Today’s Claude Duet announcement is worth watching for retail. Anthropic is building a persistent personal agent primarily for work, but it’s already integrating Link and Shop Pay. Shopping could increasingly emerge from tasks that never started as shopping. Retailers need to think about how their products get considered when an AI agent already understands what the customer needs.

Today’s Claude Duet announcement is worth watching for retail. Anthropic is building a persistent personal agent primarily for work, but it’s already integrating Link and Shop Pay. Shopping could increasingly emerge from tasks that never started as shopping. Retailers need to think about how their products get considered when an AI agent already understands what the customer needs.

Making inventory available to AI agents is the starting point. Winning their business is a different problem. Retailers spent decades learning how to merchandise and sell to people. Now they’ll need to learn how to sell to the agents shopping for them.

Imagine an ecosystem where buyer agents can shop across retailers, and every retailer has a chance to compete for their business. Buyer agents need to find the best deal. Retailers need the ability to make their best offer and win the sale. Both sides need intelligence working for them.

Yesterday, in a conversation with John Collison on Cheeky Pint, Mark Zuckerberg said: “Just like today every business has […] a website and social media accounts and email addresses […] every business is going to have agents too.” That’s exactly the future we’re building for at Spangle. Today, we’re introducing Spangle Muse, our brand-trained AI seller agent for ecommerce retailers. As AI agents increasingly shop on behalf of consumers, we believe retailers need AI working on their side, too. AI that understands their brand, their products, and their business. Here’s a first look at Muse.