Historically perceived as malicious, bot traffic in e-commerce is evolving with AI advancements. Spreedly’s EVP Adam Hiatt explains how ‘good bots’—AI agents acting on behalf of customers—are opening new commercial opportunities by effectively becoming a distinct distribution channel that demands fresh approaches in payments and catalog management.
- AI-powered bots shift from fraud risks to high-intent shopping agents
- Agentic commerce may double or triple e-commerce conversion rates
- Merchants must optimize catalog data and payment readiness for AI platforms
Market signal
Automated web traffic has traditionally been treated as fraudulent or unwanted, leading to widespread blocking of bots in digital commerce. However, with the rise of artificial intelligence and large language models, automated agents are now capable of acting on behalf of consumers to initiate purchases directly. Spreedly identifies this evolution as agentic commerce, where bots become active sales channels rather than obstacles.
The emergence of AI-driven commerce bots presents a market signal that consumer interaction models are changing. Early evidence from Spreedly’s clients suggests that traffic originating inside AI chat platforms exhibits conversion rates two to three times higher than conventional search-derived visits, indicating that this form of shopping behavior may become a major factor in e-commerce dynamics going forward.
Operator impact
For digital commerce operators and payment providers, the key impact lies in recognizing and enabling transactions from these agentic bots rather than merely blocking or filtering them. Merchants must shift focus from just verifying visitor authenticity to validating that bots represent qualified buyers with real purchase intent and providing seamless checkout pathways for these automated agents.
This new dynamic requires merchants to ensure their product catalogs are highly accurate and machine-readable since AI agents make purchase decisions based on the information presented before reaching any human interaction. Payment infrastructure must be adapted to integrate smoothly with AI platforms, effectively opening these agents as a novel distribution channel in addition to traditional ones such as search engines and marketplaces.
What to watch next
Operators should monitor developments in AI platform integrations, particularly how catalogs and payment rails are being connected to large language models to support agentic commerce. Improvements in bot identification and differentiation between malicious and legitimate buying agents will be critical as merchants scale engagement with this traffic.