Influencing $3 billion in Black Friday sales, AI shopping agents automate both product discovery and price hunting. This ushers in an era of "self-driving shopping" that forces radical price transparency on retailers, as AI can instantly find the absolute cheapest option online for any product.

While AI agents could shift sales away from traditional retailers, companies with extensive physical infrastructure and forward-positioned inventory have a defense. AI agents prioritizing speed and efficiency for physical goods will likely still favor these established networks, preventing full disintermediation in the new agentic commerce landscape.

Instead of competing against the "buy local" trend, Amazon could incorporate it into its platform. By adding a "buy local" button that uses AI to source products from nearby stores, Amazon could generate revenue from local delivery or referral fees, turning a major point of criticism into a new business opportunity.

The next frontier in e-commerce is inter-company AI collaboration. A brand's AI will detect an opportunity, like a needed digital shelf update, and generate a recommendation. After human approval, the request is sent directly to the retailer's AI agent for automatic execution.

Amazon's potential commerce partnership with OpenAI is fraught with risk. Allowing ChatGPT to become the starting point for product searches threatens Amazon's highly profitable on-site advertising revenue, even if Amazon gains referral traffic. It's a classic battle to avoid being aggregated by another platform.

Amazon's lawsuit against Perplexity's AI agent isn't just about a technical violation, but an existential threat. These agents can search the entire internet for the best product, turning the web into a decentralized 'Everything Store' and destroying Amazon's moat of centralized convenience.

Unlike service platforms like Uber that rely on real-world networks, Amazon's high-margin ad business is existentially threatened by AI agents that bypass sponsored listings. This vulnerability explains its uniquely aggressive legal stance against Perplexity, as it stands to lose a massive, growing revenue stream if users stop interacting directly with its site.

To avoid being disintermediated by AI agents that could direct consumers elsewhere, retailers can leverage their physical assets. An AI agent will still prioritize retailers with extensive infrastructure and forward-positioned inventory to ensure fast and efficient delivery, creating a competitive moat against pure-play e-commerce.

Amazon is suing Perplexity because its AI agent can autonomously log into user accounts and make purchases. This isn't just a legal spat over terms of service; it's the first major corporate conflict over AI agent-driven commerce, foreshadowing a future where brands must contend with non-human customers.