Marketers say AI shopping helpers and shifting social feeds will shape 2027

Marketers are planning for a year when software may do some of the shopping. According to WARC, a research group that tracks the advertising industry, AI shopping agents and changing social media feeds are the two big forces shaping marketing priorities for 2027.

What the terms mean

An AI shopping agent is a program that can search for products and buy them on a person's behalf. Instead of scrolling through pages of results, a shopper could ask the program to find and purchase something. That changes who a business has to impress. It may be the program, not just the person.

The second force is changing social media feeds. Feeds are the streams of posts and ads people see in their apps. When the way those feeds work shifts, the ways brands get noticed shift too.

Who it affects

Anyone who sells things online could feel this. That includes small shops, local service businesses with an online store, and large brands. Customers may increasingly arrive through an AI helper or a reworked feed rather than a search page or a familiar ad.

What is not known yet

The material available gives only the main findings. It does not say how many marketers were surveyed, how soon AI shopping agents will be common, or which social platforms are changing and how. It also does not say how much money companies plan to move. Those details would show how urgent the shift really is.

What to do

• Look at how your products appear online, including names, descriptions and prices.
• Check that your product details are clear and accurate.
• Watch how your customers say they found you.