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Shoppable Ads Flopped at First. Here’s What Agentic Commerce Execs Can Learn
Arjun Bhargava
Co-founder and CEO @ Rye
Aug 26, 2025
It took 15 years for shoppable ads to get momentum. Agentic shopping can mature faster if it absorbs the relevant lessons about interface, checkout, and trust.
Shoppable advertising—that is, being able to buy directly within the ad rather than hopping over to the merchant’s site—has become a hot ticket for both advertisers and streaming publishers, especially on social platforms. But its success took a very long time.
Despite well over a decade of hype, growth was slower than expected. Plenty of shoppable ad launches flopped, or had to be scaled back as advertisers and publishers realized that consumer adoption just wasn’t there yet.
These struggles are proof that every new commerce model runs headfirst into entrenched consumer habits. As agentic shopping emerges, innovators should study where shoppable ads went wrong—or risk making the same mistakes.
Shoppable advertising—that is, being able to buy directly within the ad rather than hopping over to the merchant’s site—has become a hot ticket for both advertisers and streaming publishers, especially on social platforms. But its success took a very long time.
Despite well over a decade of hype, growth was slower than expected. Plenty of shoppable ad launches flopped, or had to be scaled back as advertisers and publishers realized that consumer adoption just wasn’t there yet.
These struggles are proof that every new commerce model runs headfirst into entrenched consumer habits. As agentic shopping emerges, innovators should study where shoppable ads went wrong—or risk making the same mistakes.
Shoppable advertising—that is, being able to buy directly within the ad rather than hopping over to the merchant’s site—has become a hot ticket for both advertisers and streaming publishers, especially on social platforms. But its success took a very long time.
Despite well over a decade of hype, growth was slower than expected. Plenty of shoppable ad launches flopped, or had to be scaled back as advertisers and publishers realized that consumer adoption just wasn’t there yet.
These struggles are proof that every new commerce model runs headfirst into entrenched consumer habits. As agentic shopping emerges, innovators should study where shoppable ads went wrong—or risk making the same mistakes.
1. The Interface Problem: Interruptions Don’t Sell
Some of the biggest early hype around shoppable ads came from the idea that you could click to buy what you saw on screen, whether it was an outfit on a TV character or a gadget in a livestream. The first clickable TV ads debuted way back in 2010.
In practice, the user experience was often clunky and interruptive. When you’re watching a show, you probably don’t want to stop, dig through a complicated menu, and complete a purchase. TV watching is for relaxing, not shopping. Because shoppable ads required interaction at the wrong moment, many consumers simply ignored them like just another commercial interruption.
Lesson for agentic commerce: Experiences win when they fit in, rather than disrupting attention. Agents succeed by surfacing the right product at the right time, when a consumer is actually interested in making a purchase.
2. The Checkout Problem: Cart Abandonment Is Real
Even when consumers did engage with shoppable ads, they often ran into another roadblock: a failed checkout. Studies show that 55% of consumers have abandoned a purchase because of an inconvenient checkout process.
Checkout has been one of e-commerce’s biggest headaches since the mid-90s. Every extra step, every request for duplicate information, every longer-than-expected wait increases the chance a consumer walks away.
Lesson for agentic commerce: Checkout must be programmatic, reliable, and fast. Yet as with shoppable ads, early attempts in the space have over-promised and under-delivered. If a purchase fails, consumers will go back to the old way of shopping and adoption will stall. That’s why Rye built the Universal Checkout API: to make checkout fast, universal, and reliable.
Even when consumers did engage with shoppable ads, they often ran into another roadblock: a failed checkout. Studies show that 55% of consumers have abandoned a purchase because of an inconvenient checkout process.
Checkout has been one of e-commerce’s biggest headaches since the mid-90s. Every extra step, every request for duplicate information, every longer-than-expected wait increases the chance a consumer walks away.
Lesson for agentic commerce: Checkout must be programmatic, reliable, and fast. Yet as with shoppable ads, early attempts in the space have over-promised and under-delivered. If a purchase fails, consumers will go back to the old way of shopping and adoption will stall. That’s why Rye built the Universal Checkout API: to make checkout fast, universal, and reliable.
Even when consumers did engage with shoppable ads, they often ran into another roadblock: a failed checkout. Studies show that 55% of consumers have abandoned a purchase because of an inconvenient checkout process.
