Are Marketplaces Defensible In The Age Of AI Purchasing Agents?

This article is the second in a two-part series examining the evolution of marketplaces. In the first, we journeyed through the marketplace innovations that lowered friction in the purchasing process. In this piece, we examine the rise of agentic commerce in the age of AI, the existential threat it poses to marketplaces, and the role that AI agents could play in helping them compete by optimizing prices, inventory, and delivery—the fundamental drivers of consumer choice.