AI is changing the shopfronts of our favourite brands. VML’s Gemma Spence explains just how said brands can position themselves to benefit.
Let’s cut through the noise: we’re not just evolving into a new phase of digital commerce, we’re rewriting the rules. Success is no longer about showing up on shelf or executing your media plan to perfection. It’s about being relevant at the speed of thought.
Welcome to the predictive era
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Amazon’s Rufus are no longer novelties—they’re the new power players in consumer decision-making. These systems don’t wait for shoppers to scroll. They anticipate intent. They parse language, read between the lines of behavior, and deliver products before consumers even articulate what they want.
Forget passive browsing. This is intelligent discovery—and if your brand isn’t part of that conversation, you’re already losing.
Digital availability just levelled up
Not long ago, we talked about digital availability as the sweet spot where mental and physical presence meets consumer attention. That principle still holds. But in the AI age, availability is only half the battle. Relevance is now the currency that counts.
AI doesn’t care about your brand equity unless it’s expressed in the right language, in the right context, through the right data. If your products can’t be surfaced, understood, and recommended by an algorithm? You’re invisible.
The battle for relevance has gone algorithmic
In 2023, marketplaces dominated global e-commerce with 60% of all sales. Fast forward to 2025, and the battlefield has shifted again. It’s no longer about listings or last-mile logistics, it’s about being selected, surfaced, and trusted by AI-native systems embedded across the shopping journey.
Rufus is already reshaping Amazon with conversational discovery. ChatGPT is empowering shoppers to describe their needs in natural language and get curated results in return. These tools don’t just facilitate commerce, they shape it.
Your brand needs to be fluent in AI. If it can’t speak to algorithms, it won’t speak to consumers.
The 4 rules of survival in predictive commerce
1. Predictive readiness: Train your catalogue for the algorithm
Forget retail readiness. If your data isn’t structured for large language models (LLMs), you’re unfindable.
Your product pages need to do more than look good—they need to talk in ways AI understands. That means semantic tagging, enriched metadata, value-based content, and natural-language copy that mirrors real human queries.
In short? Make your catalogue speak AI, or prepare to be ignored.
2. Conversational commerce: The shelf has started talking back
Consumers don’t search—they ask. They want a “night cream under £30 that’s cruelty-free and fragrance-free.” They want a solution, not a SKU list.
Every query is now a conversation, and your product needs to have a voice. Optimise your PDPs to respond like a helpful expert, not a dry spec sheet. If your brand can’t keep up with the dialogue, you’re out of the picture.
3. AI-native media: Stop targeting. Start teaching.
Retail media has moved beyond lookbacks and retargeting. Today’s best ads teach, guide, and assist. They adapt in real time to shopper intent.
Think DCO that evolves with each click. Think ads that act more like smart sales assistants than banners. If you’re not using predictive signals to shape your creative, you’re wasting your spend and your shot at relevance.
4. Ethics, trust & governance: The real competitive edge
AI at scale = personalisation at scale. But with great power comes… well, you know the rest.
Consumers are paying attention. They want to know how recommendations are made, what data you’re using, and whether you’re playing fair. One ethical misstep and your brand goes from trusted to toxic—fast.
Lead with transparency. Build for consent. Assume scrutiny. Because in the AI age, trust isn’t a side conversation—it’s the brand story.
Tear down the silos or be left behind
Here’s the truth: AI doesn’t care about your org chart. The brands that win will be the ones who integrate data, media, creative, and commerce into a single, predictive engine.
Picture this: media teams fuel real-time retail signals into creative production. Commerce teams adjust inventory based on AI-predicted demand. Creative adapts in the moment to shifting intent.
That’s not a pipe dream. That’s the new benchmark.
Fast is still the only speed that matters
Prediction is powerful but useless if you can’t act on it.
The best brands are building infrastructure for executional speed. They’re updating creative in real time, repricing SKUs based on trending queries, and shifting inventory before consumers even click.
AI tells you what’s coming. Your job is to meet it at the door.
This isn’t evolution. It’s commerce, reprogrammed.
Marketplaces are no longer digital storefronts, they’re algorithmic ecosystems. And AI isn’t just shaping demand, it’s becoming demand.
So let’s stop asking: Are you ready for marketplaces?
The real question is: Are you ready for AI to sell your brand, on your behalf?
Because ready or not, it already is.
Gemma Spence is the chief digital commerce officer at VML, where she leads global digital commerce strategy and oversees a network of over 7,000 practitioners. Previously, Gemma was the youngest CEO in Omnicom Media Group’s history.
Feature Image Credit: Adobe Stock
By Gemma Spence,
Get in touch with Gemma on LinkedIn.
