Agentic Shopping

Is AI shopping a hype or a serious business case?

Laatst bijgewerkt: October 6, 2025

In dit artikel

“Another new marketing gimmick?”

As an entrepreneur, you hear about the ‘next big thing’ every day. It’s natural to be skeptical. Isn’t this whole AI shopping thing just a new, expensive hype? A nice extra, but not essential?

Let’s answer that question seriously. Not with vague promises, but by looking at the only thing that matters: the business case. What are the returns, and why is it a smart long-term investment?

The leaking sieve of the traditional webshop

Imagine your sales process as a sieve you’re pouring water into. Every step a customer has to take is a hole where water (and thus revenue) leaks out.

  • Click on an ad (hole)
  • Page load (hole)
  • Search for a product (hole)
  • Add to cart (hole)
  • Create an account (big hole)
  • Fill in shipping details (hole)
  • Pay (hole)

Research shows that almost 70% of customers drop out during this process. The main reason? A checkout process that is too long or complicated.

AI shopping throws this whole sieve away and replaces it with a direct pipeline: question -> advice -> purchase. By removing the intermediate steps, you plug the holes and directly increase your conversion.

The three main reasons to invest now

An investment in AI shopping pays off in three ways:

1. Your advertising costs go down. Being found in an AI assistant is a new, organic channel. Being early means benefiting from little competition. Compare that to the ever-increasing costs of ads on Google and Facebook. You’re building a channel that pays for itself, instead of a channel you have to pour more money into every month.

2. You build a lead that others can’t easily catch up to. The first webshops to offer a superior, easy shopping experience through conversation will become the customer’s favorite. You’re not just building revenue, but also brand preference and loyalty. You don’t give that lead away easily.

3. You prepare your business for an inevitable future. The question is not if AI will change the retail world, but how fast. Major platforms like Shopify are already building it in. Major payment companies like Mollie and Adyen are already developing the secure payment solutions for it. The entire ecosystem is shifting. By laying the foundation now, you ensure you don’t have to make a panicked catch-up effort in a few years.

The conclusion for the sober entrepreneur

Shopping with AI is not a hype. It’s a strategic investment in a more direct, efficient, and profitable sales channel.

It tackles the biggest problem in e-commerce (the complexity of the buying process) and at the same time opens the door to a future where you are less dependent on expensive advertising. The business case is clear, and the time to get in is now.

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