Retailers Plan To Let AI Agents Read Their Catalogs, First Must Find Catalog

BOSTON—Retailers are preparing for a future in which artificial intelligence agents do the shopping, according to a new survey by Boston Consulting Group, and the first step, executives agree, is finding out what they sell.

The survey found that 67 percent of retailers plan to enrich their product data so AI agents can read it, and 58 percent plan to share real-time inventory. Only 15 percent say their data is structured enough for an agent today, a state of affairs one consultant described as "a spreadsheet with emotional baggage."

At a regional home goods chain, a merchandising director who asked to be identified only as Kendra said the company lists a single throw blanket under 11 names, including "Throw, Gray," "Blanket (Gry)" and "DO NOT USE 2." "A person understands these are the same blanket," she said. "An agent buys all 11 and asks about a bulk discount."

Are Retailers Ready For Robot Shoppers?

Plan to enrich product data for AI agents	67%
Plan to share real-time inventory	58%
Can tell an agent from a human visitor	23%
Have agent-ready product data today	15%

Source: Boston Consulting Group survey, as reported by Yahoo Finance; blanket count by The Daily SKU

Just 23 percent of retailers say they can tell whether a visitor is an AI agent or a person. Retailers said the distinction matters because agents read the entire product description, which no human being has done since 2004.

"We wrote 'luxuriously soft' for people who would never check. Now something is checking."

Readiness varies by size. Eleven percent of small and midsize retailers say they are ready for agents, compared with 19 percent of large ones, an advantage consultants attributed to larger companies being able to afford an entire team to rename the blanket.

Several chains have started a pilot in which one AI agent audits the catalog before the shopping agents arrive. The audit agent has so far flagged 40,000 errors, merged 11 blankets into one and placed an order for a label maker, which arrived listed as "Throw, Gray."