Talk before you run

Vidhi Choudhary

Retailers at Shoptalk Spring in Las Vegas this week were desperately seeking an AI playbook. The vast majority of attendees had questions about the hype-versus-reality of agentic commerce, or agent-assisted shopping.

Shoptalk, which ran from March 24 to March 26 at Mandalay Bay, featured a buzzy array of AI announcements from tech giants including OpenAI and Google. Brands and retailers seemed to realize that agentic commerce is a new front door consumers are using, and the conversation moved from “How do we build something?” to “How do we build something useful?”

The buzz around agentic AI started at NRF two and a half months ago, and people at Shoptalk were still looking for answers to questions like: Will people really hand over shopping to AI agents, even if the technology makes it seamless and easy? However, there was still no real consensus.

Ret(AI)l therapy: Google went big on agentic commerce—literally—taking over the walkway with a massive e-billboard attendees couldn’t miss.

OpenAI rolled out a new shopping experience on ChatGPT that can browse and compare items, and drop relevant product information all in one place. It’s a revised version of OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, which delivers real-time product data from merchants—including Target, Sephora, Nordstrom, The Home Depot, Best Buy, and Wayfair—directly into ChatGPT.

Meanwhile, Gap said it is partnering with Google to let people complete purchases directly within AI agent Gemini, becoming the first major fashion brand to collaborate with Google on agent-driven AI commerce. And beauty retailer Sephora said it is rethinking its beauty shopping experience with the launch of its app in ChatGPT.

“People that were never involved in retail directly—like Google, they were always kind of side-involved, and ChatGPT—coming here and dropping news, so it’s exciting,” Scot Wingo, CEO of AI startup Refibuy, told Retail Brew. “They see the [retail] vertical is really important for the initiatives they’re trying to drive around AI.”

Keep reading here.—VC

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SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta ad reset

Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

Meta is making product changes to make it easier for users to find and buy products across Facebook and Instagram with new tweaks and tools.

On Tuesday, the tech giant said it is expanding the Facebook affiliate program, which lets creators tag products from retailers in their Facebook posts, to new partners including Amazon, eBay, and Temu in the United States; Mercado Libre in Latin America; and Shopee in Asia.

Meta is also testing a similar affiliate program for Instagram, the company said. Creators will be able to highlight products directly in their posts and Reels, and earn money through these new affiliate partners.

Essentially, Meta is giving creators more ways to recommend products across Facebook and Instagram.

Keep reading here.—VC

TECH

Add to cart

Amelia Kinsinger

Reddit has added new shopping tools to monetize authentic human conversations on its platform.

On Tuesday, the social media platform announced the rollout of Collection Ads, which combine a lead image with shoppable product tiles in a single carousel, connecting discovery to purchase. Collection Ads sit under what Reddit has dubbed more broadly as Dynamic Product Ads.

CMO Jim Squires said the platform’s ad strategy is people-first thanks to the unfiltered nature of conversations that take place on Reddit.

Keep reading here.—VC

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SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Improvement plan: Lowe’s is aiming to personalize its website by the end of the year using customer data like purchase history, browsing activity, and location. (Modern Retail)

Something to chew on: Chewy reported $3.26 billion in Q4 revenue, and expects sales to grow and margins to expand this year. (the Wall Street Journal)

Ready to KPop: McDonald’s is introducing two KPop Demon Hunters meals in collaboration with Netflix. (MarketWatch)

Fill those carts: Get your shoppers in the door and all the way to checkout with Quad. Their marketing solutions help turn visits into bigger baskets with smarter signage, packaging, in-store media, and creative built to make sales.*

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