What if smarter shopping isn’t about zero friction, but the right friction? We sit down with Amanda Danish-Wineland, SVP of Strategic Planning at Mars United, to unpack how AI and shopper psychology can actually make commerce feel more human. From Super Bowl ads that nailed the brief to the hidden driver of decision-making; risk. We trace the path from choice overload to real confidence, and why co-creating with agents beats handing over the keys.
We start with the timeless why behind purchases; discovery, security, identity, and reveal how the changing how across channels rewires expectations. Amanda breaks down the power of micro frictions: small, intentional checkpoints that signal care, reduce regret, and keep control with the shopper. We explore where automation helps (repeat decisions, clear constraints) and where it hurts (assumptions, opaque pushes), then dive into trust: transparent trade-offs, clear sources, and a conversational advisor tone that explains the “why” behind each recommendation.
For brands and retailers, this is a call to move beyond rank-chasing. Performance still matters, but trust compounds. We map a shopper-first approach: define who you truly serve, articulate the job your product does, and engineer backward so agents can recommend for the person, not the push. We also draw a sharp line between strategy and planning, evidence framing versus creative leverage, and show how AI is a force multiplier: cleaning data, accelerating synthesis, and even arguing with our assumptions so humans can push into sharper insights and braver ideas.
If you care about agentic commerce, retail media, or just making buying easier without losing agency, this conversation is a field guide. Hit play, then tell us: where do you want advice, and where do you want full control? Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review to help more curious listeners find the show.
More About this Episode
Trust vs. Sales: Why the Future of Retail Media Belongs to Brands That Earn Confidence
Retail media is at an inflection point. AI-driven commerce is accelerating, agentic shopping is gaining traction, and brands are scrambling to understand how to win in a world where algorithms increasingly influence purchase decisions. The pressure to rank higher, optimize faster, and convert more efficiently has never been greater.
But beneath the noise of automation and performance metrics, a deeper question is emerging.
Are we optimizing for sales, or are we optimizing for trust?
In my recent conversation with Amanda Danish-Wineland, SVP of Strategic Planning at Mars United Commerce, we unpacked what this moment really means for brands, retailers, and strategists operating in the evolving world of AI commerce and retail media. Her perspective bridges shopper psychology and emerging technology in a way that cuts through hype and surfaces something more fundamental.
The rules of retail are changing. But human behavior is not.
The Why of Shopping Has Not Changed
Despite the explosion of ecommerce, retail media networks, and AI-powered recommendation engines, the core motivations behind shopping remain remarkably stable.
Shoppers are driven by emotional needs. They want confidence. They want security. They want discovery. They want to express their identity. They want to reduce risk.
What has changed is not the why. It is the how.
Where we once walked into a physical store and evaluated a finite shelf, we now navigate endless digital options. We compare reviews, scroll social feeds, read expert content, and increasingly rely on AI to filter the noise. The number of variables influencing a single purchase decision has multiplied.
With that expansion has come cognitive overload.
More choice does not automatically create more confidence. In many cases, it creates hesitation. When every product has five stars and every review claims superiority, the path to certainty becomes harder to find.
That is the real opportunity for AI in commerce. Not to replace decision-making, but to restore confidence.
Confidence Is the Real Conversion Driver
We do not make purchase decisions without confidence. Confidence is the invisible currency of commerce.
And confidence is shaped by perceived risk.
If I buy the wrong toilet paper, the downside is minimal. If I buy the wrong skincare product, the consequences feel personal and visible. If I buy the wrong laptop, the financial and functional stakes are high. The more social, financial, or identity-driven the risk, the more effort we invest in the decision.
Retail media strategies often treat all purchases as performance events. But not all purchases carry equal psychological weight. Understanding risk dynamics is critical to understanding how AI commerce should support shoppers.
This is where the conversation shifts from automation to agency.
Friction Is Not the Enemy
For years, innovation in ecommerce centered on eliminating friction. One-click checkout. Subscription replenishment. Dash buttons. Predictive ordering.
The assumption was simple. The less effort required, the better the experience.
But total frictionlessness removes something essential: a sense of control.
Shoppers want involvement. They want the option to reconsider. They want to feel understood.
