Microsoft published a new article with helpful, specific recommendations around agentic commerce.

Key takeaways below, the big underlying one is "complete, structured, consistent product data":

• *AI agents are becoming the new gatekeepers.* AI tools increasingly decide which brands make the shortlist in the first place, for shoppers researching a purchase decision.
• *Machine trust is foundational.* Brands need to prioritize accurate, structured, up-to-date product data so AI systems can find, understand, and confidently recommend their products.
• *Product data is paramount.* Sparse, inconsistent, or outdated product feeds hurt conversion & may hide brands from consideration in AI-supported buying journeys entirely.
• *Reviews with specifics are gold.* AI systems can synthesize review sentiment, so detailed reviews about real use cases are more valuable than five-star ratings with minimal context.
• *Fulfillment reliability is becoming a trust signal.* As agents move closer to making purchases on behalf of shoppers, shipping accuracy, availability, and delivery performance matter more: "Your logistics will become your trust score."
• *Brand agents could help brands keep customer relationships.* AI-powered brand representatives are a way for shoppers to interact with brands directly through conversational experiences. In the bigger picture, customer agents (from the customer's AI assistant) will interact with brand agents on websites. Build your own brand agents now or let a third-party platform own them.
• *Conversational checkout could collapse the funnel.* Agentic commerce may let shoppers move from need → recommendation → selection → purchase in one AI chat.
• *Prioritize agent readiness now.* Brands should enrich product content, improve schema, sync pricing and inventory, strengthen reviews, and maintain clean feeds in Microsoft Merchant Center and Google Merchant Center.
• *Winners will have unified, real-time, machine-readable product data.* Everything else (AI visibility, brand agents, conversational checkout, measurement) depends on that foundation.