The increasing prevalence of AI chatbots handling consumer shopping is pushing merchants to uphold more direct customer relationships over fears of losing their loyalty and repeated purchases, payments firm Adyen said on Thursday. Traditionally, consumers have browsed, logged in and paid directly through online channels. AI-driven shopping assistants could take over that sequence - recommending products, choosing merchants and initiating payments on their own - eroding the direct relationships retailers rely on.
Adyen co-CEO Pieter van der Does told Reuters that a merchant he spoke with this week generated 70% of its volume through direct channels and wanted to retain that share as shoppers increasingly begin their searches through chatbots.
