Checkout.com has published research showing consumers are moving towards AI-led shopping faster than trust in the model is developing. The findings point to a widening gap between expected adoption and merchant readiness in the UK and the US.
A third of consumers surveyed said they expect at least 10% of their purchases to be driven by AI within a year. Meanwhile, 72% of merchants said consumers will adopt agent-led shopping faster than most merchants are prepared for.
The figures suggest businesses expect demand to emerge before the wider payments and retail ecosystem resolves questions around controls, permissions and liability. Merchants also said AI agents account for only 3% of transactions today, even though 89% are actively preparing for agentic commerce.
Trust appears to be the main barrier to wider use. Some 27% of consumers said they trust no organisation to operate an AI shopping agent, while 24% said they will never delegate purchases to AI.
Consumers also set tighter limits than merchants appear to expect. Across the six markets in the study, shoppers said they would allow an AI shopping agent to make an average purchase of £177 without additional approval. That was below the £200 expected by merchants in the UK and the US.
Control concerns
Asked what would make them comfortable with AI-led purchasing, consumers focused on direct controls. Spending caps were cited by 30%, instant revocation by 29%, and easy cancellation by 28%.
Merchants largely acknowledged the same issue. Three-quarters said giving customers the real-time ability to revoke permissions will be critical to the adoption of agentic commerce programmes.
The research suggests convenience is the main reason consumers are considering AI shopping. A quarter said saving time is the top motivator for using an AI shopping agent, while 20% want AI to help ensure they do not miss a better deal.
That pattern is likely to shape where adoption starts. Consumers were most willing to delegate shopping in routine categories, such as groceries (41%) and household supplies (31%).
They were far less willing to hand over higher-stakes decisions. Financial services ranked as the least delegable category at 15%, creating a mismatch with merchants, which expect agentic commerce to gain ground first in more complex decisions such as financial products.
Brand shifts
The findings also indicate that AI shopping tools could weaken established brand loyalty. Some 57% of consumers said they would let an AI shopping agent switch brands if it found a better-value option.
That points to a potential shift in how retailers and consumer brands compete online, particularly if AI agents take a larger role in product discovery, comparison and checkout. In that model, price, availability and rules set by the consumer may matter more than direct brand attachment.
Payments groups and merchants have been exploring how AI agents could handle repeat purchases, compare offers and complete transactions with minimal input from shoppers. Wider adoption, however, depends on whether businesses can give users clear authority over when an agent can act, how much it can spend and how quickly permissions can be withdrawn.
For the payments sector, those questions extend beyond user experience. They also cover authentication, refunds, accountability for errors, and the standards required for merchants, platforms, and payment providers to accept instructions initiated by software agents.
"Agentic commerce is quickly moving from concept to reality. Consumers are beginning to experiment with AI agents for everyday purchases, and across the industry we're seeing rapid collaboration around the protocols and standards that will support this next phase of eCommerce. But while adoption is ramping up, the infrastructure behind it is still developing. Consumers need confidence that AI agents will operate within clear controls around security, refunds, permissions and spend limits. Until those foundations are in place, trust will remain one of the biggest barriers to adoption," Rory O'Neill, Chief Marketing Officer at Checkout.com, said.