The fundamentals of retail haven’t changed, but the path to growth has. This is the message that came through loud and clear across two recent Shopify Connect retail industry events in Sydney and Melbourne, the final one wrapping up in April.

Australian retailers are entering a new phase of commerce, one where AI is not just influencing discovery, but actively shaping decisions and transactions. This shift, often referred to as agentic commerce, is quickly becoming a competitive differentiator.

The question is no longer whether it matters, but how fast businesses can respond.

From attention to selection

For years, retail growth was built on capturing attention. Brands invested heavily in SEO, paid media and on-site conversion, guiding customers through a funnel from discovery to purchase.

But that model is evolving. Consumers are now using AI tools to research, compare and increasingly decide what to buy before they ever land on a retailer’s website. 

In fact, Shopify data shows a significant rise in AI-driven traffic and orders, with nine times more AI-driven traffic to Shopify-powered stores and 15 times more orders from AI searches. 

Moreover, these customers are arriving more informed and converting at higher rates. This represents a fundamental shift from competing for attention to competing for selection, where products are pre-vetted by AI and move directly into the consideration set, cart build or even checkout.

Increasingly, if your products aren’t surfaced or recommended by AI, they simply don’t enter the consideration set.

Data is now your storefront

In a world where AI selects products on consumers’ behalf, your brand and the items you sell are interpreted not by humans first, but by machines.

Here’s where things get interesting. AI systems evaluate structured signals such as product data, pricing, availability, reviews and broader brand context. If that information is incomplete, inconsistent or outdated, your visibility drops.

Put simply: If your data isn’t readable by AI platforms, your brand isn’t discoverable.

This is why data quality has emerged as one of the most critical priorities for retailers. Structured product feeds, accurate inventory, clear descriptions and real-time updates are a few of the specific front-line growth drivers that retailers need to get right.

Australian retailer Nutrition Warehouse is already seeing this shift play out. Suppliers are actively searching for their own products and questioning it if they don’t appear, prompting the team to double down on “readable” data across product descriptions, site content and knowledge bases to improve AI visibility.

As highlighted across both Shopify events, businesses that treat data as a strategic asset, rather than an operational afterthought, are the ones best positioned to capture demand in AI-driven environments.

Unified commerce is the enabler

At the same time, customer journeys are becoming more fragmented. Shoppers move fluidly between physical stores, online channels, social platforms and now AI interfaces.

The response isn’t to add more systems. It’s to simplify. Retailers leading in this space are consolidating their technology stacks and investing in unified commerce. This means a single, real-time view of customers, inventory and orders across every touchpoint.

The impact is practical and immediate. Teams can execute faster. Customers experience seamless interactions. Stores can operate as fulfillment hubs, supporting capabilities like ship-from-store or real-time click and collect without the risk of overselling. And decision-making becomes more confident because it’s based on a single source of truth.

Perhaps most importantly, a unified commerce approach lends itself particularly well to the data structures needed for AI readability. In the current environment, unified commerce is no longer a long-term aspiration. It’s the baseline required to compete.

AI is not replacing retail. It’s expanding it

Despite the rapid rise of AI-based shopping, agentic commerce isn’t entirely replacing existing channels. It’s just adding a new layer across them. Customers still value in-store experiences, human interaction and brand storytelling. 

But AI is now embedded across many of those moments, reducing friction and accelerating the path to purchase. This creates an ‘and’ strategy for retailers. Success comes from showing up consistently across both traditional and AI-driven channels.

At the same time, AI is reshaping operations internally. From automating reporting to generating insights and executing tasks, it is becoming an embedded layer across the business, helping teams move faster with fewer resources.

The advantage is speed of action

One of the most consistent themes across both the Sydney and Melbourne events was not technology, but mindset. This is important. The retailers gaining ground are not waiting for perfect clarity. They’re testing, learning and iterating in real time. 

In a landscape defined by rapid change, the advantage doesn’t come from certainty. It comes from momentum. 

AI is already influencing how Australians shop. The brands that invest in strong data foundations, unified systems and faster execution today will be the ones that remain visible tomorrow.

The shift is already underway. How quickly you move will determine whether you’re chosen by AI, and the customers using it to shop.

• Assess your store’s readiness for AI-driven commerce here.