What Is Agentic Commerce?

Agentic commerce is a shopping flow in which an AI agent performs buying steps on a user's behalf, such as searching for products, comparing options, adding items to a cart and completing checkout.

Instead of requiring the user to approve every individual step, the agent acts within permissions granted beforehand. The merchant receives a purchase that can be linked to the agent that initiated it.

From Recommendation to Purchase

Traditional AI shopping assistants usually stop at recommending a product. The user must then open the merchant's website, select an option and complete checkout manually.

Agentic commerce closes this gap. The same agent can compare products, select available options, apply discounts, place an order and provide delivery details on the user's behalf.

The shopping journey — discovery, comparison, cart and checkout — moves from the user to the agent, while the user remains in control of the overall scope and budget.

The Role of a Mandate

An agent acts within a mandate: a scoped permission granted by the user in advance. It may define a spending limit, an allowed product category or a time window.

The payment-side process for verifying and enforcing this permission is known as agentic payments.

See What Are Agentic Payments? for more detail on mandates, agent identity and payment authorisation.

Where the Industry Stands

Standards for how agents identify themselves, interact with merchants and complete checkout are still developing. No single dominant approach has emerged yet.

Agentic commerce describes the wider shopping journey, while agentic payments covers the transaction and authorisation layer within that journey.

Related infrastructure — how agents technically connect to merchant systems — is covered under Model Context Protocol.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is agentic commerce in simple terms?

Agentic commerce is commerce where an AI agent discovers products, decides, and completes a purchase on a user's behalf, acting inside a mandate the user set in advance rather than a person clicking through checkout.

What is a mandate in agentic commerce?

A mandate is a scoped permission a user gives an agent before it can act. It may define a spending limit, an allowed product or merchant category, or a time window.

What is the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)?

The Agentic Commerce Protocol is an open standard for connecting AI agents and businesses during product discovery and checkout. It is an industry initiative, not a Payneteasy product.

How is agentic commerce different from agentic payments?

Agentic commerce covers the wider shopping journey, including discovery, comparison, cart and checkout. Agentic payments covers the transaction and authorisation layer within that journey. See What Are Agentic Payments? for more detail.