work together to deliver the combination of transparency, control, and reliability that makes agentic commerce feel safe.
Rye has built the rails to deliver reliable, trustworthy agentic commerce. It’s surprisingly simple to implement, as you’ll see in the docs.
Consumers are already signaling what it will take for them to let AI shop on their behalf. Gen-Z is eager. The rest of the market is cautious but curious. The technology is ready, but adoption will hinge on whether brands, platforms, and infrastructure providers can work together to deliver the combination of transparency, control, and reliability that makes agentic commerce feel safe.
Rye has built the rails to deliver reliable, trustworthy agentic commerce. It’s surprisingly simple to implement, as you’ll see in the docs.
Consumers are already signaling what it will take for them to let AI shop on their behalf. Gen-Z is eager. The rest of the market is cautious but curious. The technology is ready, but adoption will hinge on whether brands, platforms, and infrastructure providers can work together to deliver the combination of transparency, control, and reliability that makes agentic commerce feel safe.
Rye has built the rails to deliver reliable, trustworthy agentic commerce. It’s surprisingly simple to implement, as you’ll see in the docs.
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