For decades, digital commerce leaders have optimized for the click. The concepts of traffic, conversion, and the customer journey all assumed that shoppers would do most of their digital shopping in an experience that the business owned and controlled. In 2027, that assumption will start to break down: Consumers will shop through conversations, B2B buyers will delegate more decisions to AI, and service providers will build the infrastructure to support commerce between agents.

Our report, Predictions 2027: Digital Commerce (client-only access), explores how these shifts will push commerce into its post-click era. Here are three of our 2027 predictions to help digital leaders prepare:

  • One in 20 US and UK consumers will replace traditional shopping with conversations. Most consumers will experiment with conversational product discovery without handing over the entire purchase. But a small, pioneering group will go further: They will shift commoditized, repeat purchases to autonomous agents that can choose timing, compare prices, and complete transactions. These early adopters will also become more comfortable buying through social chats and via other experiences outside a retailer’s traditional digital storefront. Retailers are accustomed to recognizing customers through accounts, devices, browsing behavior, and transaction histories. Now they must prepare to recognize a customer who is represented by an AI shopping agent. Build toward automated shopping and buying now, especially if these early adopters resemble your customers.
  • One in 10 dollars will disappear from B2B selling budgets as buyers take control. B2B commerce investment has traditionally concentrated on seller-controlled experiences, from personalization and recommendations to guided selling and conversion optimization. In 2027, buyer-controlled AI systems will begin to reverse that flow. Procurement assistants, sourcing platforms, and purchasing agents will increasingly research suppliers, compare alternatives, negotiate terms, and assemble compliant buying decisions before sellers have an opportunity to shape the journey. As influence moves into the buyer’s systems, commerce technology spending will follow. Prioritize AI legibility by making products, prices, terms, specifications, and proof points easy for buyer-controlled systems to discover, compare, validate, and recommend. Visits and conversions will reveal a shrinking portion of the buying process.
  • One-third of commerce service providers will launch agentic commerce platforms. Digital businesses are moving quickly toward agentic commerce, even as consumers remain wary of autonomous purchasing due to concerns about errors, security, and privacy. Commerce service providers will move into that gap with proprietary platforms designed to support agentic protocols, guardrails, payments, security, and data monetization. These platforms will turn service providers into a new class of commerce technology partner. Push providers to demonstrate how their platforms protect customers, govern automated actions, and keep businesses in control when agents influence or make purchasing decisions.

The Commerce Journey Moves Beyond The Click

These predictions point to a broader change — specifically, where commerce happens and who controls it. Consumers will delegate routine decisions to agents, B2B buyers will evaluate sellers using their own systems, and service providers will supply the infrastructure to orchestrate it all. By the time a customer reaches a traditional commerce site, much of the discovery, comparison, and decision-making may already be complete.

Digital leaders should prepare for a world in which visibility and influence extend well beyond their owned experiences. The upshot: The click will remain part of digital commerce in 2027, but it will tell leaders less about how customers discovered, evaluated, and selected their products. The organizations that adapt fastest will learn to earn trust, influence machines, and measure success across a buying journey that they increasingly do not control.

Forrester clients can read our full Predictions 2027: Digital Commerce report to learn more about these predictions and two additional ones. Schedule a Forrester guidance session to discuss these predictions and learn how you can prepare your sales, marketing, and product teams to adapt their strategies.

Not a client? Access our complimentary guide for B2C marketing, CX, and digital leaders and register for our public webinar on Tuesday, December 8. Find additional complimentary resources on the Predictions 2027 hub.

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