Checkout.com research reveals the UAE stands out as the most enthusiastic market globally, with 79% of consumers comfortable letting AI complete a purchase for them, but there is a gap between consumer expectations and agentic commerce trust.
New research from Checkout.com shows a growing gap between consumer interest in agentic commerce and the trust, control, and infrastructure needed to support it. The findings come from the company’s latest report, Agentic Commerce 2026: The State of Consumer Demand and Merchant Readiness.
The Rise of Agentic Commerce
While a significant segment of global consumers expect AI shopping to scale quickly, the UAE is outpacing all other surveyed regions in terms of adoption. For UAE consumers not using the technology yet, they expect agentic commerce to handle 10% or more of their online shopping in just 12 months on average. Overall, 79% of UAE consumers feel comfortable letting an AI complete a purchase for them, and only 2% said they would not be motivated to use an AI shopping agent at all.
Research shows, the result is a unique shift in consumer dynamics where trust boundaries are being entirely redrawn in the UAE. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of UAE consumers agree they would trust an AI shopping agent more than their own family members to shop for them – dramatically higher than the US (27%) or the UK (25%). Furthermore, 64% believe an AI shopping agent would buy clothes that suit them better than they can pick out for themselves. This comfort extends into highly sensitive financial categories; nearly a quarter of UAE consumers (24%) are comfortable sharing their salary, disposable income, and real-time bank balance with an AI agent, while 19% would grant it access to their personal calendar.
Consumers are clear about what is needed to build trust in agentic commerce, but in the UAE, the technology could also reshape brand loyalty. The research found that 71% of UAE shoppers would allow an AI shopping agent to switch brands or products if it found a better deal. At the same time, 24% said they would be more confident using the technology if the AI could only purchase from pre-approved retailers or brands.
Agentic commerce for UAE consumers is being driven by convenience, but it also reveals atypical shopping behaviors. While Western consumers relegate complex purchases to the bottom of their lists, the UAE is unusually open to AI handling their money, with 22% saying financial services and insurance products would be among the first things they delegate to an AI agent. Additionally, 72% would use an AI agent specifically to beat the digital queues for festival or event tickets, and 62% admit they would use an AI shopping agent to purchase items on their behalf without telling anyone they were doing it.
The findings suggest that as agentic commerce scales, UAE consumers are shifting liability to the banks. If an AI agent makes a mistake, like buying the wrong item or incurring an unexpected cost, 17% of UAE shoppers believe the payment provider, bank, or card provider should be primarily responsible for fixing it and issuing a refund.
Rory O’Neill, CMO at Checkout.com, said, “Agentic commerce is quickly moving from concept to reality. Consumers are beginning to experiment with AI agents for everyday purchases, and across the industry we’re seeing rapid collaboration around the protocols and standards that will support this next phase of ecommerce. But while adoption is ramping up, the infrastructure behind it is still developing. Consumers need confidence that AI agents will operate within clear controls around security, refunds, permissions and spend limits. Until those foundations are in place, trust will remain one of the biggest barriers to adoption.”
AI shopping is changing discovery, comparison and brand choice, and if organizations can solve trust, accountability and control, AI has the potential to reimagine the digital commerce market. Today, according to merchants across the UK and US, only 3% of transactions involve AI agents, but 89% of merchants overall are actively preparing for agentic commerce, indicating that merchant preparation is already underway, even as standards and trust models continue to mature.