A small amount of friction can signal thoughtfulness. It can demonstrate that the system is working with them rather than acting on their behalf without consent.
In AI-driven shopping experiences, this distinction is critical. There is a difference between helping a shopper decide and deciding for them.
When AI acts as an advisor, asking clarifying questions and surfacing relevant tradeoffs, it builds trust. When it defaults to automatic assumptions without context, it risks eroding that trust.
The future of agentic commerce depends on co-creation, not blind automation.
The Trust Gap in AI Commerce
One of the most fascinating psychological tensions in this space is how we evaluate AI performance.
We tolerate human error. We expect it. We forgive it.
But we are less forgiving with AI.
If we are told that AI is smarter, faster, and more accurate than we are, we hold it to a higher standard. A single visible mistake can break confidence quickly.
That means brands and retailers investing in AI-powered commerce must think carefully about transparency, context, and feedback loops. The goal is not to present AI as infallible. The goal is to make it feel collaborative.
Trust is not built through perfection. It is built through alignment.
Alignment with shopper priorities. Alignment with values. Alignment with context.
That alignment cannot be achieved by simply optimizing for rankings.
The Performance Trap
Retail media has become deeply performance-oriented. Teams obsess over keyword placement, sponsored product ranking, conversion rates, and return on ad spend. Those metrics matter. Sales matter. Efficiency matters.
But when performance becomes the only lens, strategy narrows.
Brands begin optimizing for algorithms instead of humans. They focus on winning the system rather than understanding the shopper.
In an AI-mediated commerce environment, that approach becomes fragile. As recommendation engines grow more sophisticated and potentially more retailer-agnostic, simply gaming search placement may not be enough.
The more durable advantage lies in being genuinely right for a specific shopper in a specific moment.
Instead of asking how to get recommended more often, brands should ask who they are truly built for. Which emotional needs do they satisfy? Which risks do they mitigate? Which identities do they reinforce?
When AI is trained to serve shopper interests, the brands that authentically align with those interests will surface more consistently than those engineered purely for short-term performance spikes.
Trust compounds. Tactical manipulation does not.
What Strategy Really Means in the Age of AI
There is also a growing misconception that AI can simply generate strategy.
Large language models can synthesize data and replicate patterns. They can accelerate research and stress-test ideas. They can produce competent outputs quickly.
But AI is fundamentally trained on what already exists.
True strategic planning involves interpretation. It requires contextual understanding, cultural nuance, emotional intelligence, and creative imagination. It means connecting signals that do not obviously belong together. It means identifying opportunity in ambiguity.
AI can match average creativity when prompted well. It can accelerate foundational work. It can reduce manual labor.
But exceptional strategy requires more than pattern recognition. It requires human judgment.
The most effective organizations are not replacing strategists with AI. They are equipping strategists with AI to move faster through foundational work so they can spend more time in deeper thinking.
That shift allows teams to go beyond surface-level performance tactics and build more durable brand platforms.
Sales Are the Outcome. Trust Is the Foundation.
There is nothing wrong with focusing on sales. Businesses exist to sell products. Retail media exists to drive measurable growth.
But sales are an outcome, not a strategy.
You can sell almost anything once. A deep discount can create a trial. A compelling headline can generate a click. A well-placed ad can trigger impulse.
The challenge is earning repeat confidence.
If a product overpromises and underdelivers, AI systems will eventually surface that reality through reviews, sentiment analysis, and comparative data. Short-term wins can quickly erode long-term equity.
If trust were measured with the same rigor as sales, marketing decisions would likely look different. Teams would think further out. They would prioritize relationship-building over tactical bursts. They would design experiences that feel human rather than purely optimized.
In a world of AI commerce, that human dimension becomes the differentiator.
The New Retail Rule
The emerging retail rule is not about abandoning performance. It is about reframing it.
Sales without trust are fragile. Trust without sales is incomplete.
The brands that win in AI-driven commerce will be those that use technology to reduce cognitive overload, reinforce shopper agency, and align authentically with emotional needs.
They will treat AI as an advisor, not a shortcut. They will invest in strategic planning, not just optimization. They will recognize that while technology evolves rapidly, human psychology evolves slowly.
Retail media may be powered by algorithms, but commerce is still driven by people.
And in the end, confidence is what converts.
