Shopify orders linked to AI-powered searches approached 13 times their year-earlier level in the first quarter, while a16z partners outlined businesses they believe stand to gain as agents enter commerce.
Shopify stores also received eight times as much AI-referred traffic as a year earlier. The figures track two measures: traffic referred by AI and orders attributed to AI-powered searches.
a16z partners Olivia Moore and Justine Moore use “business-to-agent,” or B2A, to describe agents’ growing role in commerce. Their map spans developers of agent models and infrastructure providers, alongside businesses building agent-enabled products and established firms adapting to agent use.
The partners say agents are beginning to shape what consumers choose, subscribe to and spend on. They identify four types of businesses they consider potential beneficiaries of that change.
The analysis also links agent commerce to a16z Managing Partner Chris Dixon’s argument that stablecoins could facilitate payments between AI agents. Dixon’s earlier remarks on fintech stablecoin use were covered in a previous EconoTimes report.
