AI Shopping Agents & the Future of Commerce | Alex Rampell, Andreessen Horowitz
Description
What happens when more than half of online shopping traffic comes from AI agents, not humans?
In this episode of the Retailgentic Podcast, Scot Wingo sits down with Alex Rampell, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to unpack the seismic shift happening at the intersection of AI, commerce, and payments.
We cover:
- Is Google really screwed? (and why AI threatens its business model)
- The future of agentic commerce & attribution wars
- Lessons from TrialPay, Affirm, and affiliate marketing
- How platforms like ChatGPT could become checkout destinations
- Why “optimization” may be the killer feature of AI shopping agents
If you’re in e-commerce, retail, fintech, or just want to know how AI will change the way we buy and sell, this is a must-listen.
⏱️ Time Stamps
04:45 – Alex’s early days: shareware & credit card processing
06:26 – TrialPay, affiliates & the Netflix-for-shareware idea
08:45 – Founding Affirm & moving into venture at a16z
09:55 – The “apps practice” and where value accrues (infra vs. apps)
10:57 – “Is Google Screwed?” background & themes
13:02 – Commerce attribution & affiliate marketing evolution
15:04 – Impulse vs. highly considered purchases in AI era
18:27 – Optimization: why AI wins on time vs. money tradeoff
21:00 – Reviews, shill content, and trust problems
23:50 – Hosted checkout: could ChatGPT become a marketplace?
26:14 – Will Apple jump into AI commerce?
28:35 – Coupon codes, group buying, and negotiation by agents
30:04 – How commerce could be “rewired” by AI platforms
31:25 – Closing thoughts & what’s next
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