As AI agents increasingly shop, compare and recommend on behalf of consumers, retailers focused only on closing the transaction may be losing something far more valuable: the customer relationship and the data that comes with it.
That’s the warning at the center of a new Retail TouchPoints special report, AI’s Impact on the Path to Purchase, which examines how agentic commerce is dismantling the traditional purchase funnel and what retailers stand to lose if they don’t adapt.
The disruption is already visible in the numbers. According to McKinsey & Company, 68% of consumers have used an AI-powered tool in the past three months. But Coveo’s 2026 Commerce Relevance Report found only 16% are comfortable letting an AI assistant complete a purchase on their behalf, a trust gap that’s forcing retailers to rethink where and how they show up.
The report draws on insights from experts at Kearney, SSA & Co. and S-RM to unpack what’s at stake as the storefront moves upstream into the AI layer itself. Read the full special report here. The report is sponsored by ESW and Adyen.
