New ecommerce platform features in 2025 have a common thread that should surprise no one working in online retail: artificial intelligence and specifically agentic AI use cases that serve shoppers, as well as merchants.
Agents, which leverage AI models to execute tasks on behalf of users, come packaged in numerous forms, both by companies with large language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI and Google, as well as ecommerce platforms themselves, which face increasing pressure to compete with off-site shopping experiences.
This year’s Special Ecommerce Platforms Report from Digital Commerce 360 compares the most commonly used ecommerce platforms by leading online retailers in North America from the Top 2000 Database. The database tracks and ranks those merchants based on annual web sales.
Among Adobe, Salesforce, Shopify, Commerce.com and other platforms in this year’s report, here are three key themes defining the latest features these companies have launched to set themselves apart in 2026.
1. Agentic services for shoppers
Ecommerce platforms are watching, learning from, and — in some cases — partnering with third-party AI models in efforts to make shoppers’ paths from discovery to purchase more efficient. Prominent examples can be seen at many of the top platforms in this year’s rankings.
Shopify, for instance, debuted its agentic storefronts. These interfaces will work in Shopify’s admin interface for merchants, managing AI commerce integrations that put options from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot to use.
Meanwhile, Salesforce’s Agentforce Commerce began offering its Guided Shopping Agent for B2C Storefronts. The agent’s stated purpose is to proactively offer navigation, inventory checks and answers, all through one conversational flow.
Elsewhere, VTEX and Kibo launched their own agents to address customer service issues, field product questions, automate merchandising decisions and offer order support.
2. Integrations to facilitate AI-enabled discovery and checkout
Integrations for AI services often focus on discovery, checkout options and external ecosystems, all of which demand retailer attention as shoppers’ search habits continue to change. Shopify and Salesforce are — again — two prominent examples. However, Commerce.com’s approach to data deserves attention as well.
When BigCommerce announced its rebrand to Commerce.com in 2025, AI and data were an immediate priority. The company declared that it saw a growing need for modular, AI-integrated infrastructure. For consumers using generative AI platforms, including ChatGPT and Gemini, it saw the potential for searches and purchases to occur without the shopper ever visiting a traditional ecommerce site.
“When product discovery begins with a prompt, not a homepage, it is the quality of data that determines whether you get seen, chosen and purchased,” said Travis Hess, the CEO at Commerce.com, during the company’s fiscal Q3 2025 earnings call in November.
Part of Commerce.com’s answer is its Feedonomics Surface tool for connecting and optimizing product catalogs to work with channels such as Google Shopping or Meta. Hess told investors that Commerce.com sites showed early interest in options, accessed from Commerce.com’s dashboard.
3. Automation for operations
In the meantime, AI still has enduring use cases behind the scenes for teams managing ecommerce sites and operations. In these use cases, the platforms cater to a range of tasks catering to design, development, inventory, supply and more.
Oracle NetSuite and Microsoft, for instance, have both introduced merchant-facing AI assistants. NetSuite’s SuiteAgent frameworks provide a starting point for building custom-use agents on sites. Similarly, Microsoft provides retail industry-focused agents in Dynamics 365, including its Catalog Enrichment Agent and Supplier Communications Agent.
For more data and insights into the outcomes retailers are trying drive with new ecommerce platform features, read the 2026 edition of the annual Special Ecommerce Platforms Report.
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