commercetools released a comprehensive framework of five best practices for enterprises implementing and scaling agentic commerce—autonomous AI agents that transact, recommend and act on behalf of consumers across AI channels like ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini. The guide addresses data architecture, governance, human workflows and customer experience as interconnected challenges rather than isolated technical problems. Forward-thinking retailers including Frasers Group and Liverpool are already preparing for this shift by meeting customers within AI channels.
The five practices emphasize: building a clean, connected, machine-readable data foundation with centralized product, pricing and inventory data; empowering teams in a hybrid human-AI environment where AI handles repetitive tasks and humans provide oversight; starting with small, focused pilots with clear success metrics rather than big-bang deployments; embedding security, governance and trust through McKinsey's five dimensions (Know Your Agent, human-centered design, transparency, data security, and responsible governance); and augmenting owned experiences (websites, apps, loyalty platforms) with conversational commerce agents while ensuring brand consistency across both owned and third-party AI channels. McKinsey research indicates that effective agent deployments could deliver productivity improvements of three to five percent annually and potentially lift growth by 10 percent or more (commercetools Blog). Additionally, 50% of consumers already use AI-powered search today, with estimates that $750 billion of consumer spend will flow through AI-powered search by 2028 (commercetools Blog).
The framework underscores that agentic commerce success requires treating deployment like product management—iterative, test-driven and outcome-based—rather than rushing to scale without strategy. Organizations that thrive will balance autonomous agent execution with human judgment, creativity and oversight, while ensuring their brand remains visible and valuable across both owned touchpoints and embedded AI experiences.