Putting Action to Agentic AI for Retailers

Agentic artificial intelligence has taken the front seat in innovative conversations, and retail adoption is giving us early answers into the opportunities, and needs, of this behavioral shift. Until recently, it’s only been a buzzword but now it’s time for retailers to understand that there are tactics available to them to put agentic AI into action right now, and many benefits to reap from it. According to recent data, by 2029, agentic AI will handle 80 percent of common customer service queries autonomously. Therefore, now is the time to understand how this technology may benefit your business and implement it any way possible.

Bridging the Gap

There’s a critical gap that hinders the performance of current AI agents. This gap exists because most agents operate with a lack of context limited by traditional silos or stale data. Due to this, there’s a crucial need for these platforms to have a greater level of intelligence that allows for deeper, more contextual operations. This is precisely what the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is designed to provide: a standard way for AI and language models to exchange information with different systems. This delivers the context needed for agentic interactions and decisions.

For example, these AI agents must have technology that’s able to interpret the actual intent behind the shopper’s query, then retrieve structured data from its index that will help to provide real-time, contextual responses. In leveraging this advanced approach backed by a solid MCP, retailers are able to bridge the gap between front-end agent platforms and those backend systems that keep all the content, product information, and customer signals these agents need to make informed decisions. Along with filling in the missing piece, this now allows agents to be truly actionable, helping to deliver exceptional, seamless online shopping experiences without the hassle of chatting with an out-of-touch chatbot.

Growing Benefit of Agentic AI

Agentic AI may feel like the latest industry buzzword, but we’re at a point where there's huge potential to be unlocked. For example, planning a dinner party? An AI agent helps to plan it. Before, the dinner host would need to plan days in advance determining what to make, where to buy it, which ingredients are a fit for the guests' diets, how to make it, and when to start. If the grocer deploys an agent, the host can simply ask what options are recommended based on their criteria. The agent interprets their questions and inputs, leveraging data on availability, nutritional information, dietary needs, serving sizes and calculations, price, payment method, and delivery. Typically a host goes back to the same grocer and the interactions become even more authentic as the shopper’s loyalty account helps deliver even more personalized guidance.

Being able to quickly deliver valuable and contextually correct information will not only result in a positive experience for the user, but will help build a new level of customer loyalty never known before. The benefits of agentic AI are continuing to grow as the technology advances and the data gets richer.

Looking Forward

There’s a clear need to begin the implementation process of agentic AI into retail operations. Whether it be for planning the ideal trip or picking out the perfect outfit for a birthday dinner, consumers want quicker, seamless and more personalized experiences and agentic AI is the answer. To get started, retailers should look to tried and trusted AI partners that not only have the data and knowledge needed to understand what’s needed to see success, but one that’s able to do it quickly. There’s no time to waste when it comes to improving the customer experience.

Nate Barad is vice president of product marketing at Algolia, the one-stop shop for AI search.