Meta has announced the launch of Muse, its new personal AI assistant, which is currently rolling out in the United States but is not yet available in Europe. Capable of browsing the web, filling out forms, and handling tasks for its user, Muse can, among other things, handle online purchases. The user retains control: the assistant asks for the user’s consent before making a purchase.
For brands with an e-commerce platform, this technological advancement adds a new intermediary to the purchasing journey. How can you continue to build consumer preference while allowing their AI agent to find, understand, and compare your offerings? Our experts have analyzed how this evolution might change the shopping journey and identified the strategies to implement so your brand continues to win over consumers and their shopping agents.
A new intermediary between the brand and the consumer
Until now, digital marketing has primarily sought to capture consumers’ attention, spark their interest, and guide them through the purchasing process. With purchasing agents, a new intermediary enters the picture: the user expresses a need, then delegates part of their research and actions to software. Muse can thus review offers and move forward in the purchasing journey on the user’s behalf. The brand must therefore take into account an additional player, one that acts according to its client’s expectations and preferences.
This evolution is specifically referred to as Business-to-Agent, or B2A: companies must make their offerings accessible and usable by AI agents acting on behalf of their customers. This dimension complements B2B and B2C approaches by adding an intermediary to the commercial relationship.
Depending on the steps delegated to the agent, some interactions with the brand may unfold differently. If a consumer asks, “Find me running shoes for less than €100, delivered by Friday,” the agent will need to identify offers that meet these criteria. The challenge will therefore also be to make the brand’s products easy to find, understand, and compare. For example, an unclear product description or shipping fees revealed at the last minute could become obstacles to making a purchase decision.
Convincing the consumer and informing the agent: two complementary aspects
A consumer may be drawn to a creative campaign, a photograph, or a brand’s identity. An agent receives a task and must rely on the available information to complete it. This does not mean that the agent will automatically choose the lowest price: the preferences expressed by the user may also relate to a brand, a country of origin, or a warranty. Brand-building efforts therefore continue to influence choice, even when the consumer delegates their search.
For e-commerce retailers, this trend calls for focusing on two complementary areas:
Convincing the consumer
- An appealing brand identity
- An attractive promotion
- A promise of quality
- A reassuring shopping experience
Allow an agent to evaluate your offer
- Accurate and accessible product specifications
- A clear total price, including shipping
- Verifiable information: materials, certifications, warranties
- Clear information on inventory, lead times, and returns
If you run an e-commerce site, there are several concrete steps you can take to make your product offerings understandable and actionable by AI agents:
- Fill out product listings with features that guide purchasing decisions: dimensions, materials, features, compatibility, and differences between models.
- Ensure the reliability of sales information: prices including shipping, availability, and delivery times must be up-to-date and consistent all the way to the shopping cart.
- Make supporting evidence accessible: authentic reviews, demonstrations, warranties, and return policies help customers evaluate the quality of your offerings.
- Streamline the purchasing journey: beyond simply browsing the catalog, your platform’s connectivity options and integrations will determine the actions an agent can perform.
These fundamentals already improve your customers’ experience and could make your agents’ jobs easier.Preparing your e-commerce site for B2A thus extends the efforts dedicated to the quality of the customer journey. If part of the product comparison shifts to AI assistants, certain touchpoints with the brand may become less direct. Hence the importance of building brand preference early on and providing, at the time of the search, information that allows customers to evaluate the offering with confidence.
Create a preference, make selection easier
Branding and advertising continue to play a vital role: creating preference even before the consumer asks their AI agent for help. A customer who asks, “Find me some sneakers,” leaves a lot of room for choice. Someone who asks for a specific Nike model is already expressing a preference. Your campaigns, your content, and the customer experience all help build that preference.
The challenge, therefore, will be to spark the consumer’s interest while ensuring your offer can be processed by their AI agent. These two aspects reinforce each other: a brand that sparks interest must also make it easy to verify what it promises. Enriching your product listings, ensuring the reliability of your data, and making your commitments verifiable contributes to this consistency, starting today, while preparing your e-commerce platform for shopping journeys that increasingly integrate AI agents.
The accelerating pace of innovation in artificial intelligence makes digital decisions more complex and requires a combination of technological expertise and an understanding of business challenges. At DJM Digital, we bring these skills together to help you evaluate opportunities, define your priorities, and implement solutions tailored to your needs—with a tangible impact on your company’s performance.
Curious and creative, she loves to dive deep into brands to uncover their true essence — through words, visuals, and bold ideas. For her, great content is the one that makes people react, think, or smile.
