Essays from the Kinect team on AI shopping, intent, and what happens to commerce when every surface can answer questions.
AI traffic converts better than anything you've ever measured. The problem is you can't measure it. As discovery moves inside the chat, the most valuable part of the customer journey is disappearing from your analytics — and your own site is the last place you can get it back.
Jun 10, 2026 · 11 min read
For a year Amazon walled itself off from AI agents and sued the companies trying to get in. Last week it started selling the wall to everyone else — running on a model from a company it part-owns. The reversal is the loudest signal yet about where commerce is heading.
May 29, 2026 · 9 min read
Amazon got a federal injunction against an AI browser. They've blocked 47 bots. They built Rufus. They're not playing defense — they're rewriting the rules of who gets to be the discovery layer for commerce.
Apr 14, 2026 · 7 min read
OpenAI killed Instant Checkout. Walmart's conversion rates were 3x worse inside ChatGPT. Now every major retailer is building their own AI — and the implications for commerce are enormous.
Mar 24, 2026 · 12 min read
Shopify gave a million brands their own storefront. It also gave them all the same shopping experience. The next era of e-commerce won't be about products — it'll be about who makes finding them feel different.
Feb 21, 2026 · 10 min read
The billion-dollar difference between what customers type and what they mean. Why closing this gap might be the biggest unsolved problem in online retail.
Feb 14, 2026 · 9 min read
What if finding the right product felt as natural as asking a friend? The technology to understand intent just arrived — and it changes everything.
Jan 6, 2026 · 7 min read
You have AI everywhere except where it matters most. We've spent years building sophisticated ways to get people to click — then they land on dropdown menus and price sliders from 2015.
Jan 5, 2025 · 8 min read
