Meta and OpenAI have rolled out ambitious new agentic products that promise to reshape how consumers shop online. Yet a new WP Intelligence report from Lead AI & Tech Analyst Dan Gallagher identifies a basic problem: hardly anyone trusts them yet.
The two tech giants have released systems with sweeping capabilities to conduct transactions on users’ behalf. That’s where the friction begins. Before agentic commerce can actually scale, sellers need to overcome consumers’ trust deficit and convince skeptical merchants to open their online marketplaces to these new AI systems. That won’t happen automatically.
The Trust Barrier
Consumers aren’t rushing to hand control of their shopping decisions to AI agents, even when those agents come from companies as large as Meta and OpenAI. The skepticism makes sense. These systems would handle sensitive information—payment details, purchase history, personal preferences—and make decisions that could cost real money. People want reassurance that their interests come first, not corporate profit margins.
Merchants are equally wary. Retailers who’ve spent years building their own customer relationships and supply chains aren’t eager to cede control to third-party AI systems. They worry about losing direct contact with buyers, data-sharing arrangements, and who bears responsibility when something goes wrong. For many of them, the business model remains unclear.
Regulation and Competition Stand in the Way
Dan Gallagher’s analysis points to two structural obstacles to broader adoption. Existing regulation around complex transactions creates real constraints: rules cover financial transactions, consumer protection, and merchant liability, but don’t neatly accommodate AI intermediaries making purchases on your behalf. Those regulations exist for a reason. They protect people from fraud, deception, and unauthorized charges.
Competitive dynamics in the tech industry compound the problem. Meta and OpenAI aren’t neutral platforms here; they’re corporations with their own business interests. Merchants reasonably question whether agentic systems will favor certain products, steer users toward higher-margin items, or use transaction data to compete against retail partners. The concentration of power among a handful of tech giants makes those concerns especially sharp.
Why This Matters:
The rollout of agentic commerce systems exposes the gap between what’s technically possible and what society actually permits. Yes, AI can now autonomously conduct transactions. But trust, regulation, and fair competition don’t develop overnight—and they shouldn’t. If agentic commerce expands without proper guardrails, a few powerful corporations could mediate most consumer transactions, merchants could have little choice but compliance, and users’ interests could take a backseat to algorithmic profit-maximization.
These roadblocks aren’t bugs. They’re features of a functioning market that requires transparency, accountability, and genuine consumer choice: skepticism from consumers and merchants alike, along with existing consumer protection regulations. Any sustainable agentic commerce ecosystem needs to build trust the right way, through clear rules, merchant agency, and demonstrated respect for user interests.