Carve Designs is “actively blocking traffic from AI agents,” cofounder Thayer Sylvester told Digital Commerce 360.
It has also invested in technology to do so, she said. But that strategy could change, she explained.
The decision comes at a time when ecommerce technology providers Shopify and Salesforce have created integrations with large-language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Shopify made its brands shoppable within ChatGPT in March. Meanwhile, Salesforce has piloted a program that works similarly, to an extent. Salesforce merchants can connect product catalogs to ChatGPT, making them searchable. The technology providers have developed different experiences for their consumers despite using the same LLM.
Carve Designs is an apparel retailer for women that promotes sustainability. In January, apparel company Charles Komar & Sons announced its acquisition of Carve Designs. The companies completed the acquisition in December 2025, Sylvester told Digital Commerce 360.
Why Carve Designs is blocking web traffic from AI agents
One of the key reasons Carve Designs decided to block traffic from AI agents is the effect on its key performance indicators (KPIs).
“Mostly it was around conversion,” Sylvester told Digital Commerce 360. “We use conversion as a KPI to help us think about how well we’re doing and what her [the brand’s customer] experience is like online. And the increase in bot traffic was making it difficult to look at conversion. We felt like it was an important thing to continue to manage. So we are, at this point in time, actively blocking traffic.”
Sylvester noted that Carve Designs is still “in a really early stage” of understanding the data.
“The anti-bot technology that we’re using is modeling it the same way most of them are, where they’re trying to look at patterns that the bots use to interface with the sites versus [patterns] a human uses, and then they categorize them over as bot, block them,” Sylvester said. “We absolutely are seeing that it’s increasing our conversion.”
However, it’s not the type of increase in conversion Carve Designs is looking for. That’s because it doesn’t provide the insights the brand wants. AI inherently shops differently than humans, meaning Carve Designs can’t follow the path to purchase in the same way and make decisions accordingly.
Evolving AI use cases
Sylvester said that because AI is still in an early stage. The businesses using AI that will be successful are the ones that leverage the technology while still creating an authentic experience, she said.
“There’s low-hanging fruit around customer service, around analysis, and we’re leveraging and working on all of that to make it easier for customers to use our site,” Sylvester said. “But over time, I do see that we should be able to do a better job merchandising our website using the AI and creating customized experiences.”
Sylvester said the technology is “not quite there yet, but it’s getting there.”
She said that when she shops, she wants to see products she will respond to.
“I don’t want to have to browse through a site,” she said.
She said there might be 600 pieces in her own brand’s spring collection, but maybe 50 of them are right for her. At the same time, another 50 pieces might be right for another consumer.
Sylvester said she would like to see AI get to the point where it can show her what she considers right for her.
“That’s what we’re working on getting to,” Sylvester said. “But I think it’s still six months a year away from even being at all affected.”
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