# Analysis:AI shopping agents could threaten Amazon and Walmart’s ad business

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/analysisai-shopping-agents-could-threaten-amazon-and-walmarts-ad-business/
- Published: 2026-11-04T13:05:19+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T11:09:03+00:00
- Original publisher: CNA (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/analysisai-shopping-agents-could-threaten-amazon-and-walmarts-ad-business-6524331
- Topics: AI, Technology, World

## Key points

- AI shopping agents may divert shoppers from sponsored retail listings.
- Amazon has blocked some outside agents; Walmart is enabling them.
- Retail media spending is still forecast to grow in 2026.

## Summary

AI shopping agents could weaken the advertising businesses of Amazon and Walmart by directing customers to products without relying on the retailers’ sponsored listings. The two companies are taking different approaches: Amazon has restricted some outside agents, while Walmart is building a system to let them shop through its platform.

Amazon and Walmart together account for an estimated 88 per cent of the US retail media market, worth $74.4 billion. Morgan Stanley researchers estimate AI agents could handle 10 to 20 per cent of US e-commerce spending by 2030; meanwhile, Amazon’s advertising revenue grew 11 per cent in the third quarter, its slowest rate in nearly four years. Retail media spending is forecast to rise 22.6 per cent in 2026, and both retailers are testing advertising in their own AI shopping tools.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.