Agentic Commerce: How AI Agents Will Shop & Pay for You
AI isn’t just recommending products anymore - it’s shopping for you.
It is estimated that by 2030, the US B2C retail market alone could see up to $1 trillion in revenue from agentic commerce.
To show how this future works, let’s walk through a single example:
👉 Imagine you're buying a sweatshirt using your AI assistant.
Behind the scenes, 7 emerging protocols quietly coordinate the search, verification, authorization, checkout, and payment process.
Step 1. Discovery
The agent searches across merchants, finds the best deals, compares prices & checks availability.
Relevant Protocols:
Model Context Protocol (MCP) - Anthropic
What It Does:
Gives the agent safe access to product catalogs, inventory, reviews, pricing APIs
Helps the agent interpret your intent (“black sweatshirt under $40”)
Standardizes how agents retrieve structured information
Example:
You say: “Find me a black sweatshirt under $40.”
MCP fetches product + price data from Uniqlo, H&M, Walmart, Amazon, Shopify stores
Step 2. Purchase Initiation
You authorize your agent to buy a particular product and it prepares a transaction.
Relevant Protocols:
Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) - OpenAI + Stripe
Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) - Google
Mastercard Agent Pay
Visa Trusted Agent Protocol
Coinbase x402 Protocol (optional on-chain settlement)
What It Does:
Builds carts, applies coupons, calculates shipping (ACP)
Generates cryptographic intent mandates (AP2)
Issues agent credentials so merchants trust the agent (Visa Trusted Agent / Agent Pay)
Prepares on-chain USDC payments (x402)
Example:
Your agent says: “Best deal is $32 from Uniqlo. Shall I buy it?”
➡️ You say yes
➡️ ACP builds and finalizes checkout
➡️ AP2 issues a “purchase mandate” proving your consent
➡️ Agent Pay / Visa Trusted Agent supply tokenized agent credentials
➡️ (Optional) x402 prepares a USDC payment pathway
Step 3. Purchase Execution
Money moves. The transaction settles.
Payment Rails:
Stripe / other PSPs
Visa / Mastercard networks
Local bank/payment rails (ACH, UPI, SEPA, Interac, Pix)
On-chain rails (USDC via x402, Coinbase)
What It Does:
Processes the tokenized payment
Performs fraud checks
Moves funds between issuer and merchant
Returns a confirmation to your agent
Example:
➡️ Stripe or a card network authorizes the payment
➡️ Merchant receives funds
➡️ Your agent notifies you: “Order confirmed - delivery in 2 days.”
Your item is on its way - and you barely did anything!
Protocol Spotlight: Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Company: Anthropic
Purpose: Tool access & data retrieval layer.
Role: Allows agents to connect safely to external APIs and marketplaces.
Example: “Fetch all black sweatshirts under $40 from 7 retailers.”
Protocol Spotlight: Agent Payment Protocol (AP2)
Company: Google
Purpose: Intent + consent + transaction mandates.
Role: Creates cryptographic proof you approved the transaction.
Example: “User approved $32 purchase → here’s the signed mandate.”
Protocol Spotlight: Agent Payment Protocol (AP2)
Company: Stripe & OpenAI
Purpose: Checkout orchestration.
Role: Builds cart, applies discounts, selects shipping, chooses payment method.
Example: Automatically finds free shipping + applies 10% off.
Protocol Spotlight: Mastercard Agent Pay
Company: Mastercard
Purpose: Card network payment execution for agents.
Role: Issues secure tokens so agents never see actual card numbers.
Example: “Pay the merchant using Mastercard token 8a92… instead of a real card.”
Protocol Spotlight: Visa Trusted Agent Protocol
Company: Visa
Purpose: Agent identity + trust certification.
Role: Proves the agent is legitimate, authorized, and bound to the user.
Example: Merchant receives: “Verified agent representing Prithvi.”
Protocol Spotlight: Coinbase x402
Company: Coinbase
Purpose: On-chain settlement for agentic payments.
Role: Allows agents to pay instantly in USDC via a simple HTTP call.
Example: “Execute a $32 USDC transfer - retry if network congested.”
