
Opinion
Vibe shopping: How AI will change purchasing experiences forever
"Autonomous AI agents have the power to completely transform the consumer experience. This isn’t just another gradual shift, it’s a major leap," writes Alon Huri, a Managing Partner at Team8 and Co-Founder at NEXT Insurance.
The next big leap in online shopping is already taking shape, and AI agents are at its core. This isn't just another technological upgrade, but rather a new ecosystem that will redefine the shopping experience.
Autonomous AI agents are about to guide a new era of commerce that is more interactive, personalized, and intuitive than ever before. It’s a new kind of online shopping, I call it vibe shopping.
Those who ride this wave will gain not only a better customer experience but also control over the customer relationship. Barak Regev, CEO of Google Israel, summed it up perfectly: “Today, the competition isn't against AI itself, but against other marketers who are leveraging it. It serves as a performance multiplier, a productivity multiplier, and a creative multiplier.”.
Elevating the Existing Shopping Experience
Until now, eCommerce has relied on targeted changes: personalization engines, recommendation systems, and chatbots. Yet, the customer experience remained static and fragmented. The next generation of AI agents brings a new approach by offering interactive, adaptive, and personalized customer service that will make you feel like you’re speaking to a seasoned salesperson.
Looking for a pair of shoes? Instead of browsing countless websites or dragging yourself through shopping centers, the agent will ask the consumer what they want to avoid, filter through dozens of brands and models, and present the most accurate options for them.
In travel, for example, the AI agent can significantly simplify vacation planning: identifying interests, suggesting destinations, comparing packages, and creating a personalized itinerary.
Generative AI Transforming Big-Ticket Purchases
For years, buying big-ticket items like a car, a house, or even getting a mortgage online felt almost impossible. Think about it, buying a car used to mean dragging yourself from one dealership to another, getting buried in spreadsheets, and dealing with salespeople who were... not always so most patient or chill.
But with AI agents, that whole process is getting revolutionised. Imagine taking a virtual tour of a car or apartment, switching up the design with a click, or seeing a realistic renovation, all from the comforts of your couch. Soon, shopping for major life purchases could start with a quick chat, jump to a live call, and even include a video avatar that talks you through your options in real time.
Yet the potential of AI agents doesn’t stop at improving customer experiences. So how will it actually work?
From Passivity to Activity
As Adi Soffer-Teeni, GM & Vice President, Israel and Southern Europe at Meta, puts it: “The AI agents will soon take on an active role in the buying process, fundamentally changing how we shop online. Instead of menus, drop-downs, and filters, natural conversations with advanced assistants will take over, seamlessly making adjustments to find the perfect product and finalize the purchase.”
In this paradigm, the focus shifts from search interfaces to conversational interfaces, without limitations of time, language, or scale. The autonomous agent will be able to identify a need, tailor the solution, and close the deal end-to-end, perfectly aligned with each customer’s style and preferences.
Data-Driven Intuition
The key to turning this vision into reality lies in data. AI agents rely on vast amounts of information, products, preferences, competitors, and market trends, and capable of identifying needs even before the consumer asks a question.
AI agents are already disrupting the traditional “consumer journey,” thanks to a shift in how people make buying decisions. Danny Cohen, a B2C investor, believes that as AI agents become more mainstream, the change won’t just be in what people buy, but in why they buy it.
Instead of making rational, research-based decisions, consumers will start making quicker, more intuitive choices, driven by trust, confidence, and emotional connection.
This creates a major opportunity: to shorten the path from “I’m interested” to “I’m ready to buy,” and gain a real advantage in winning over customers.
Reinventing the Sales Experience
The first to benefit will be the sellers who embrace this shift at the core of their business. An AI agent isn’t just a new interface, it can become a dynamic source of consumer insights and market intelligence. Answering questions like: Where does the customer get confused? When do they drop off?
This two-way interaction delivers business insights that were previously unavailable in the online sales process. The agent recognizes patterns in real time, feeds that information back to the organization, and enables instant personalization for each customer.
The result? Higher conversion rates, stronger customer relationships, and improved products and profitability.
The Future Is Here
In the vibe shopping era, the digital store doesn’t look like a website or funnel, it feels like an ongoing, responsive, and personalized conversation.
Autonomous AI agents have the power to completely transform the consumer experience. This isn’t just another gradual shift, it’s a major leap.
For founders, it’s a chance to lead from the front: to build and shape next-generation sales experiences that speak directly to the consumer. Those who make use of these capabilities will break into the market, gain a competitive edge, and win over the next generation of buyers.
Alon Huri is a Managing Partner at Team8 and Co-Founder at NEXT Insurance.