{"id":4291004,"date":"2025-05-08T17:56:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/insight\/ai-powered-shopping-is-here-and-it-will-change-the-role-of-influencers\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T09:37:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T07:37:49","slug":"ai-powered-shopping-is-here-and-it-will-change-the-role-of-influencers","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/en-nl\/insight\/ai-powered-shopping-is-here-and-it-will-change-the-role-of-influencers\/","title":{"rendered":"AI-powered shopping is here, and it will change the role of influencers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/mask><\/g><\/svg>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tInsights\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\tAI-powered shopping is here, and it will change the role of influencers<\/h1>
\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t
\n\t\tKaren Kranack\t\t
\n\t\tDirector of Applied AI, Strategy & Experience\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tDate\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tMay 8, 2025\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\tFor the past decade, influencers have ruled the internet.<\/p>\n\tThey\u2019ve shaped trends, guided purchases, and built billion-dollar businesses off authenticity, aspiration, and a well-angled ring light.\u00a0

Thanks to new capabilities like ChatGPT\u2019s AI-powered shopping<\/a>, we\u2019re entering a phase where product recommendations aren\u2019t from a person you follow\u2014but from an AI trained on what you care about, what you value, and what you\u2019re likely to buy.\u00a0

And for brands, that raises a big question: what happens when influence is no longer human-first?<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tInfluence, reconsidered<\/h2>\n\tInfluencers have been central to how people connect with brands. They bring cultural relevance, aspirational storytelling, and a human layer to commerce that traditional advertising rarely achieves. No question that their influence drives results.

The landscape is shifting. Audiences are more skeptical of how the game works. The rise of \u201cde-influencing\u201d on TikTok<\/a> is a sign of the times: creators openly sharing which products aren\u2019t worth the hype, and encouraging followers to buy less, not more. It’s not anti-influencer\u2014it\u2019s post-influencer. People want honesty over aspiration. Authenticity over performance. And brands that rely too heavily on influencer culture to move product are starting to feel that friction.

None of this means influencer marketing is dead.

But it does mean the dynamic is changing. That creates space for a new kind of guide: one that doesn\u2019t guess what people want, but starts with the individual and works backward from there.

That\u2019s where AI comes in.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\tA new layer of influence<\/h2>\n\tAI-powered shopping isn\u2019t here to replace creators. It\u2019s here to do what they can\u2019t: deliver context-aware, highly relevant product suggestions at scale.

At DEPT\u00ae, we\u2019ve seen this shift firsthand. When we built Kenna<\/em>, the AI beauty assistant for Essence Cosmetics<\/a>, the goal wasn\u2019t to answer basic product questions. It was to deliver something more human: brand-aligned, intuitive, and able to meet each customer where they were in their journey. That\u2019s the kind of experience people increasingly expect. Not mass appeal. Real fit.

This new layer of AI-driven curation moves beyond broadcast. It understands preferences, intent, values, and even timing. The result? A recommendation that feels less like an ad and more like advice from someone who genuinely gets you.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\tWe\u2019re early\u2014but not that early<\/p>\n\tToday\u2019s AI doesn\u2019t have access to users\u2019 Instagram follows or TikTok behaviour. But it doesn\u2019t need to\u2014not yet. It relies<\/em> on structured product data, contextual signals, and brand messaging. And you control all of that.

This is the moment for brands to step up. How your products are described, the clarity of your brand voice, and how your values are surfaced shape how AI presents you. And as AI gets more embedded into everyday platforms, your presence in these environments won\u2019t be optional. It\u2019ll be expected.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tInfluencers won\u2019t disappear\u2014They\u2019ll evolve<\/h2>\n\tThis shift doesn\u2019t spell the end of the creator economy. If anything, it expands it. Creators will still inspire and shape taste, but instead of being the final stop in the funnel, they\u2019ll become part of a larger ecosystem that feeds AI-driven systems.

For brands, this means:<\/p>\n\n\t
  • Think long-term with creator content.<\/strong> Don\u2019t just chase engagement. Build assets that algorithms can index, resurface, and contextualise.<\/li>
  • Structure your product data.<\/strong> AI can\u2019t recommend what it doesn\u2019t understand. Rich, descriptive metadata is now a competitive advantage.<\/li>
  • Clarify your brand POV.<\/strong> Algorithms aren\u2019t going to invent your tone or values. They\u2019ll reflect what you\u2019ve made clear through your content.<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tWhat to do now<\/h2>\n\tThis is a moment of transition, not disruption for its own sake, but evolution. And the brands that win will be the ones that treat AI not as a gimmick, but as a new distribution layer.

    Start by asking:<\/p>\n\n\t
  • Is our content optimised for conversational discovery?<\/li>
  • Are we feeding AI the best version of our brand?<\/li>
  • How do we show up when influence becomes personalised?<\/li><\/ul>\n\nAI-powered shopping is here. And while it\u2019s not replacing the human element, it is changing how influence gets delivered<\/a>. Brands that prepare for this shift now won\u2019t just adapt\u2014they\u2019ll shape what comes next.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n
    \n\t\n\t
    \n\t\t\n\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\tAI TRANSFORMATION \u2022 Caspar Heydendael\t<\/p>\n\t\tA practical guide to implementing AI agents\u00a0<\/span>\t<\/h3>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tRead Article\t\t<\/span>\n\t\n<\/button>\n\t\n\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\tAI TRANSFORMATION \u2022 Maria Prokopowicz\t<\/p>\n\t\tOne offer, 5x the revenue: AI-powered Next Best Offer<\/span>\t<\/h3>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tRead Article\t\t<\/span>\n\t\n<\/button>\n\t\n\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\tAI TRANSFORMATION \u2022 Nolan Foster\t<\/p>\n\t\tSituational awareness is the key to relevance in the AI era\u00a0<\/span>\t<\/h3>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tRead Article\t\t<\/span>\n\t\n<\/button>\n\t\n\t<\/a>\t<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":4289622,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"es_utils_meta_schema":"","dept_alt_featured_image":[],"dept_algolia_noindex":false,"dept_algolia_featured":false,"member_job_title":"","member_linkedin_url":"","footnotes":""},"person":[42828],"insight-topics":[42356,42355,42357],"class_list":["post-4291004","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"dept_is_3q_page":false,"dept_insight_featured":true,"dept_current_cpt_partner":""},"yoast_head":"\nAI-powered shopping is here. 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