As the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) agents become more advanced, retailers seeking to increase revenue are changing their sales methods using AI. Without having to visit a shopping mall in person or browse the internet, a few conversations with an AI now make it possible to complete everything from purchase to payment. In response, retail companies are actively integrating AI into the shopping process, either by opening their product information to external AIs or by upgrading their own AI systems.

● From product search to purchase, entrusted to AI

On the 21st (local time), Walmart in the United States announced “Agent Gateway,” a system that connects external AIs to the process of searching for and purchasing its products. The aim is to allow AI to autonomously search and buy from the shopping mall without human manipulation at each step. From next month, it will also introduce a function that lets customers set spending limits available to AI. Walmart stated, “We want to be wherever customers choose to shop.”

Major e-commerce company Amazon is strengthening its own shopping AI, “Alexa for Shopping.” Launched in May this year, this service compares and recommends products by reflecting consumers’ preferences and purchase histories. It also offers a function that automatically purchases products when prices fall to a pre-set level. This enables the entire process from product discovery to purchase to be handled by Amazon’s own AI.

The reason companies are putting effort into exposing themselves to AI in this way is that, following the recent launch of AI agents, not only simple searches but the entire process of purchasing and payment can now be handled by AI.

In practice, traffic to shopping malls via AI continues to increase. According to e-commerce platform Shopify, orders generated in the United States through AI recommendations for thermos brand “Stanley 1913” increased fivefold compared with the same period a year earlier. AI-driven sales for cosmetics brand Ilia also nearly tripled year-on-year. This indicates that more consumers are following AI recommendations to make purchases without directly searching for the name of a shopping mall or a specific product.

● Divided over whether to disclose information to external AI

In South Korea as well, AI is emerging as a new customer acquisition channel. CJ OnStyle connects customers who search for products via ChatGPT to its own app. According to the company, app and web traffic via conversational AI in July this year increased tenfold compared with January. Pulmuone also built an AI-dedicated product catalog last month on its official mall “#Pulmuone.” It has also organized data so that when consumers state their desired conditions, AI can find suitable products.

However, there is considerable concern that such AI shopping initiatives could expose sensitive information, including customer personal data, to external AI, posing a threat. Recent cyberattacks in which AI has been used to discover security vulnerabilities are heightening these security concerns. A representative example is Amazon, which, despite strengthening its own AI, has blocked access by Meta’s AI agent “Muse,” citing personal data risks.

Experts advise that each shopping mall should utilize external AI as a new sales channel while also establishing long-term strategies to protect customer information and maintain control over transactions. Hwang Seok-jin, a professor at the Graduate School of International Information Security at Dongguk University, said, “It is natural for retailers to rely on AI, but how much authority to grant it is up to each company,” adding, “Security mechanisms are needed to ensure that key tasks such as payment and changes to personal information always require additional customer authentication.”

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