Mastercard Report Predicts AI Agents Will Transform Online Shopping

A new report from payment company Mastercard predicts that artificial intelligence agents will fundamentally transform online shopping for consumers worldwide. Instead of browsing and buying items independently, shoppers will increasingly delegate online purchasing tasks to automated AI agents.

According to Mastercard, this shift will allow roughly 300 million consumers globally, representing about one in ten, to conduct their internet shopping through AI agents by the year 2030. This development will change how people buy everything from everyday groceries to larger items like computers and bicycles.

This transition matters because it represents a radical shift in consumer behavior, moving human shoppers away from direct digital transactions and toward automated delegation. Payment companies and financial networks are actively preparing for this technological change as digital commerce evolves over the coming years.