Online buying behavior is changing faster than most platforms can keep up.
By 2030, approximately 70% of consumers are projected to shop primarily through social platforms.
In fact, seven in ten shoppers now expect digital experiences that anticipate intent through virtual try-ons, voice searches, and personalized product suggestions.
The change in shopping behavior is not limited to where customers shop; it is also rooted in the “how.” Unsurprisingly, what breaks conversions today are different forms of friction at every touchpoint.
A recent report suggests:
- 81% of shoppers abandon carts when their preferred delivery options aren’t available
- One in three exit due to sustainability concerns
Clearly, online shopping is taking on a new role: one defined by intelligence, precision, and AI-guided journeys that adapt in real time.
AI Shopping Agents are redefining the ecommerce experience. Acting like 24/7 digital sales associates, they guide users from discovery to checkout, seamlessly, personally, and at scale.
This blog explores how these autonomous agents deliver tangible business results, including higher conversion rates, increased average order value, and reduced drop-offs. Let’s get exploring!
An AI shopping agent is autonomous software that helps users browse, compare, and purchase products of their liking with relative ease.
These 24×7 assistants replicate the role of an intelligent in-store expert by:
- Adapting to each customer in real time
- Guiding them through product discovery, decision-making, and checkout
- Bringing contextual relevance and speed to queries by online shoppers
What Do AI Shopping Agents Look Like in Action?
- Product recommenders that adjust based on live behavior
- Guided shopping flows that mimic an in-store assistant
- Voice-led interfaces that showcase relevant options instantly
- Context-aware chat experiences that convert hesitation into action
Shopping Agent, part of Insider’s Agent One platform, transforms your search engine into an intuitive, outcome-focused assistant that drives shoppers to buy:
It is AI automation that applies real-time intelligence to:
- Anticipate shopper intent
- Bring up the right products
- Guide decisions through emotionally intelligent conversations
From search to checkout, the agent takes action by alternating between suggesting and selling.
Leading retail brands like Samsung, AVON, and NA-KD are already using Agent One to deliver personalized discovery, reduce friction, and increase conversions across web, mobile, and messaging channels.
To work at this level of precision, AI agents need one thing: unified, intelligent data. That’s where Insider comes in.
Our Actionable CDP aggregates and activates customer data and makes it instantly usable across your website, app, and messaging channels.
Insider connects to every relevant data source across your ecosystem to give you accurate and comprehensive customer profiles.
These profiles combine implicit behavior such as clicks, scrolls, etc., with explicit data like surveys and responses, enriched by 120+ customer attributes (read: CRM IDs, emails, phone numbers, etc.:
Trusted by brands like AVON, Samsung, and Toyota, Insider helps you:
- Break down data silos: Connect CRMs, CMSs, POS systems, analytics tools, and more into one place:
- Predict and personalize: Use AI to forecast churn, purchase probability, discount affinity, and potential spend
- Activate data across every touchpoint: Deliver real-time personalization at scale, across web, app, email, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, push, and more
AI agents use these insights to personalize journeys and drive smarter decisions, faster checkouts, and higher AOV, LTV, as well as revenue.
Ready to transform how your customers shop? Take the interactive product tour and explore what Agent One can do.
Shoppers today don’t want to search; they want accurate and relevant answers at every touchpoint.
Most importantly, they demand a buying experience that feels made for them. Static search bars and one-size-fits-all customer journeys no longer cut it. To stay competitive, brands need a shopping experience that responds in real time to intent, context, and behavior.
That’s where autonomous shopping AI agents come in.
Benefit #1: Anticipates Intent and Accelerates Product Discovery with Hyper-Personalized Experiences
Product discovery often breaks down because most AI platforms aren’t built to detect context. Insider’s Shopping Agent recognizes natural language and detects context:
It understands what the shopper wants and generates contextual, emotionally resonant responses that are customized to the customer’s journey:
Every answer is accurate, drawing from Insider’s CDP, Eureka search technology, and AI recommendation models to guide customers in fewer clicks.
It also accelerates product discovery by anticipating intent and offering personalized product recommendations with rich clickable product cards (a significant upgrade over reactive bots):
Key takeaways:
- When it comes to Ecommerce personalization, treat every query like a signal instead of a search term. Use real intent to lead shoppers directly to what they’re looking for
- Collapse multi-click journeys into one interaction. Guide with product cards that respond in real time
- Build search flows around outcomes and not filters. Serve results that reflect where the shopper is in the journey
- Make natural language your conversion driver. Stop depending on keywords to deliver relevance
Benefit #2: Improves Purchase Confidence with Contextual Conversations and a Connected Customer Journey
Even the best product pages can’t answer every question. Doubts around relevance, fit, and trust can cost you the sale.
Shopping Agent brings clarity to those moments and irons out the shopper’s pressing queries instantly:
It uses real-time behavioral data and intelligent prompts to provide clear recommendations, display relevant reviews, offer comparisons, and highlight complementary products based on context.
Here’s how it builds conviction in the buyer with specific prompts that boost engagement:
The responses are always up to date and instant.
Key takeaways:
- Answer objections as and when they happen. Don’t wait for them to cost you the conversion
- Use real-time behaviour to steer the conversation in the right direction
- Guide decisions with context. Let the shopper feel like they’re getting personalized advice
- Turn product questions into buying signals. Highlight value, clarify doubts, and keep the flow moving
Curious how other brands are using Agentic AI?
