Glossary

Plain-English definitions of modern commerce terms, from agentic commerce and agentic storefronts to how AI agents are changing online retail.

Agentic Commerce

Agentic commerce is a model of online retail in which AI agents act on behalf of shoppers and brands - discovering products, comparing options, negotiating, and completing purchases autonomously. Instead of a person browsing a storefront, an agent transacts for them, and the storefront must be built for agents to read, trust, and buy from.

Also known as agent-driven commerce, AI-agent commerce

Agentic Storefront

An agentic storefront is an online store designed to serve AI agents as first-class shoppers alongside humans. Its catalog, pricing, policies, and checkout are machine-readable and transactable, so shopping agents can discover products, verify claims, and complete purchases on a customer's behalf - without a human navigating pages.

Also known as agent-ready storefront, machine-readable storefront

Conversational Commerce vs Agentic Commerce

Conversational commerce is a human shopping through dialogue - chat, voice, or messaging - with the person making every decision. Agentic commerce goes further: an AI agent acts on the shopper's behalf, making decisions and completing purchases autonomously. Conversation is an interface; agency is a delegation of the transaction itself.

Also known as chat commerce vs agent commerce