Shoppers Would Send Their AI Agents To Marketplaces; Brand Sites Put Out Snacks Anyway

NEW YORK—Given an AI agent and identical prices, shipping and returns, most American shoppers would send the agent to a big online marketplace rather than a brand's own website, according to a new survey, leaving brand sites to stand by the door with a tray of cheese cubes, waiting.

The PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 2,191 consumers found that 40.2 percent would send an agent to a large marketplace, 21.8 percent to a department store or big retailer and 16.1 percent to a brand's own site. Another 21.8 percent would let the AI decide, which brand executives called "the swing vote" and the AI called "Amazon."

Among shoppers' most recent AI-assisted purchases, 59.7 percent were completed on Amazon and 6.3 percent on a brand's site or app. "We built a beautiful site," said Corbin Nakashima-Hale, founder of a fictional sustainable sock company. "It has a founder's letter, a mission page and a quiz about your sock personality. The agent read all of it and bought socks somewhere else."

• Large marketplace 40%
• Department store or big retailer 22%
• Let the AI decide 22%
• Brand's own website 16%

Where Shoppers Would Send An AI Agent

Large marketplace	40%
Department store or big retailer	22%
Let the AI decide	22%
Brand's own website	16%

Source: PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 2,191 U.S. consumers; feelings of brand sites by The Daily SKU

The survey found that 53.9 percent of marketplace shoppers would switch to a brand's site for a lower price, while only 12.1 percent would switch for AI-handled checkout. Brand marketers said they found this result "clarifying" and then sat quietly for a long time.

"The agent was very polite. It said it loved our story. Then it left."

Some brands are now building pages written specifically for agents, with plain lists of sizes, materials and return policies, and no founder's letter. Early tests show agents prefer them, and so do humans, who were never consulted.

At press time, Mr. Nakashima-Hale's site had been visited by 400 AI agents, none of which bought anything, and one human, who was his mother, and who bought socks.