Predictions 2026: The “Agentic Commerce” Race – And Some Potential Regrets – In Digital Commerce

Why It Matters

These developments will overhaul how brands engage customers, force investment in integrated AI platforms, and disrupt traditional marketplace and B2B sales models, creating new competitive dynamics and cost‑efficiency opportunities.

Summary

Forrester forecasts three pivotal 2026 trends in digital commerce driven by generative AI. First, five leading US or European brands will build unified "agentic commerce" experiences that handle returns, exchanges, logistics, payments and product recommendations in a single AI‑driven interface, bypassing fragmented vendor chatbots. Second, roughly one‑third of retail marketplace initiatives will be abandoned as answer engines like ChatGPT capture product traffic, pushing merchants to reallocate spend toward featured placements within those engines. Third, 20% of B2B sellers will be compelled to adopt agent‑led quote negotiations, where buyer‑bots and seller‑bots autonomously negotiate pricing, terms and replenishment within predefined guardrails. Forrester’s full report and webinar provide deeper insight.