What happens when social commerce meets artificial intelligence? According to Amazon’s video commerce leaders, we’re entering an entirely new era of retail, and it’s more exciting than you might think.
In our latest Retail Technology Spotlight episode, we sat down with Julie Haleluk, Global Head of Growth at Amazon Shopping Video, and Wayne Purboo, VP of Amazon Advertising and Amazon Shoppable Video, for a fascinating conversation about the evolution of social commerce, the rise of agentic AI, and why human connection still matters in an increasingly automated world.
Social Commerce Isn’t Going Anywhere (It’s Just Getting Smarter)
If you’ve been wondering whether AI will replace social commerce, Wayne Peru has a clear answer: it won’t. Instead, we’re witnessing the emergence of distinct categories of commerce existing side by side, from traditional social commerce with human creators to hybrid experiences where humans interact with AI agents, all the way to pure agentic commerce where AI shops on behalf of consumers.
“There’s social commerce where there are humans interacting with humans,” Wayne explains. “There’s a hybrid where it’s humans interacting with agents, and then there’s agentic commerce which is just agents interacting on behalf of humans with other agents to make purchases.”
The Customer Journey Has Fundamentally Changed
One of the most striking insights from our conversation: the path to purchase now involves an average of 20 touchpoints before a customer makes a buying decision. And two new inputs are dramatically reshaping that journey:
- Real-time product evaluation tools like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Amazon’s own Rufus
- Generative AI-created content that’s influencing how we discover and evaluate products
This means brands can no longer think linearly about the customer journey. As Julie points out, “The consumer isn’t going just to one experience or another. It’s one journey and they’re going from awareness to conversion and back and forth in a matter of seconds.”
Why Video Content Is Your Secret Weapon
Here’s a key stat: When customers see both a digital ad AND Amazon Live content, purchase rates increase 17 times. Why? Because video creates emotional connections that last far longer than traditional advertising.
Wayne emphasizes that video does something no other creative format can match: “Videos create an emotion, and we know as humans emotions last longer. They may not remember the detail of a particular video ad or a live stream, but they’ll remember how that live stream made them feel.”
Even more compelling? Video content on Amazon consistently lowers return rates, a clear indicator that customers are making better, more confident purchase decisions.
The Authenticity Advantage
In an age where AI can generate increasingly sophisticated content, what’s the role of human creators? According to Julie and Wayne, authenticity remains irreplaceable. Creators have mastered the art of making one-to-many relationships feel personal and one-to-one, something that builds the trust necessary for purchase decisions.
“It all comes down to authenticity,” Julie explains. “Even if we talk about brands, whether it’s the brand or the creator, you can have that emotional connection, and that’s what video facilitates.”
What Brands Need to Do RIGHT NOW
Wayne delivered a critical piece of advice for brands preparing for the agentic commerce era: clean up your data. All of it.
“Brands really need to scour the internet and understand what data is out there about their brand because this is the training material for all of these agents,” Wayne warns. “The agents will read all of every page on every website and come back with a point of view of what that brand is or what that product is that may be filled with inaccuracy.”
This isn’t just about your main website. It’s about outdated product pages, old blog posts, and any publicly available information that AI crawlers might access. The agents shopping for your customers will find it all.
Innovation on the Horizon: Shop the Show
Julie previewed an exciting innovation called Shop the Show on Prime Video, which synchronizes shoppable content with what viewers are watching on their big screens. Considering 90% of people have their phones in hand while watching TV (and 30% are actively shopping), this seamless second-screen experience removes the friction from inspiration to purchase.
The Bottom Line
Whether it’s AI agents, generative content, or advanced attribution models, everything Amazon is building comes back to one principle: remaining customer-obsessed and helping customers make better purchase decisions.
As we navigate this rapidly evolving landscape, one thing is clear: social commerce and shoppable video aren’t just surviving. They’re essential tools for brands that want to build emotional connections, drive confidence, and ultimately reduce returns while increasing conversions.
Ready to dive deeper into the future of social commerce? Listen to the full episode now to hear more insights about Amazon Live signals, attribution windows, and how the next generation of commerce will unfold.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Amazon Music
Want to get tickets to SoCom? Head to SoCom.live now to register!
Be careful out there,
– Chris, Anne, and the Omni Talk team
P.S. See our past 8 years of wonderful Spotlight Series podcast guests, featuring roughly 200 movers and shakers in retail, by clicking here
#socialcommerce #amazonlive #shoppablevideo #retailai #ecommerce #omnitalk #retailtech #agenticcommerce #videcommerce #retailinnovation #amazonadvertising #retailpodcast
Music by hooksounds.com
*Sponsored Content*
Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.