Reasons to Read

Uncover how the divergent evolution of AI shopping agents in the US and China is reshaping global retail strategies, creating new imperatives for brand visibility, and redefining the path to purchase in an era of “agent-first” commerce.

Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

• How do the structurally different agentic commerce ecosystems in the US (open-broker model) and China (vertically integrated super-app model) impact retailer strategy?
• Why is Amazon’s creation of an “exclusion zone” by blocking external agents forcing a hybrid landscape in the US, and what does this mean for non-Amazon retailers?
• How can retailers optimize their product feeds, APIs, and content to become “agent-friendly” and avoid being invisible to AI-driven discovery?
• What are the strategic implications of China’s Qwen app reaching 200 million users in 3.5 months versus the challenges US agents face in scaling native checkout?
• Should brands prioritize deep integration with walled-garden super-apps or adopt open protocols like the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to future-proof their sales channels?

Data in this research report include/are: Global GenAI market size projections ($66.2 billion in 2026); Alibaba Qwen user growth metrics (200M MAUs in 3.5 months, 120M orders in 6 days); Comparative analysis of agentic checkout capabilities across Qwen, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Amazon Buy for Me; Insights into the fragmentation of the US retail landscape vs. China’s vertical integration; Strategic frameworks for “agent-readiness” and protocol adoption.

Companies mentioned in this report include/are: Alibaba Group, Alphabet Inc. (Google), Amazon, ByteDance, DoorDash, Etsy, Instacart, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, OpenAI, Shopify, Target, Tencent, Uber, Walmart, Chewy, Wayfair, Stripe, and more.