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Adyen has published research showing that all surveyed Australian enterprise retailers are investing in AI-driven shopping tools, even as many consumers remain uneasy about AI making purchases on their behalf.
The survey found that 95% of enterprise retailers are familiar with agentic commerce, while 64% of Australians feel uncomfortable allowing AI to complete a purchase for them.
The figures highlight a gap between retailers' rapid adoption of AI and shoppers' willingness to hand over control at the point of payment. While AI is becoming more common in browsing and product discovery, consumers appear far less ready to let automated systems act independently at checkout.
Nearly two-thirds of Australians, or 64%, said they had used AI assistants to browse, compare, or discover products. That suggests AI has already become part of routine retail activity for many shoppers, particularly in the early stages of the purchase journey.
Confidence drops when AI's role moves beyond advice. The research found that 26% of Australians are comfortable with AI completing a purchase, while only 5% are fully comfortable letting AI buy independently.
The findings come as retailers increase spending on automation across the customer journey, from discovery to checkout. Surveyed retailers are using AI tools not only to influence decisions but also to reshape how transactions are completed.
Hayley Fisher, Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand at Adyen, said the industry faces a trust issue as AI takes on more responsibility.
"AI is becoming embedded across retail, but consumer trust has not advanced at the same pace," Fisher said. "When AI moves from assisting to acting, payments, identity, and security become the real conditions for adoption."
Payment pressure
The report also highlights the central role of payments in shaping customer confidence. Almost two-thirds of Australians, or 62%, said payment errors damage their perception of a retailer.
For some businesses, the commercial impact appears immediate. Nearly one in four consumers, or 24%, said they actively avoid a retailer after a failed transaction, while 15% said they switch to a competitor altogether.
That makes checkout reliability a reputational issue, not just a back-office problem. In an environment where AI systems may increasingly handle parts of the transaction flow, any payment failure risks undermining trust not only in the retailer but also in the automation behind it.
Fisher drew a direct link between failed transactions and confidence in AI-led shopping. "At machine speed, even small payment failures can quickly become larger trust issues," Fisher said.
She added, "Payment reliability is no longer just an operational concern - it's a reputational issue."
Security signals
Consumers also appear willing to accept more checks at checkout if they believe those steps make transactions safer. Nine in ten Australians, or 91%, said they prioritise security checks over speed at checkout.
That preference suggests shoppers do not necessarily see verification as an obstacle. Instead, extra steps such as authentication and identity checks may now serve as visible signs that a retailer is protecting the transaction.
More than a third of Australians, or 36%, said they use biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, to secure transactions. Another 35% said verifying identity in multiple ways increases their sense of protection.
As more retailers experiment with AI-assisted and AI-directed shopping models, the results indicate that trust at checkout may depend as much on visible controls as on convenience. The survey suggests consumers will tolerate, and may even welcome, added friction if it reduces perceived risk.
Retail priorities
The research also examined how retailers are approaching the next phase of digital commerce. It found that 63% are prioritising protection of the direct customer relationship, 55% are responding to competitive pressure, and 51% are focused on automation and cost reduction.
Those priorities suggest retailers are not treating AI simply as a cost-cutting tool. They are also trying to maintain ownership of customer interactions and defend their market position as shopping journeys become more automated.
For businesses with annual turnover of at least AUD $25 million, the challenge appears to be balancing efficiency with accountability. As AI systems take on more customer-facing tasks, a failed payment, mistaken purchase, or weak security process could damage loyalty as quickly as automation improves productivity.
Fisher said the next stage of adoption will depend on whether retailers can make automated commerce feel dependable to consumers. "Agentic commerce has the potential to transform retail, but adoption will depend on whether retailers can build trust into every transaction," Fisher said.
"The retailers that succeed will be those that match intelligence with resilience - building payment experiences that perform reliably, protect customers when things go wrong, and earn trust at scale," she said.