It's Cloudy with a chance of Zoomies

 

As I write my Sunday Blog 3/15/2026 we are right in the middle of our 31 days of March Madness. 

64 of our top vendors and sponsors from the entire line cards of TD SYNNEX, Ingram Micro, Jenne, D&H, Sandler Partners and more. And, we are Master Agents | Tier 1 ELITE resellers for many top telecom and technology suppliers. We are working our way down to the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8. We shall have our 'Final Four' top selling vendors and sponsors in April, and of course, we shall crown THE CHAMPION - our top vendor/sponsor of our 64 invited to the tournament. We expect to give away $100,000 in gift cards and gift certificates to our DLA members over the next 45 days. Fun!

The last time that we did a 'March Madness' marketing campaign was 2022. We were just getting started as a BigCommerce partner. We have been using and promoting all things Zoom since 2013. It makes perfect sense that the Distance Learning Association would become a Zoom Partner. And, Ecommerce was always about 'remote' so working with Shopify and WooCommerce and Adobe (and BigCommerce) was also a fit. Typically, we use what we sell and we sell what we use. 

Ah, but our March Madness 2026 is different. VERY different. BigCommerce has become just... Commerce. Powered by Agentic AI. 

Agentic AI Ecommerce (also called agentic commerce) refers to the use of autonomous AI agents in online shopping and retail operations. These agents act independently on behalf of consumers or businesses to handle complex, multi-step tasks - researching products, comparing options, negotiating deals, building carts, completing purchases, and managing post-sale activities with minimal or no human input.

It represents the next evolution beyond generative AI (like chatbots that answer questions or create content) and predictive AI (like recommendation engines). Agentic AI systems can plan, reason, adapt to real-time changes, and execute actions under predefined guardrails, much like a proactive digital assistant or self-driving car for commerce.

How Agentic AI Works in Ecommerce

For consumers (shopping agents): You give a high-level goal (e.g., “Find a camping tent under $150 with delivery by Friday”). The agent:

• Gathers requirements and preferences.
• Scans multiple retailers in real time.
• Evaluates options based on price, reviews, availability, and your history.
• Negotiates or applies discounts.
• Builds a cart and checks out (with your explicit consent).
• Handles tracking, returns, or reorders autonomously.

For businesses (operational agents): Agents automate internal tasks, such as:

• Analyzing inventory to create targeted promotions.
• Generating product descriptions or merchandising strategies.
• Providing hyper-personalized customer service.
• Optimizing pricing or logistics in real time.

Key Differences from Traditional Ecommerce

Traditional Ecommerce requires manual browsing, tab-switching, and step-by-step checkout. Agentic AI shifts the work to the agent, making shopping proactive, intent-driven, and frictionless. It blurs platform boundaries as AI agents can interact across sites, apps, or even in chat.

Benefits

For consumers: Saves time, reduces decision fatigue, delivers hyper-personalized results, and enables complex tasks (e.g., coordinating a full family moving to a new town with selling old furniture and buying new items).

For merchants: Higher conversion rates, new revenue models (e.g., agent-negotiated bundles, real-time dynamic pricing), scalable operations, and richer data insights. It can also cut costs through automation.

Future Outlook

Industry analysts project agentic commerce could drive $900 billion to $1 trillion in U.S. B2C retail by 2030 (or $3–5 trillion globally). Adoption is accelerating rapidly as AI agents become embedded in everyday tools. Merchants must prepare by making sites “agent-ready” (optimized APIs, structured data, secure protocols) and rethinking business models around agent interactions.

In short, Agentic AI Ecommerce turns passive browsing into active, autonomous shopping powered by AI that doesn’t just suggest, but does the work for you or your business. It’s already moving from concept to mainstream in 2026, driven by platforms from Adobe, Google, Salesforce, Shopify, and others. And of course BigCommerce. 

I have been saying this for years: Remote WORK has become just work. Distance Education has become just education. Ecommerce has become just commerce. Telemedicine has become just medicine. 

But in 2026 we are sprinkling Agentic AI on top of everything.  

Hey, you DID joinNYDLA.org right? 

www.joinNYDLA.org today!

{we have double coupons}