The Silent Race Behind Agentic Commerce

Why the next retail winners are the ones who master information, not interfaces

Across the industry, everyone talks about the next stage of digital transformation. Much fewer acknowledge what it actually requires. For many organizations, “digitalization” still means new platforms, refreshed interfaces, more campaigns or a different CRM. It feels like progress, and it certainly looks like progress, but it rarely changes anything fundamental.

Because beneath the surface, a much bigger shift is taking place. A shift that does not care about aesthetics, campaigns or channels. A shift that quietly rewires how purchase decisions are made. Agentic Commerce is emerging, and most retailers are not even close to being prepared for how it works.

For years, companies have allowed digital decisions to be made by roles that focus on messaging, creative and tools instead of data and architecture. It has produced millions in unnecessary system replacements, misaligned priorities and projects that never address the core issues. In an agent-driven economy, that approach collapses instantly. Surface improvements no longer matter. Only the integrity of your information does. If you cannot meet that bar, you disappear from the decision layer long before a customer ever sees you.

Agents now shape the buying journey, not retailers

In the emerging environment, the buying experience is no longer crafted by merchants. It is assembled by the customer’s agent.

And the agent evaluates everything!

Inventory truth. Attribute completeness. Sustainability signals. Delivery performance. Price stability. Return data. API reliability. Semantic clarity.

Anything inconsistent, unclear or unreliable is filtered out immediately. Agents do not reward storytelling. They do not reward branding. They operate on logic, structure and trustworthiness. For retailers, this is a demanding shift: you are no longer competing for attention, you are competing for qualification.

E-commerce is evolving into something more exacting

This is not the decline of e-commerce. It is the evolution of it.

The retailer that thrives is not the one with the most creative campaigns. It is the one who can prove, through clean and consistent data, that its products and processes are superior. You qualify for visibility through accuracy, not persuasion.

Data must be complete, machine-readable, stable, traceable, structured and correct in real time. These traits decide whether a customer’s agent even allows you into the buying environment it constructs.

Interfaces matter less. Branding matters less. Platforms matter less. Information quality becomes the only real competitive edge.

The industry keeps solving the wrong problem

Across the sector, organizations keep repeating the same pattern. They replace tools but leave the information layer untouched. The result is familiar: modern interfaces on top of fragmented, inconsistent and poorly governed data.

You can recognize it instantly:

• New platforms without understanding existing data flows
• Projects executed without a shared architecture
• Data collected but never activated
• Cloud infrastructure present but underused
• Progress measured by dashboards, not by control
• Digital maturity defined by number of systems instead of quality of connections

This is not a technical issue. It is a strategic one. As long as information is viewed as an IT detail, companies will keep modernizing without actually advancing.

Agentic Commerce exposes the truth

In the past, weak processes could be hidden behind design. In an agentic world, there is nowhere to hide.

Missing attributes remove you. Inaccurate inventory removes you. Unclear sustainability data removes you. Volatile logistics removes you. Unstable APIs remove you.

Agents do not compromise. They do not “give everyone a chance.” They choose the clearest, most consistent and most reliable option. That is the real competition.

This is not a marketing challenge. It is an information challenge.

Information is the new center of gravity

Information is now the most powerful asset a retailer has.

It determines:

• how visible you are
• how trustworthy you appear
• how quickly you can adapt
• how well your technology aligns with your business
• how relevant your products are to both humans and systems

The retailer who controls their information flow controls their market. Everyone else keeps switching platforms without moving forward.

The silent race has already begun

Agentic Commerce is not a future scenario. It is already unfolding. Customers may not notice it yet, but their systems do. And those systems are beginning to make decisions on their behalf.

The retailers who understand this shift – who invest in structure, clarity, reliability and data discipline – will be the ones who remain visible. Those who continue to focus on interfaces and campaigns will be watching from the sidelines.

Physical retail may return in a new form

Interestingly, automation may increase the value of physical stores. As digital decisions become more system-driven, the store may become a place for trust, guidance, sensory experience and human context. The emotional part of commerce does not disappear. It simply shifts to where it actually matters.

Martin Forsberg
Sparkhouse AB

Read more

• McKinsey & Company: Agentic commerce – How agents are ushering in a new era
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG): Agentic Commerce is Redefining Retail – How to Respond
• Microsoft Corporation: 2025: The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born (PDF)