EC & AI Commerce News Digest (February 3, 2026)

Top Stories

J.P. Morgan Analyzes the "Trillion-Dollar Question" of Agentic Commerce

AI Agents for Shopping - Trillion Dollar Question | J.P. Morgan

Learn about the future of commerce—AI agents that can shop on your behalf—in this interview about Visa Intelligent Commerce.

J.P. Morgan has published a comprehensive analysis of the future of AI-powered shopping. Starting from the question "Would you let an AI agent shop for you?", the article maps the entire ecosystem forming around agentic commerce, from startups to tech giants and payment companies.

The article features an interview with Visa's global growth leader, introducing Visa Intelligent Commerce and its tokenized credential system for AI agent payment access. It also highlights the complexity of determining genuine purchase intent through natural language interfaces.

With McKinsey estimating that agentic commerce could redirect $3-5 trillion in global retail spending by 2030, the urgency for payment infrastructure readiness is clear.

Full article: J.P. Morgan's "Trillion-Dollar Question"—What Payment Infrastructure Looks Like When AI Agents Shop for You

PayPal Acquires Cymbio to Accelerate Agentic Commerce

PayPal to Acquire Cymbio, Accelerating Agentic Commerce Capabilities

PayPal acquires Cymbio, a multi-channel orchestration platform, to accelerate its agentic commerce capabilities including Store Sync.

PayPal has announced the acquisition of Cymbio, a multi-channel orchestration platform. Founded in Israel in 2015, Cymbio helps brands sell across AI surfaces including Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity.

Post-acquisition, Cymbio's team and technology will be integrated into PayPal's agentic commerce service "Store Sync," which makes merchant product data discoverable through AI channels and automates order routing to existing fulfillment systems. Abercrombie & Fitch, Fabletics, and Ashley Furniture are already using Store Sync on Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity.

PayPal has also indicated that ChatGPT and Google Gemini support is coming soon, signaling a full-spectrum AI shopping push.

Full article: PayPal Acquires Cymbio—Targeting Agentic Commerce Leadership with "Store Sync"

Agentic Commerce

Forrester: Closing the "Trust Gap" Is Key to Agentic Commerce's Next Phase

Agentic Commerce's Next Phase Hinges On Closing The Trust Gap

Forrester analysis on how the next phase of agentic commerce depends on closing the trust gap between consumers and AI-powered shopping agents.

Forrester has published an analysis arguing that the biggest challenge for the next phase of agentic commerce is bridging the "trust gap" between consumers and AI shopping agents.

A ChannelEngine survey found that only 17% of consumers are comfortable completing a purchase through AI. Meanwhile, AI-powered product research is already gaining traction, revealing a clear gap between "research with AI, buy yourself" consumer behavior. Concrete trust-building measures around payment transparency, data privacy, and return guarantees are needed.

Full article: Forrester Analysis: Closing the Trust Gap Is Key to Agentic Commerce's Next Phase

Klarna Joins Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)

Klarna Backs Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to Enable Agentic Commerce Across Platforms

Klarna joins Google's UCP open standard to power agentic commerce, building on its support for Google's Agent Payments Protocol.

BNPL provider Klarna has announced its participation in Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard enabling AI agents and commerce systems to collaborate across the full shopping lifecycle from discovery to purchase and post-purchase support.

With 850,000 merchants and 114 million active users, Klarna's participation significantly strengthens the UCP ecosystem's payment layer. The company joins over 20 partners including Shopify, Etsy, Visa, and Mastercard.

IGD Warns Food Retailers to Prepare for Agentic AI Now

Prepare now before agentic AI transforms shopping, IGD warns food retailers and suppliers

Retailers and suppliers must act now to plan their approach to agentic AI before automated retail rewrites how people shop, according to research from IGD.

The UK's Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) has published a report warning that food retailers and suppliers must act now before agentic AI fundamentally transforms shopping.

According to IGD's analysis, agentic AI is already capable of automating basket building, comparing prices and availability across multiple retailers, and completing checkout without consumer intervention. While only 3% of UK consumers currently use AI tools for food shopping, rapid adoption is expected once trust is established.

AI Commerce Tools

FedEx Launches AI-Powered Post-Purchase Experience Platform

FedEx to Offer Access to AI-Powered Post-Purchase Solutions for Enterprises

FedEx Corp. today announced improved digital tracking and returns capabilities designed to help shippers simplify the customer experience after checkout.

