Agentic Commerce: Ready for Takeoff?
When the OMR Festival opens its doors, Hamburg becomes the epicenter of the digital industry. Once again, around 70,000 professionals from tech, e-commerce, and marketing convened at one of the largest industry events in Europe. One topic dominated discussions: Artificial Intelligence. It is the catalyst for Agentic Commerce, a paradigm shift that is redefining e-commerce fundamentally. On stage, Philipp Justus, Country Manager Germany & VP Central Europe at Google, and Otto Group CEO Petra Scharner-Wolff delved into this transformation. The discussion explored how AI is revolutionizing online shopping, the consequences for customer relationships, and why strategic investments are essential even in uncertain times.
Customers today are already experiencing what AI Commerce – or AI-supported shopping – entails. For example, the OTTO app features a new AI assistant based on Google Gemini that offers product advice, which OMR Festival visitors could also experience firsthand at a demo stand in the Google House. It understands natural language via text or voice, recognizes intent and context, and provides relevant product suggestions. But the next evolutionary stage of AI Commerce is already in sight: In Agentic Commerce, AI agents independently handle the entire shopping process, from product search to order placement. Google is driving this change in the USA with the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), which enables seamless purchasing directly through Google platforms – a development Philipp Justus sees as a direct consequence of evolving user behavior and more complex search queries. UCP is available worldwide for development, although Google's UCP-powered checkout feature is currently being rolled out only to users in the U.S.
This has profound implications for retail. Agentic Commerce goes far beyond today's webshop interactions. Instead of simple search queries, AI understands individual preferences, budgets, and routines of customers. The focus shifts from mere products to customized solutions. The shopping experience becomes more individual, personalized, and relevant than ever before.
In the future, the personal AI agent will more frequently be the starting point for online shopping, thereby changing the role of the classic webshop. However, Petra Scharner-Wolff does not consider a fully autonomous shopping world realistic. Shopping also involves pleasure and enjoyment: the next pair of socks might be bought by the agent, but customers will still want to personally select the summer dress for their Italian vacation or the new headphones.
Trust and Brand: Anchors in the AI Era
In an algorithm-driven world, trust becomes paramount. Brands and retailers will not only have to earn the trust of their customers but also that of AI agents. Strong brands and trustworthy customer relationships consequently become critical assets.
With its strong market position, over 40 million customers worldwide, and 18 million products at OTTO alone, the Otto Group possesses crucial prerequisites to be relevant for AI agents. High-quality product data, millions of customer reviews, and a strong brand identity are key signals for AI agents. The fact that many AI platforms leave the checkout to the brands further reinforces the significance of brand impact.
Long-Term Vision vs. Short-Term Profitability: An Investment Decision
Petra Scharner-Wolff witnessed the birth of e-commerce in the 1990s. OTTO was an early player with its first online shop in 1995, but it took several more years for e-commerce to achieve a major breakthrough in Germany. Today, Scharner-Wolff experiences a similar pioneering spirit, but at a significantly faster pace. Building Agentic Commerce today also requires substantial investments. While it is still unclear when the technology for Agentic Commerce will reach full market maturity, one thing is certain: it will open completely new opportunities for brands, retailers, and customers. The Otto Group is prepared for this—thanks in no small part to strong partnerships like the one with Google. Together, the two companies are developing concrete solutions in AI-supported product search, personalized advice, and new commerce infrastructures. The Otto Group plans to invest 350 million euros in IT, tech, and AI in the medium term.
This willingness to shape the future was palpable throughout the OMR Festival. Between inspiring keynotes and lively discussions, the festival provided the ideal framework not only to understand future topics like Agentic Commerce but also to actively address them. You can watch the full version of the fireside chat with Petra Scharner-Wolff and Philipp Justus here in German.
For the Otto Group, it is clear: the future of retail will be developed through partnerships.
© Photo credit: Lars Hübner & Google
