White paper
Retail insights 2026
Joint research by Stripe and Thoughtworks
Ready or not, the conditions for agentic commerce are forming faster than most realize.
More consumers are using AI to find and buy products, and businesses are seeing a growth in AI-referred traffic that’s converting at premium rates. Despite this momentum, few have deployed agentic commerce integrations – most are stuck, believing they’re ready but yet to prove it in practice.
This joint study by Stripe and Thoughtworks brings these dynamics into focus – revealing how consumers are embracing AI-mediated shopping, where businesses are falling behind and what it takes to close the gap.
Key findings
Based on YouGov research surveying over 1,500 consumers and 200 businesses across Australia and New Zealand.
Consumer findings
Consumers are increasingly using AI when purchasing, but they still want to stay in control.
81%
of consumers have used AI tools to support online shopping.
41%
of consumers are comfortable allowing AI to select products.
22%
of shoppers would let an AI agent buy on their behalf.
58%
of consumers cite security and fraud risks as their leading adoption concern.
Business findings
Revenue expectations for agentic commerce are high, but most businesses lack the foundations to support it.
98%
of businesses report seeing AI-referred traffic.
76%
of businesses say AI-referred traffic converts at a higher rate than their overall average.
63%
of businesses expect agentic commerce to account for >10% of revenue within two years.
11%
of businesses are expanding their agentic commerce integrations.
“Consumer adoption is further advanced than most businesses recognize, and the commercial signal is already visible. Yet only 11% of businesses are actively scaling live integrations. The challenge is no longer simply making data available. It is turning that data into connected, governed capabilities that work reliably across live customer journeys.”
- Karl Durrance, Country Lead, ANZ, Stripe
- Kathryn Heffernan, Market Director, SEA & ANZ, Thoughtworks
The pathway forward for business leaders
The report outlines practical moves to turn agentic readiness into long-term commercial advantage.
1. Focus on where value can be proven
Derisk your deployment by targeting high-value points in the customer journey – such as complex product comparisons, dynamic bundling or contextual recommendations – where AI delivers immediate value for the consumer and clear, measurable ROI for the business.
2. Make the digital estate legible to agents
Having data available is not the same as making it machine-readable. Ensure product feeds, catalogs and APIs are structured, attribute-rich and easily readable by AI agents.
3. Experiment within clear boundaries
Consumers are more willing to use agentic systems when they’re confident they can trust them. Establish explicit authorization checkpoints and security guardrails that keep agentic commerce interactions safe.
4. Build a path to enterprise capability
Scale only the pilots that prove their value in the wild. Evaluate evidence to determine which customer journeys warrant deeper investment.