FedEx has launched AI-powered post-purchase solutions "FedEx Tracking+" and "FedEx Returns+" in collaboration with parcelLab. Both are white-label solutions that let brands manage delivery tracking and returns as extensions of their own channels.

ParcelLab's performance data shows proactive communication reduces "Where is my order?" inquiries by 42%, improves customer retention by 85%, and increases repeat purchases by 42%. A FedEx returns survey found that 67% of consumers say return policies influence their purchase decisions.

Shopify Tightens Data Rules and Billing as AI Commerce Evolves

Shopify Tightens Data Rules And Billing As AI Commerce Evolves

Shopify has updated its partner program and API terms, restricting the use of merchant and customer data for AI training without explicit permission.

Shopify has updated its partner program and API terms, restricting the use of merchant and customer data for AI training without explicit permission. Billing rules for partners are also changing as part of its agentic commerce initiative.

The data restrictions signal Shopify's commitment to scaling AI tools while prioritizing privacy and consent. However, there are concerns that partner developers may migrate to alternative platforms like Amazon or WooCommerce.

Business & Partnerships

GrubMarket Raises $50 Million Series H at $4.5 Billion Valuation

GrubMarket Raises $50 Million Series H to Fuel eCommerce and AI Transformation of the American Food Supply Chain Industry

GrubMarket, the AI-powered technology enabler and digital transformer of the American food supply chain industry, raises $50M Series H.

GrubMarket, the AI-powered food supply chain platform, has raised approximately $50 million in Series H funding at a pre-money valuation of $4.5 billion, a significant step up from its $3.5 billion Series G in March 2025.

The company has been actively expanding through acquisitions, inventory management AI agents, and reporting AI agents in 2025. Processing $5.5 billion in annual GMV, GrubMarket is leading the digital transformation of America's food supply chain.

Payments & Fintech

MultiversX Integrates Google's AI Commerce Standard and Coinbase's x402 Payments

MultiversX integrates Google's new AI commerce standard, adds support for Coinbase-incubated x402 payments

New transaction standards aim to let AI systems access data, services & digital assets without relying on traditional checkout or login flows.

Blockchain platform MultiversX has announced support for Google's AI commerce standard and Coinbase's x402 payment protocol. x402 leverages the HTTP 402 status code to enable instant automated stablecoin payments between AI agents.

Google, Coinbase, and SKALE are hosting an x402 hackathon in San Francisco from February 11-13, with $50,000 in prizes. The establishment of an x402 Foundation in collaboration with Cloudflare has also been announced, signaling rapid standardization of AI-driven payments.

Global EC Trends

China Fines Kuaishou E-Commerce Unit $3.8 Million, Tightening Live Commerce Regulation

China Fines Kuaishou Unit $3.8 Million for E-Commerce Violations

Regulators cite fake sales data, intellectual property lapses and illegal wildlife trade in concluding a probe launched last September.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has fined Kuaishou's wholly-owned e-commerce subsidiary "Kuaigou" 26.7 million yuan (approximately $3.8 million).

The violations include unfair fee collection, consumer protection failures, inadequate anti-counterfeiting measures, and promotion of false marketing. The fine concludes an investigation launched in September 2025, symbolizing the tightening regulatory environment for China's live commerce sector.

Instant Commerce Reshaping Thai Retail

Instant commerce reshaping Thai retail

The rapid emergence of instant commerce in Thailand, a retail evolution defined by delivery within a few hours, will become the new battlefield for on-demand players and e-commerce platforms.

"Instant commerce" with sub-one-hour delivery is booming in Thailand. Line Mart has grown GMV 10x and orders 6x in three years. Shopee Thailand has also positioned sub-one-hour delivery as a key growth strategy for the year.

Notably, Line Mart is planning an agentic AI feature as the fourth phase of its AI roadmap, where a nutrition-consulting AI would automatically place food orders. For brands, securing digital visibility is becoming an urgent priority.

Summary

Today's news strongly signals that the agentic commerce ecosystem is transitioning from concept to implementation. Klarna's UCP participation, PayPal's Cymbio acquisition, and FedEx's AI platform launch show concrete products launching across the payment, logistics, and platform layers.

However, the fact that both J.P. Morgan and Forrester identify "trust" as the primary challenge cannot be overlooked. How to overcome consumer resistance to delegating purchases to AI agents will be the key factor determining the pace of agentic commerce adoption. IGD's food retail-specific warning also provides an important perspective on industry-specific response strategies.