UNDERSTANDING AGENTIC COMMERCE
What is agentic commerce?
Agentic commerce describes how AI agents can search, evaluate options, negotiate terms and act on behalf of people or businesses. The key shift is from assistance to action.
From search box
to mandate.
In conventional e-commerce, customers do the work themselves: they search for products, review offers, compare terms and complete the purchase. AI already supports parts of this process with answers and recommendations.
Agentic commerce goes further. An AI agent is given a goal and clearly defined authority. It can plan a sequence of tasks, draw together information and act within its mandate.
The strategic question extends beyond which agent is best at selling: who holds the customer’s mandate?
How does agentic
commerce work?
Understanding what the customer needs
The agent brings together the customer’s goals, preferences and constraints to form a clear brief. Its task goes beyond answering a single search query: it acts under a mandate from the customer.
Evaluating options
The agent can compare offers from different suppliers. Price matters, as does how well each offer meets the customer’s requirements and fits within the mandate.
Acting within the mandate
Depending on the authority granted, the agent may recommend options, negotiate terms or complete a purchase. The customer sets the limits and determines when further approval is required.
What changes
in commerce?
As agents take on the work that precedes a purchase, the role of customer interfaces, audience reach and customer relationships changes. Retailers, brands and platforms need to be understood by people and by systems that assess availability, terms and suitability.
This raises strategic questions. Who controls access to the customer? What data does an agent need to make a reliable decision? How can consent, transparency and accountability be maintained? What role do retailers play when customer demand is understood before a visit to their website?
Liquid Demand:
starting with the customer.
Liquid Demand is Stefan Wenzel’s concept for how consumer agents could organise demand. A personal agent turns the customer’s needs and preferences into a clear brief. With the customer’s approval, it can negotiate terms and pool matching demand within an agreed mandate.
A possible next stage is a Demand Exchange, where demand agents and supply agents could meet on a shared exchange. Suppliers would bid to fulfil committed demand, competing on price, timing and logistics. Liquid Demand and Demand Exchange describe concepts rather than services currently offered on this website.
Explore the Liquid Demand conceptKEYNOTE