The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) has warned that suppliers and retailers “must act now” to plan their approach to agentic AI before automated retail rewrites how people shop, according to its latest research.
IGD said that while generative AI reacts to prompts to create content and answer questions, agentic AI operates autonomously, planning and executing actions towards desired outcomes.
IGD’s report, ‘Agentic AI and the future of shopping’, details how widespread adoption of agentic AI could “rewrite shopper journeys and traditional touchpoints” as basket decisions are increasingly decided by algorithms, not people.
Toby Pickard, retail futures senior partner at IGD, stated: “Retailers and supplier products risk becoming invisible when AI agents build baskets. Impulse, emotion, and human discovery are redundant when it is machine visibility, not shelf visibility, that shapes choice.”
IGD said that unlike other retail sectors, food and grocery shopping was “highly habitual and repetitive”, making it “particularly suited to automation”.
IGD analysis has found that agentic AI is able to:
- Automate basket-building and replenishment
- Compare prices and availability across multiple retailers
- Optimise purchases for budget, health and sustainability goals
- Complete checkout without shopper intervention
UK AI utilisation “remains low”
The US market is reportedly already seeing agentic AI solutions move from pilot to practice, including autonomous shopping assistants, end-to-end automated purchase flows, and personalised meal-planning agents. IGD pointed out that in the UK, AI utilisation remains low, with 3% of UK shoppers currently using AI tools for grocery shopping.
However, IGD warned that adoption could accelerate rapidly once trust is established, following a similar pattern to online grocery and in‑home delivery services.
Pickard continued: “People consistently underestimate the long‑term impact of transformative technologies. Agentic AI won’t change everything overnight, but once shoppers trust it, convenience becomes the accelerator and habit becomes the lock‑in.”
IGD said its research has found “wide variance in expert predictions” on how soon agentic AI will become mainstream in the UK, with some claiming it will be mass market by the end of this year.
Pickard commented: “The uncertainty surrounds when agentic AI will change behaviours, not if. Businesses that start preparing now will help shape how intelligent shopping scales. Those who wait may find the future has already been decided without them.”
