Retail’s next big disruption is already here and it’s thinking for itself

After years of battling new e-commerce entrants like Amazon, Temu and Shein, Australia’s retailers now face another disruptor, but this one thinks for itself.

AI-powered shopping agents are already influencing how Australians research, compare and buy, marking what Salesforce describes as the biggest technological shift to hit retail since the dawn of mobile commerce.

“This is going to change commerce forever,” Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights and strategy at Salesforce, said.

“In Australia, we’ve seen an 8% share of shoppers starting their buying journey in an agentic search like ChatGPT - that’s up 94% between May and August. This is no longer a niche behaviour; it’s accelerating fast and being led by younger generations.”

Schwartz said 14% of Gen Z consumers now begin their shopping inside LLM-powered tools. But adoption isn’t limited to the young. “We saw zero uptake among Boomers back in May. By August, that number started to climb. Once they see the value, they lean in.”

AI goes in-store

What’s striking, Schwartz said, is how AI is blending the digital and physical retail worlds. Nearly half of Australian AI users (46%) say they use chat-based agents while shopping in-store, asking for recommendations, comparing prices and skipping the store associate altogether.

SEE MORE: ‘Revolution, not evolution’: The agentic AI wake-up call for CMOs

“The reason Australian shoppers are leaning in is the personalisation,” she said. “They’re uploading photos of themselves or their homes and giving these tools personal data in exchange for curated product lists that only apply to them. It’s personalisation beyond predictive algorithms - it’s bespoke.”

Salesforce’s data shows shoppers arriving from an AI referral convert better than those from social media and spend more time on-site. “It’s not huge traffic yet, but it’s high-intent traffic. When they arrive, they’re ready to buy,” Schwartz said.

Newly verified

While consumers rush ahead, many Australian retailers aren’t ready for the new reality. A new State of Browser Agents in Australian Retail study from AI agency Time Under Tension found that although browser agents completed 79% of test shopping tasks, many retail sites still block legitimate AI shoppers through outdated verification systems.

“The irony is that retailers are blocking their future customers while trying to stop malicious bots,” Tim O’Neill, co-founder of Time Under Tension, said.

“The AI waves currently lapping at retailers’ shores will become a tidal wave in 2026, when Google launches browser agents in Chrome. Retailers who are not prepared risk losing significant market share to competitors who've optimised their sites for this new reality."

JB Hi-Fi, Bing Lee, Priceline and Bunnings topped the rankings for clean site design and minimal friction, while other retailers consistently triggered human-verification barriers that stopped purchases entirely. 

Darren Spencer, chief operating officer of retail buying group NARTA said the findings are a wake-up call. “With ChatGPT Instant Checkout launching soon in Australia, agentic Commerce isn’t a distant future; it will be here before we know it,” he said. 

“The shift to agentic commerce represents a fundamental change in how people will shop online. Instead of clicking through product pages and comparison shopping manually, consumers will simply tell an AI agent what they need. The agent handles the rest – searching, comparing, and selecting products autonomously.”

Shoppers are ready

Even as some shoppers remain hesitant, the tide is turning quickly. New data from UserTesting shows 57% of Australians don’t yet use AI for shopping, but 44% expect to within a year. Gen Z (82%) and Millennials (70%) believe AI will transform how they shop in the next three years.

Gen Z uses it for brainstorming and discovery, Millennials for recommendations and gift ideas, and Boomers primarily for finding deals. “AI is becoming the new research assistant,” Schwartz said. “People are delegating the hard work of searching, filtering and planning.”

AI’s appeal, she added, isn’t about gimmicks. “It helps shoppers stretch their budgets and find better value. You can literally tell an agent, ‘I have $200 to spend on five gifts,’ and it’ll build you a list in seconds.”

Behind the shift

Salesforce expects 21% of this year’s global retail revenue to be influenced or driven by AI - up from 19% last year. Across APAC, online traffic rose 9% in Q3 after several flat quarters, signalling renewed consumer engagement.

In Australia, online sales fell 7% in Q1 but rebounded 4% by Q3, evidence that shoppers are back to browsing, researching and comparing as the holiday season nears. Schwartz said the holiday period will act as a “glimpse into the future”.

“What happens this holiday season will show us how the next few years will play out.”

The challenge, she said, isn’t only technical, it’s organisational. “Your website, marketing and tech teams are going to be much more closely integrated. Your social strategy will matter more because tools like ChatGPT already pull in TikTok videos, Reddit reviews and sentiment.”

Schwartz said retailers must prepare now by optimising content for AI discovery: embedding FAQs on product pages, writing descriptive copy that mirrors natural queries (“This blanket is for warm, cosy nights by the fire”), and publishing gift guides early so they’re indexed in time for Cyber Week.

She also expects more on-site shopping agents within 12 months. “You don’t want shoppers to have an amazing AI experience in search, then hit a dead end on your website. The question retailers should be asking is: how does my brand deliver the same intelligence on-site that consumers are getting off-site?”

The next transformation

For Schwartz, this shift goes beyond technology. It redefines the relationship between consumer and brand.

“AI is giving rise to highly educated shoppers who walk into stores armed with more information than ever,” she said. “Store associates, merchandising teams and marketers will all need to evolve together. This is personalisation at a scale we’ve never achieved before and it’s only the beginning.”