Agentic commerce is deciding who consumers trust
The gap between adoption and trust is widening
Seven in ten UK consumers now use LLMs regularly. Nearly four in ten have already used them for shopping tasks. But adoption and trust are moving at very different speeds and that gap is exposing the operating models behind the retail experience. This report, produced in partnership with Retail Economics, examines how agentic commerce is raising the stakes for retail performance, why the constraint is almost never the technology itself, and what leadership teams must do to secure loyalty in an increasingly automated world.
What the report covers
- Why 95% of retailers are experimenting with agentic commerce but only around 5% are seeing clear, scalable returns and what separates them
- The loyalty erosion amplifier: why agentic commerce does not create operational weaknesses, it exposes and scales the ones already there
- How four distinct consumer trust personas are reshaping where loyalty is built and where it quietly erodes
- What leading retailers reveal about the difference between agentic commerce as a commercial multiplier and agentic commerce as a liability
- The strategic priorities retail leaders must act on to secure trust and loyalty in an agentic future
Key findings:
AI shopping is mainstream. Trust has not caught up.
Around seven in ten UK consumers used large language models in the past year. 38% have used them for shopping tasks. Yet one in three do not trust AI-enabled search and discovery.
Most shoppers are not ready to hand over control.
Only 11% of consumers are truly AI-first. 53% use AI selectively but retain control over final decisions. A further 36% remain cautious or resistant, underlining how limited full AI delegation still is.
Product discovery is still personal for many.
Even as AI use grows, 49% of consumers still prefer to do product discovery themselves. AI is currently strongest as a support layer for research and comparison, not a replacement for human judgment.
The constraint is execution, not technology.
95% of retailers are experimenting with AI. Around 5% report clear, scalable ROI. Pricing, inventory, fulfillment, service, and returns all need to be aligned behind the interface for AI to deliver.
Deep integration drives commercial returns.
When AI is embedded across catalog, pricing, inventory, and fulfillment, customers using the tool are over 60% more likely to complete a purchase. Connected execution converts engagement into revenue.
Loyalty is becoming situational, not fixed.
Consumer willingness to rely on AI varies by mission and category. People are more comfortable with low-risk, repeat purchases. For emotional or high-consideration decisions, trust in AI drops sharply.