Canadian businesses grapple with AI shopping agents as Muse app leads market

One month after its release, Meta's Muse AI personal assistant remains the most popular app in Canada, forcing businesses to decide what permissions to grant it and similar agents. Muse and other new AI assistants can access a user's email and calendar, shop online, book appointments and potentially access bank accounts if directed. This capability has led some major retailers and all of Canada's largest banks to block third-party agents from their digital properties, citing safety, security and control over the customer experience. "There's a real tug-of-war going on right now over who owns the customer experience," said Uwe Stueckmann, co-founder of retail consultancy Innovative Marketing.

Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its site shortly after the agent's September launch. Royal Bank of Canada said this week it is blocking third-party agents from accessing its online banking and other digital properties. Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank have also implemented similar blocks. For financial institutions, the move addresses a litany of privacy and security concerns if agents can access sensitive customer data. For retailers, agents represent a potential new sales channel but also a risk to brand loyalty, as an entire transaction can occur within a third-party app.

Many retailers contacted for comment, including Indigo Books and Music, Rona, Roots and London Drugs, declined to discuss Muse. Some executives expressed caution, noting the technology is new and unproven. "The user experience provided by these platforms does not yet fully align with what is being promised," said Maxime Dubois, co-CEO of Altitude Sports. Personal AI agents run the risk of making mistakes and taking unauthorized actions.

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Despite the concerns, consumer interest is growing. A recent Mastercard survey found 41 per cent of Canadians are open to using AI to help with online shopping, and more than half of that group would consider letting agents complete purchases with preset preferences. "When there's a level of control and trust in place, they're willing to look at taking that next step," said Craig Reiff, senior vice-president of core payments at Mastercard. Shopify has integrated its e-commerce platform with Muse, allowing consumers to browse its stores and purchase directly through the app.

"We expect personal agents to become an increasingly important way people shop," said Shopify vice-president of product Rohit Mishra. He said users must approve purchases and added that adoption will grow only if consumers trust agents. The company is exploring how users can authorize agents to make purchases without approving each one individually. "That means identifying the right spending controls so buyers can decide what an agent is allowed to do on their behalf," Mishra said.

David Stevens, chief technology officer at fashion retailer Groupe Dynamite, said retailers must respond to consumer trends even as AI agents are in their infancy. "Those retailers who try to fight customer behaviours and say no, that's a lost cause," he said. The Quebec-based retailer has seen a rise in referrals from chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT, with that traffic having a higher conversion rate than traditional internet search. "Now it's all about, how do I work with that?" Stevens said. "How do I show up in these agents, the proper way, and make sure my brand is represented?"

This need to tailor online stores for AI agents, not just humans, is becoming critical, especially if agents handle payments. "If an agent is on it, how do they understand the products? How do they look at pricing? What are the policies for interacting with the actual business?" said Danielle Gifford, managing director of AI and cloud at PwC Canada. "The agent experience model is going to be something that organizations will have to think about." Techniques to ensure brands are discovered by chatbots, a field called generative engine optimization, will grow in importance.

Alfredo Tan, global chief digital and information officer at Canada Goose, said the company is interested in exploring how to work with third-party agents and is not concerned they will erode customer relationships. "The companies and the industries that have invested in a great degree of brand loyalty and affinity … will be served well in this new era," he said. He believes consumers will still want to make decisions on higher-priced items themselves, possibly delegating cheaper buys to agents. Canada Goose, which runs its online store with Shopify, has not yet enabled purchasing through Muse but is focused on appearing in AI agent search results.

Smaller, independent retailers could face greater challenges. A study commissioned by Lightspeed Commerce found national retailers accounted for 46 per cent to 58 per cent of responses from ChatGPT and Google's AI tools when asked for recommendations. Local retailers were the top recommendation in only one in 10 responses when chatbots were queried about specific products. Larger companies may be investing more in optimizing their sites for AI search, said Lightspeed CEO Dax Dasilva. The success of personal agents like Muse depends partly on working with other companies, as being blocked from key actions could make them less useful for consumers.

With files from The Globe and Mail