Agentic commerce—the rise of AI shopping agents—is set to redefine retail. With platforms like OpenAI, Amazon, Shopify, and Visa laying the groundwork, the future of e-commerce will involve AI making decisions on behalf of consumers. According to Gartner, by 2028, AI agents could drive 20% of all e-commerce interactions, while Ark Invest projects $9 trillion in AI-driven sales by decade’s end.
For retailers, this means urgent adaptation. Traditional digital marketing models will struggle to keep up, while affiliate marketing is uniquely positioned to thrive. Because it’s performance-based, retailers only pay when a sale is made—perfectly aligning with the logic of agentic commerce.
Why Affiliate Marketing Fits
Affiliate networks offer:
- Aligned incentives – Pay per conversion, not per click or impression.
- Established infrastructure – Proven systems to track cross-platform transactions.
- CPA-based models – Better ROI as traditional CPM/CPC models lose relevance.
As AI agents act like super-publishers, affiliate tracking becomes the backbone of trust and accountability. OpenAI’s Sam Altman has even suggested affiliate-style monetization could power future agentic services.
Retailer Readiness Checklist
To stay competitive, retailers should:
- Expose product data via APIs to make their catalogs agent-compatible.
- Upgrade infrastructure to support secure, real-time agent transactions.
- Shift to performance pricing in retail media.
- Incorporate affiliate fees into loyalty programs to boost engagement.
Agentic commerce isn’t just a tech trend—it’s a structural shift. Retailers that embrace it now, with affiliate marketing as their bridge, will be better positioned to lead in this new era.
