Artificial intelligence is making it easier for retailers to get discovered. It is doing considerably less to help them get paid.
Data in the October 2026 edition of the Consumer AI Benchmark Report from PYMNTS Intelligence reveals that nearly 45% of consumers who use AI for shopping have purchased from an online store they had never used before. Another 40% say AI has changed where they shop.
But despite all that, Amazon still captures nearly 60% of consumers’ most recent AI-assisted purchases. That disconnect reveals an emerging fault line in digital commerce.
AI can introduce consumers to merchants they might never have encountered through traditional search. But when it comes time to transact, shoppers often return to platforms where their payment credentials, delivery expectations and purchase protections are already established.
Discovery Is Getting Cheaper. Conversion Isn’t.
For retailers and payments providers, the opportunity isn’t simply to make more products discoverable by AI. It’s to make the resulting transaction compelling enough to pull consumers away from the marketplaces they already trust.
After all, while dominant marketplaces benefited for years from controlling both product discovery and checkout, artificial intelligence is beginning to break apart those activities. An AI commerce assistant can compare products across merchants, recommend unfamiliar brands and help shoppers evaluate alternatives without requiring them to visit a marketplace first.
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That potentially opens a new customer acquisition channel for independent retailers. But it also exposes the limits of discovery as a competitive advantage. According to PYMNTS Intelligence’s report, 53.9% of marketplace shoppers would consider purchasing directly from a retailer for a lower price or exclusive discount. Nearly half would switch for equally fast, free shipping, while 35.2% cited comparable returns.
Only 12.1% identified an AI assistant handling checkout as a reason to switch.
Read the report: From Prompt to Purchase: Who Wins the AI Shopper?
An AI agent might eliminate the need to enter shipping information or manually select a payment method. But faster execution does not automatically resolve concerns about an unfamiliar merchant’s reliability, returns policies or ability to handle disputes.
Artificial intelligence is expanding the number of merchants consumers are willing to consider. The companies that benefit most may be those that can turn that willingness into a trusted transaction.
The challenge is not authorizing an AI agent to spend. It is preserving the confidence consumers associate with established checkout relationships when the agent purchases somewhere new. That could create an important role for payment networks, wallets and checkout infrastructure providers.
Because ultimately, in agentic commerce, discovery opens the door. Conversion determines who gets paid.
At PYMNTS Intelligence, we work with businesses to uncover insights that fuel intelligent, data-driven discussions on changing customer expectations, a more connected economy and the strategic shifts necessary to achieve outcomes. With rigorous research methodologies and unwavering commitment to objective quality, we offer trusted data to grow your business. As our partner, you’ll have access to our diverse team of PhDs, researchers, data analysts, number crunchers, subject matter veterans and editorial experts.
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