“Agentic will be a paradigm shift for e-commerce,” says Nathan Feather, who covers small- and mid-cap internet companies at Morgan Stanley Research. “With greater digitization of consumers’ wallets, this could shake up the e-commerce funnel with implications across retailers and digital advertising players.”
A Big Boost to the Internet Business
Agentic technology is expected to ripple across the broader internet industry, but that would require more users of AI personal shoppers.
“To reach widespread adoption, companies first need to develop products and consumer habits have to evolve,” says Brian Nowak, head of U.S. Internet Research at Morgan Stanley.
A recent Morgan Stanley AlphaWise survey indicates that adoption of various large language model (LLM) platforms—AI programs capable of generating text and performing complex tasks—is now nearing up to 50% in the U.S., while shopping assistants remain far less common.
“This is not surprising, as platforms that have a number of uses are likely to gain adoption faster,” Nowak says. “But it also underscores the risks and opportunities for retailers partnering with these bigger platforms.”
Early Signs of Commercial Behavior
The survey indicated visible commercial behavior on AI platforms. About half of LLM users researched and compared product prices in the past month, and 30% to 40% reported making purchases. Based on adoption rates, Morgan Stanley estimates that roughly 23% of Americans bought something via AI in the past month—highlighting the potential for agentic solutions.
Groceries and consumer packaged goods (CPG) lead the way in AI-driven purchases, according to the survey.
“This is encouraging,” Nowak says. “First, because we see multiple new agentic products emerging around grocery/CPG and second, because grocery could be the largest agentic unlock over the next five years.”
