Stripe and OpenAI launch agentic commerce protocol for retail
Stripe and OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol is now live, integrated into ChatGPT and supported by merchants on Etsy, Shopify, and Instacart.
Shopping Experiences News
AI-driven personalization, AR/VR and immersive experiences, voice and social commerce, agentic commerce and shopping assistants, payments and digital wallets, loyalty, and new retail business models redefining store and channel format.
Digital wallets consolidate payments, loyalty, and identity into single apps
Global digital wallet users surpassed 4.3 billion by mid-2025, with 65% of US adults now using a wallet and 51% refusing to shop at retailers that do not accept their preferred app.
PayPal launches agentic commerce services for AI-driven shopping
PayPal introduced 'agent ready' and 'store sync' services on October 28, 2025, enabling merchants to accept payments and expose catalogs on AI surfaces like Perplexity.
AI agents drove 17% of Thanksgiving holiday retail sales
Salesforce data indicates that AI and agentic tools influenced 17% of holiday sales, totaling approximately $13.5 billion, during the 2025 Thanksgiving weekend.
AI and AR reshape retail personalization and immersive shopping experiences
The AI-enabled e-commerce market is estimated at $9.0 billion in 2025, while the AR/VR retail market is projected to reach $1.6 billion in 2025.
AR retail market projected to exceed $10 billion by 2029
The global augmented reality market in retail is projected to grow from approximately $3.52 billion in 2025 to over $10 billion by 2029, driven primarily by virtual try-on features.
AR and 3D media drive higher conversion and lower returns
Retailers report that 3D and AR product media correlate with significantly higher conversion rates and reduced return volumes.
Amazon's AI shopping assistant boosts purchase completion rates by 60 percent
Amazon's 'Rufus' AI shopping assistant, built on Amazon Bedrock and Claude, is projected to generate over $700 million in profit in 2025 and has increased purchase completion rates by 60% for its users.
NRF: 40% of Consumers Use AI for Product Research
A 2025 National Retail Federation study indicates that 40% of consumers now rely on AI assistants for product research before purchasing.
TikTok Shop expands livestream commerce into luxury retail markets
TikTok expanded its Shop platform and livestream shopping to additional regions in February 2025 while beginning to include high-end luxury goods and tightening quality controls.
Whatnot raises $490M, doubling valuation to $11.5B
Whatnot secured $490 million in Series E and F funding rounds in 2025, increasing its valuation to $11.5 billion as live shopping adoption grew in the United States.
Amazon launches agentic shopping assistant for third-party retailers
Amazon (AWS) launched the Agentic Shopping Assistant, allowing third-party retailers to deploy a branded conversational shopping tool in approximately 60 days.
Gartner forecasts 60% of brands will use agentic AI for personalization by 2028
Gartner forecasts that 60% of brands will utilize agentic AI to provide one-to-one customer interactions by 2028, signaling a transition from rules-based to AI-native personalization.
AI shopping agents expand checkout capabilities across major platforms
Major technology and retail firms integrated direct purchasing features into AI assistants in 2025 and 2026, with shopping queries reaching approximately 50 million daily on one leading platform.
Whatnot acquires Shaped for live shopping recommendations
Live-commerce marketplace Whatnot has acquired AI recommendation engine Shaped to provide real-time, personalized product suggestions during live shopping sessions.
Bain Capital Ventures backs two major AI shopping startups
Bain Capital Ventures has invested in both Bloomreach and ShopMy, two leading AI-driven shopping platforms.
AI Shopping Assistant Phia Raises $35 Million Series A
Phia, an AI shopping assistant that identifies cost-effective alternatives, has secured $35 million in Series A funding.
Pinterest and Roku enable shoppable content on connected TVs
Pinterest has partnered with Roku to allow viewers to purchase products directly through their TV remote or app.
AI Shopping Assistants Capture 40.89% of Disclosed Consumer AI Funding
AI Shopping Assistants accounted for 40.89% of disclosed consumer AI funding in the past 12 months, representing $133.37M across 14 deals in the broader AI Shopping and Conversational AI sectors.
Salesforce invests in AI platform for real-time personalized storefronts
Salesforce has provided strategic investment to Callimacus to expand its technology that generates highly personalized digital shopping interfaces in real time.
Whatnot raises $225M Series F for livestream collectibles marketplace
Collectibles livestream marketplace Whatnot raised a $225M Series F in October 2025, demonstrating that niche, high-engagement livestream verticals can still attract late-stage, billion-dollar-valuation capital.
Whatnot raises $490M in 2025 to reach $11.5B valuation
Livestream shopping platform Whatnot closed a $265M Series D+ round in January 2025 and a $225M round in October 2025, reaching a valuation of nearly $11.5 billion.
Whatnot raises $225M for live-auction social commerce platform
Whatnot secured a $225 million Series F round in Q4 2025, representing 42.3% of total social commerce funding over the preceding five quarters.
ShopMy raises $70 million to scale creator commerce infrastructure
ShopMy has secured $70 million in funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, reporting $1 billion in annual platform sales and 200% year-over-year revenue growth.
Whatnot valuation hits $11.5 billion on social commerce momentum
Whatnot has reached an $11.5 billion valuation, highlighting the significant market potential of niche social commerce verticals focused on collectibles and unique items.