Fashion brands facing shift to agent-first AI commerce: McKinsey

Discovery moves from search engines to AI assistants.

Fashion brands face a structural shift as commerce moves from human-led browsing to AI-mediated decision-making, according to a recent webinar on The State of Fashion 2026, the tenth edition of an annual report published by McKinsey and the Business of Fashion.

“The direction of travel is away from human-first and toward agent-first,” said Anita Balchandani, senior partner at McKinsey, describing a scenario in which AI agents, briefed on personal preferences and purchase history, make purchasing decisions on consumers’ behalf.

She added that such a shift could be “a big disruption for brands, but also fundamentally existential if you are a multibrand aggregator or platform.”

Discovery is already evolving as consumers increasingly rely on AI assistants for product guidance. “If the past was about search engine optimisation, we’re increasingly seeing generative engine optimisation as the key dimension that brands need to think about in order to be discovered,” she said.

Research cited in the discussion indicates that some larger brands are less well represented on AI assistants, whilst disruptive challenger brands feature more prominently. Brands and retailers investing in agentic search on their own websites are “absolutely seeing a lot of customer growth in agentic search traffic,” she said.

Companies must ensure their APIs connect with AI assistants and expand digital content across ecosystems, according to Balchandani. She pointed to early developments in AI-assisted checkout, saying brands must determine what role they want to play as these ecosystems take shape.