There's something we may be about to lose that nobody seems to be talking about.

The joy of shopping.

Think about shopping before e-commerce. You went to the high street, the mall or the market. You wandered. You browsed. You touched things. You tried things on. You discovered things you weren't looking for.

You might not have bought anything. But somehow, you still felt better.

Then Amazon and e-commerce changed everything. We lost some of the physical experience, but we kept the hunt.

You could browse hundreds of products, compare prices, read reviews, open 15 tabs and convince yourself you were researching when you were really just window shopping.

There was still a little bit of retail therapy in it.

Now AI is threatening to remove even that.

Ask AI what you should buy and it can research the options, compare them and recommend one. Google is already experimenting with agentic checkout that can buy products on your behalf, while ChatGPT is moving from product discovery towards agentic commerce.

Soon, the conversation could simply be: β€œI need a new pair of running shoes.” AI: β€œThese are the ones for you.” β€œBuy them.” Done.

No browsing. No comparing. No rabbit holes. No accidentally buying something completely unrelated.

Incredibly convenient. But perhaps convenience isn't always the point.

We don't watch Netflix because it's the most efficient way to consume television. We don't go to restaurants because cooking is inefficient. And perhaps we don't shop purely because we need things.

Sometimes the journey is the product.

So if AI removes the journey, what replaces it?

Maybe the next generation of retail therapy won't be about finding something you need. It will be about discovering something you didn't know you wanted.

AI could become less of a personal shopper and more of a personal curator. Not: β€œHere's the best option.” But: β€œHere's something you might love.”

And that distinction matters enormously for brands. Because if AI becomes the gatekeeper between consumers and products, brands may no longer compete primarily for attention.

They'll compete for recommendation.

The challenge for marketers won't just be getting someone to see your product. It will be getting AI to believe your product is worth showing them.

Perhaps retail therapy isn't dying after all. It is simply moving from the shop window to the algorithm.

And I'm not sure whether that's exciting... or slightly terrifying.