Amazon Rufus Hits 250M Users with Auto-Buy, Agentic Commerce Reshapes Brand Competition, and B2B Marketers Can’t Measure What They’re Spending
In today’s brief: Amazon turns Rufus into an autonomous shopping agent with 250 million users, agentic commerce threatens to upend decades of brand dominance in CPG, Loblaw proves AI grocery shopping works, and B2B marketers are getting budget increases without knowing what’s working.
Today’s stories:
1. Amazon expands Rufus AI with 12-month price tracking and auto-buy as usage surges to 250 million
2. Agentic commerce threatens legacy brands while opening doors for challengers
3. Loblaw’s ChatGPT grocery integration exceeds adoption expectations
4. B2B marketing budgets are growing, but ROI measurement remains the top challenge
Amazon Expands Rufus AI with 12-Month Price Tracking and Auto-Buy
Amazon’s Rufus AI assistant now shows 12 months of price history and can automatically buy products when they hit your target price. The expansion comes as Rufus reaches 250 million monthly active users, up 115% year over year, with engagement jumping 400%.
The auto-buy feature lets customers set a target price for any product, and Rufus handles the purchase when the price drops. It’s a shift from chatbot to autonomous shopping agent that could fundamentally change how people buy online. Amazon says customers using Rufus are 60% more likely to complete a purchase.
The price history transparency matters too. Showing 30, 90, and 365 days of pricing data makes it harder for retailers to play games with fake discounts or temporary price bumps before sales. Since its launch in 2024, over 50 million customers have checked price history, averaging three checks per month.
For sellers, pricing consistency now matters more than ever. Rufus surfaces price history directly to shoppers, so strategic discounting needs to be actually strategic. Timed price drops can trigger automatic purchases from customers who’ve set alerts. The shift toward agentic commerce is happening fast, and Amazon is betting on being the platform where it scales.
How Agentic Commerce Threatens Legacy Brands While Opening Doors for Challengers
If enough consumers let AI agents make buying decisions, legacy CPG brands are in trouble. That’s the takeaway from a new joint report by Kearney and NIQ analyzing $7.2 trillion in consumer spending across 90 countries.
The report finds that innovation, not volume, is becoming the main growth driver for food and beverage brands. Agentic commerce levels the playing field because AI agents don’t care about brand legacy or shelf dominance. They match product attributes to consumer preferences. A niche brand focused on innovation can compete directly with established players if its products better match what the AI is looking for.
For retailers, this could mean that in-store interactions need to become more experiential. Agentic shopping handles transactions. People come to stores to see, touch, taste, and get advice. The routine replenishment gets delegated to AI.
The data shows 74% of consumers already use AI to research products. Among AI shoppers, 31% will shop directly with a retailer if they have an emotional connection, while only 6% will direct their AI to recommend a specific brand even if it costs more. That gap shows how brand loyalty works in an AI-mediated world.
I’ve written more about the agentic AI opportunity in ecommerce and the future of agentic AI in retail if you want to dig deeper.
Loblaw’s ChatGPT Grocery Integration Exceeds Adoption Expectations
Loblaw says customer adoption of its ChatGPT grocery integration is running ahead of expectations. The Canadian grocer integrated OpenAI’s chatbot to help shoppers build shopping lists, find recipes, and plan meals, and it turns out people actually want to use AI for grocery shopping.
The success makes sense when you think about the friction in grocery shopping. Building a meal plan, checking what’s in season, figuring out substitutions, and finding recipes that use what you already have. These are real problems that AI can solve without requiring people to learn new interfaces or change their behavior much.
What Loblaw is doing right is meeting customers where they already are. ChatGPT integration means people can use familiar conversational AI to handle grocery tasks without downloading new apps and creating new accounts.
This is part of a broader trend where grocers are racing to figure out AI-powered shopping before Amazon and Walmart lock it down. The winners will be the ones who make AI shopping feel like a natural extension of how people already shop.
B2B Marketing Budgets Growing, But ROI Measurement Remains Top Barrier
Here’s a strange disconnect: 56% of B2B marketers expect budgets to grow in 2026, yet 25% say measuring ROI remains their biggest barrier. You’d think if budgets are growing, someone would be measuring what’s working.
The data comes from the EndeavorB2B Marketing Benchmark Report, which also found that 49% of organizations are increasing in-person event budgets while 37% plan to expand virtual events. Trade shows, roundtables, and small-group meetings are where deals move from interesting to serious.
B2B buyers are moving through discovery, comparison, and decision-making in non-linear ways, disrupting the traditional funnel. Marketers don’t control the path, so funnel-based attribution becomes less reliable. The fix is to create content buyers want, show up in peer networks and reviews, and make it easy for them to get information.
That's it for today.
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FAQs
How many users does Amazon Rufus have?
Amazon Rufus reached 250 million monthly active users as of May 2026, with usage growing 115% year over year. Engagement jumped 400%, and Amazon says customers using Rufus are 60% more likely to complete a purchase compared to those who don't use it.
What percentage of consumers use AI to research products?
74% of consumers already use AI to research products, according to a Kearney and NIQ report analyzing $7.2 trillion in consumer spending. Among AI shoppers, 31% will shop directly with a retailer if they have an emotional connection, while only 6% will direct their AI to recommend a specific brand even if it costs more.
Are B2B marketing budgets growing in 2026?
Yes. 56% of B2B marketers expect budgets to grow in 2026, according to the EndeavorB2B Marketing Benchmark Report. 49% of organizations are increasing in-person event budgets, and 37% plan to expand virtual events. However, 25% say measuring ROI remains their biggest barrier, creating a disconnect between spending and accountability.
Why is Loblaw's ChatGPT integration succeeding?
Loblaw's ChatGPT grocery integration is exceeding expectations because it meets customers where they already are. People can use familiar conversational AI to build shopping lists, find recipes, and plan meals without downloading new apps or creating new accounts. It solves real grocery friction points without requiring behavior change.