美国消费者今年预计在线消费创下2,530亿美元纪录，推动科技公司在节日前集中推出AI购物工具。调查显示超过三分之一美国消费者已使用AI辅助购物，而麦肯锡预测“代理式电商”至2030年在美国可达1万亿美元规模。尽管资本投入巨大，现阶段技术仍处试验期，购物机器人普遍只能抓取商品页面并跳转链接，难以处理多项参数（价格、库存、偏好）且易出现错误报价。亚马逊Rufus于2024年推出，具备浏览、推荐、加购能力，但亚马逊仍禁止其平台上的自主结算；其广告业务今年预计收入约700亿美元，因此平台高度封闭。相对地，沃尔玛允许在ChatGPT中“直接购买”，但目前仅限单品交易。
试用显示多家AI购物助手表现参差。彭博测试中，Rufus唯一会先询问兴趣、预算，最终推荐与经典电影偏好相关的DVD套装；ChatGPT与Sparky更偏向泛化的礼物（如浴袍）。Perplexity给出20美元木制相框。当前系统主要困境在于数据访问：大型零售商长期封闭购买记录、评论与库存结构，使AI工具缺乏训练素材。此外，网站多为人工浏览设计，代理难以稳定解析界面。谷歌、Anthropic与微软正在研发新协议与中介层，以便将自然语言转换为可操作的电商指令，并让代理自动点击、下单与筛选。
由于缺乏端到端支付整合，AI购物仍难从“研究”转向“下单”。Perplexity近日加入PayPal结算，但生态仍需更多零售商与支付方合作。多数机器人仍会给出冗长文本，并因价格与可用性错误而要求用户亲访商家网站确认细节。尽管如此，初期迹象显示，经ChatGPT导流的用户比传统搜索用户更接近购买状态，提示AI代理或将逐步改变电商行为。
US consumers are expected to spend a record USD 253 billion online this holiday season, prompting a surge of AI shopping tools. Over one-third of US consumers have used AI for product research, and McKinsey forecasts “agentic commerce” could reach USD 1 trillion in the US by 2030. Yet current tools remain experimental: most bots scrape product pages and redirect users rather than execute purchases, and they frequently misstate prices or availability. Amazon’s Rufus, launched in 2024, can browse, recommend, and cart items, but Amazon prohibits autonomous checkout, protecting its roughly USD 70 billion annual ads business. Walmart is more open, allowing ChatGPT-based purchases, though limited to single items.
Field tests show inconsistent performance. In Bloomberg’s trials, Rufus was the only bot to request interests and budget before recommending a Spencer Tracy–Katharine Hepburn DVD set; ChatGPT and Sparky offered generic items such as bathrobes, and Perplexity suggested a USD 20 photo frame. Core limitations stem from data access: retailers restrict purchase histories, reviews, and inventory signals, while websites remain optimized for human browsing. Google, Anthropic, and Microsoft are building protocols and translation layers enabling agents to convert natural-language queries into catalog navigation and automated ordering.
Without integrated payment flows, AI shopping remains largely research-oriented. Perplexity added PayPal checkout, but broader adoption requires coordination with retailers and processors. Bots often generate long text responses and still advise users to visit merchant sites due to errors in product details. Still, early analytics indicate that shoppers referred by ChatGPT arrive more purchase-ready than traditional search users, hinting that AI agents may gradually reshape online commerce.