The rise of AI-led shopping is posing a challenge for retailers such as Walmart and Amazon: how to allow AI agents to shop on their websites without threatening their lucrative advertising revenue and the customer data that supports it.
\n\nRetail giants Walmart and Amazon are also the world's two largest retail media businesses, dominating the estimated $74.4 billion in US retail media spending with a combined 88% share of the market, according to projections from data firm Emarketer. However, digital assistants could soon disrupt this business.
\n\nAI-powered agents that can research and purchase products on consumers' behalf, such as Meta's recently released Muse, could erode the highly profitable business of brands paying retailers to promote products on their websites and apps. Morgan Stanley researchers said in July that these agents could account for 10% to 20% of US e-commerce spending by 2030.
\n\nAmazon and Walmart are taking different approaches to agentic AI shopping. Amazon has blocked Muse, while Walmart is officially partnering with Meta's agentic tool.
\n\nSo far, third-party agents have had no meaningful effect on Amazon's advertising business, CEO Andy Jassy said last week. However, the company's advertising revenue grew 11% year-on-year in the third quarter, its slowest pace…
Original source: https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/
