Bots Are the New Buyers. And They’re Already in Your Checkout

The Prompt Economy™: When Bots Are the Customer

“Prompt Economy™: When Bots Are the Customer,” a collaboration between PYMNTS Intelligence and Visa, shows that bots aren’t just browsing anymore. They’re buying. As AI assistants like Rufus and Sparky start to shop, compare and check out on consumers’ behalf, the rules of digital commerce are being rewritten in real time. Download your copy now.

Inside the October Tracker
  • The rise of permissioned AI agents is reshaping discovery and conversion. Shoppers are prompting assistants like Amazon’s Rufus and Walmart’s Sparky instead of searching websites, making structured product data and trusted APIs essential.
  • Visa’s Intelligent Commerce framework powers agent-led transactions. Its MCP server and Agent Toolkit connect tokenized payments, authentication and fraud controls so that agents can buy safely on behalf of consumers.
  • Merchants can prepare for commerce without pages. From machine-readable catalogs to tokenized checkouts and agent-ready endpoints, brands that optimize for AI assistants—not browsers—will win the next wave of digital commerce.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and consent to the sharing of your information with our sponsors, where applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Sponsors may use this information to contact you directly. You may update your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time.

    Subscribeto our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    The Prompt Economy™

    The Prompt Economy™: How AI Agents Turn Conversation into Commerce