Checkout has been one of e-commerce’s biggest headaches since the mid-90s. Every extra step, every request for duplicate information, every longer-than-expected wait increases the chance a consumer walks away.
Lesson for agentic commerce: Checkout must be programmatic, reliable, and fast. Yet as with shoppable ads, early attempts in the space have over-promised and under-delivered. If a purchase fails, consumers will go back to the old way of shopping and adoption will stall. That’s why Rye built the Universal Checkout API: to make checkout fast, universal, and reliable.
3. The Trust Problem: Skepticism Lingers
Beyond clunky UIs and checkout friction, shoppable ads faced a more fundamental hurdle: trust. As recently as 2020, research indicated that many consumers saw shoppable ads as spammy or even harmful to a brand’s reputation. From technical inconsistencies to unwanted intrusion, new technology digs its own grave if it can’t deliver clear value.
With consumers wary of data collection and manipulative ad tactics, trust is the currency of adoption.
Lesson for agentic commerce: Transparency and control are essential. Consumers will embrace agents if they feel confident that purchases are secure, authorized, and aligned with their preferences. Brands and platforms must make trust a foundational part of their design.
Beyond clunky UIs and checkout friction, shoppable ads faced a more fundamental hurdle: trust. As recently as 2020, research indicated that many consumers saw shoppable ads as spammy or even harmful to a brand’s reputation. From technical inconsistencies to unwanted intrusion, new technology digs its own grave if it can’t deliver clear value.
With consumers wary of data collection and manipulative ad tactics, trust is the currency of adoption.
Lesson for agentic commerce: Transparency and control are essential. Consumers will embrace agents if they feel confident that purchases are secure, authorized, and aligned with their preferences. Brands and platforms must make trust a foundational part of their design.
Beyond clunky UIs and checkout friction, shoppable ads faced a more fundamental hurdle: trust. As recently as 2020, research indicated that many consumers saw shoppable ads as spammy or even harmful to a brand’s reputation. From technical inconsistencies to unwanted intrusion, new technology digs its own grave if it can’t deliver clear value.
With consumers wary of data collection and manipulative ad tactics, trust is the currency of adoption.
Lesson for agentic commerce: Transparency and control are essential. Consumers will embrace agents if they feel confident that purchases are secure, authorized, and aligned with their preferences. Brands and platforms must make trust a foundational part of their design.
Agentic Commerce Has the Advantage — If We Learn the Lessons
The lesson from shoppable ads isn’t that a technology must wait fifteen years for consumer acceptance. Instead, the keys are being trustworthy by design, contextually relevant, and reliable.
To succeed, agentic commerce must:
Be seamless: Never force a consumer to break their flow.
Handle checkout invisibly: Fast, reliable, universal transactions.
Build trust by design: Transparency, control, and accountability at every step.
These requirements are precisely addressed by Rye’s infrastructure. By abstracting away merchant complexity and providing programmatic, universal checkout, Rye ensures that agents can succeed where shoppable ads struggled. Check out the docs to learn how you can add the power of the Universal Checkout API to your own experience.
The lesson from shoppable ads isn’t that a technology must wait fifteen years for consumer acceptance. Instead, the keys are being trustworthy by design, contextually relevant, and reliable.
To succeed, agentic commerce must:
Be seamless: Never force a consumer to break their flow.
Handle checkout invisibly: Fast, reliable, universal transactions.
Build trust by design: Transparency, control, and accountability at every step.
These requirements are precisely addressed by Rye’s infrastructure. By abstracting away merchant complexity and providing programmatic, universal checkout, Rye ensures that agents can succeed where shoppable ads struggled. Check out the docs to learn how you can add the power of the Universal Checkout API to your own experience.
The lesson from shoppable ads isn’t that a technology must wait fifteen years for consumer acceptance. Instead, the keys are being trustworthy by design, contextually relevant, and reliable.
To succeed, agentic commerce must:
Be seamless: Never force a consumer to break their flow.
Handle checkout invisibly: Fast, reliable, universal transactions.
Build trust by design: Transparency, control, and accountability at every step.
These requirements are precisely addressed by Rye’s infrastructure. By abstracting away merchant complexity and providing programmatic, universal checkout, Rye ensures that agents can succeed where shoppable ads struggled. Check out the docs to learn how you can add the power of the Universal Checkout API to your own experience.
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