Here’s a complete guide on how to use Agentic AI for Customer Engagement.
Benefit #3: Increases Average Order Value with High-Intent Upselling and Cross-Selling Opportunities
Most upsell and cross-sell attempts feel random or, worse, intrusive because they generally are. This happens as they rely on generic logic and not real-time context.
Shopping Agent changes that by turning checkout into a precision-timed opportunity to drive more value per order:
Its cross-sell and upsell recommendations are based on AI-led recommendation algorithms, shopper intent, user behavior, and emotional signals:
As customers approach the final step, the Shopping Agent analyzes their journey and dynamically offers smart bundles, personalized add-ons, and complementary products as helpful nudges aligned with their needs.
Whether it’s a perfectly timed product upgrade, a relevant add-on, or a top-rated alternative, every recommendation is backed by real intent and delivered without slowing down the path to purchase.
Key takeaways:
- Don’t push products mindlessly. Offer add-ons that make sense in the moment
- Let shopper behaviour shape bundles. Use real signals to time your recommendations
- Showcase upgrades when the shopper shows interest and not when they’re about to leave
- Stop treating upsell like a side tactic. Make it part of a fluid journey to checkout
Benefit #4: Elevates Customer Support with Emotionally Intelligent, Always-On AI Agents
Poorly handled support is more than just a missed opportunity; it creates doubt, frustration, and bounce. Most bots still fail where it counts: tone. They misread intent, respond too generically, and leave users feeling like they’re talking to a robot or a script.
Agent One’s Shopping Agent solves for this. It recognizes not only what’s being said; but how it’s being said. Built with advanced sentiment detection and contextual reasoning, it adapts to emotional signals in real time:
If a shopper sounds confused and frustrated, the agent responds accordingly, acknowledging the concern, offering helpful responses, and taking relevant action. That level of understanding doesn’t just resolve questions; it earns trust.
Unlike traditional bots, Agent One doesn’t lean on pre-set scripts. It draws from live behavioral data, past interactions, and contextual cues to drive conversations that feel natural, empathetic, and on-brand.
Shoppers walk away feeling heard, and that feeling drives measurable outcomes. And because it’s connected to Insider’s CDP, Shopping Agent only gets smarter with time. Every conversation becomes a signal that fine-tunes future interactions. So your support doesn’t just stay responsive; it continuously improves.
Key takeaways:
- Don’t script empathy. Let real-time emotion detection shape the tone of your responses
- Resolve confusion at the moment. Use past behavior and live context to personalize support
- Build trust through the conversation and not just the product
- Make support feel like guidance as opposed to using it for damage control
Benefit #5: Reduces Cart Abandonment with Timely Nudges and Checkout Intelligence
Shopping cart abandonment occurs in every 7 out of 10 purchases. And more often than not, it’s triggered by friction—whether it’s pricing doubts, delivery concerns, or a lack of urgency at the final step.
Most digital journeys fail to respond to these signals in a timely manner. Shopping Agent does. Unlike static automations, the Shopping Agent learns and responds in session. It adapts to what each shopper needs at the moment and helps them finish their purchase confidently:
Built to interpret real-time behaviors, such as hesitation, inactivity, and exit intent, the Shopping Agent steps in with well-timed prompts that move the shopper forward. These are intent-driven nudges grounded in behavioral insights.
If a user pauses on the delivery screen, the agent can suggest better options. If price becomes a blocker, it can highlight customer loyalty perks and better-value bundles. The goal is to remove doubt (as opposed to distract customers).
Key takeaways:
- Step in when the shopper hesitates; don’t wait for them to leave
- Use inactivity as a signal. Respond with contextual automation
- Turn abandoned carts into completed checkouts using intelligent timing and behavioral prompts
Personalization gets attention. Insider’s AI Shopping Agent converts that attention into revenue.
This autonomous shopping AI platform guides your customers’ buying decisions, reduces cart abandonment, and improves user experience with every interaction. It self-learns and closes the feedback loop in the moment.
Consequently, you’ll see the impact where it matters most: higher conversions, greater order value, shorter paths to purchase, and, of course, happier customers. For enterprise and high-growth brands, AI agents are a performance layer that they should invest in. And the right time to do this was yesterday.
Want to see Shopping Agent in action? Request a demo and explore how Insider’s AI shopping agent can power your growth!
FAQs
What are autonomous AI agents, and how do they work?
Autonomous AI agents are systems designed to carry out complex tasks independently based on a defined goal.
Whether it’s selecting a product or completing a transaction, these agents break the goal into steps, make data-informed decisions at each stage, and follow through to the finish line. They utilize machine learning to analyze the context, predict the best path forward, and act accordingly, with no human input required after the initial instruction.
How is AI transforming the shopping experience?
AI is reengineering retail at both operational and customer levels. Behind the scenes, it streamlines supply chains, forecasts demand more accurately and reduces waste. For the end user, it enables seamless interactions, such as dynamic offers, tailored suggestions, and real-time responses.
What’s driving the shift toward AI-powered, personalized shopping journeys online?
Digital retail is shifting away from overwhelming options toward simplified, hyper-personalized journeys. AI helps by narrowing choices to those that align with a shopper’s intent, past behavior, and preferences. This enables smarter sizing, curated product lists, and instant feedback from reviews.
Insider’s Shopping Agent goes beyond suggestions. It takes charge. Shoppers share what they want, and the agent instantly analyzes trends, compares options, and guides them to purchase with a proactive, end-to-end experience.
