The rise of "bot buying": AI agents to take over purchase decisions in 2026

As India enters 2026, the country’s digital commerce and advertising ecosystem is moving into a decisive new phase shaped by the convergence of quick commerce, agentic AI, bot-driven buying behaviour and cultural reinvention, according to industry leaders tracking the transformation of the market.

Speaking on emerging trends, Anil Kumar, Founder & CEO, Redseer Consulting outlined how the coming year will force companies to rethink everything from product design to customer acquisition as the pace of technological change collides with shifting consumer behaviour.

Quick Commerce Moves From Channel to Core Strategy

According to Kumar, quick commerce has already crossed 15 percent of total online commerce in India and is growing at nearly 8 to 10 times the pace of conventional ecommerce.

While the segment has dominated headlines for the past two years, Anil noted that the industry is now approaching a critical inflection point where profitability, supply chain rationalisation and structural redesign will define the next phase of growth.

He explained that brands must now start thinking “quick-commerce first”, redesigning packaging, product formats, marketing strategies and inventory flows around the unique discovery and purchase behaviour of ultra-fast delivery platforms. Many brands, he observed, are still pushing traditional products into quick commerce ecosystems without tailoring their strategies, allowing platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart to capture disproportionate value.

Agentic AI and the Rise of Autonomous Commerce

Kumar also pointed to agentic AI becoming operational infrastructure in 2026 rather than experimental technology. From customer support to merchandising, companies are already witnessing massive efficiency gains.

He cited discussions with founders indicating that the cost of creating a product catalogue has fallen by nearly 90 percent, as AI replaces traditional photography and production processes.

The next evolution, he said, will be the emergence of “bot buying”, where AI systems increasingly decide what to buy, when to buy and from where, based on pricing, availability and personal usage data, with humans acting more as supervisors than decision-makers.

Beyond commerce, Kmar warned that the speed of AI adoption is pushing the world toward potential energy and semiconductor shortages. This is reshaping how investors and governments view companies such as SpaceX, which are increasingly seen as future energy infrastructure players, not just space exploration firms.

While 2026 will be driven by structural changes in commerce, 2025 delivered a creative and cultural reset, according to Neilesh Talreja, Founder & CEO of UCID Advertising, who described the year as the moment when AI began reshaping what brands create, not just how they create it.

Hyper-Regional Storytelling Takes Center Stage

Talreja said 2025 marked the end of simple linguistic translation and the beginning of cultural interpretation, forcing brands to recognise India as “dozens of emotional geographies stitched together.”

The creative challenge evolved from “What’s the Tamil translation of this copy?” to “What is the Tamil truth this idea must express?”, pushing storytelling to become more empathetic, nuanced and locally resonant.

As attention spans shrank and content choices exploded, the industry adapted to what Talreja called the three-second rule. If a message failed to land instantly, it failed entirely.

This led to the rise of micro-dramas, short-form narratives that replaced long-form storytelling with emotionally compressed, scroll-friendly formats that delivered impact within moments.

2025 also erased the line between communication and conversion. Consumers no longer watched an ad and then decided to buy. They watched, tapped and purchased in the same breath. Shoppable storytelling became standard, creator-led demos replaced trial rooms, and reels quietly transformed into retail storefronts.

Virtual influencers moved from novelty to necessity, offering consistency, brand safety and total narrative control. Yet the year also produced backlash, as global brands including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Disney faced criticism over unrestrained AI-generated content.

Talreja noted that as AI made perfection cheap, restraint became rare, and the brands best positioned for the future will be those that know exactly where to stop using AI.