Visa, a world leader in digital payments, today released new research showing that UAE consumers are rapidly embracing AI-powered shopping, while merchants increasingly recognize the commercial opportunity presented by agentic commerce. However, the findings also reveal a readiness gap, highlighting the need for merchants to strengthen their data, acceptance and payment foundations as AI agents move closer to completing transactions on consumers’ behalf.
Consumer demand continues to move quickly
The 2026 Global Digital Shopping Index, commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions and produced by PYMNTS Intelligence, found that 72% of UAE shoppers surveyed used AI during their most recent purchase journey, compared with 53% in Brazil and 46% in the US. UAE shoppers surveyed also recorded the highest level of digital shopping activity among the three markets surveyed, averaging 2.3 digital shopping activities per day.
Consumer expectations are advancing just as quickly. More than seven in ten UAE shoppers, 71%, expect to use an AI shopping agent within the next two years, signaling growing demand for experiences in which AI moves beyond product discovery and comparison to play a more active role in commerce.
Merchants see the opportunity, but readiness needs to catch up
UAE merchants are already anticipating this shift. Nearly three-quarters of UAE merchants surveyed, 74%, expect AI agents to account for at least 5% of their sales within the next two years, while 42% expect AI agents to generate at least 16% of sales.
However, the foundations required to support agentic commerce have yet to match those expectations. Only 19% of UAE merchants surveyed currently have structured product data that an AI agent can read, while 31% can clearly identify when a sale originated from an AI platform. Closing these gaps, alongside enabling authenticated and tokenized payment acceptance, will be critical as merchants prepare for agent-led transactions.
Trust and payment infrastructure will determine whether agentic commerce scales
As AI agents take on greater responsibility across the shopping journey, consumer trust and control will be essential. More than eight in ten UAE shoppers surveyed, 82%, said they would allow an AI agent to make an autonomous purchase if they could set a maximum cost.
Consumers also favor permission-based access to their personal information, with case-by-case consent the most selected approach for both shopping and payment data. These findings reinforce the importance of transparency, consumer-defined controls and secure payment infrastructure as agentic commerce develops.
Trusted payment acceptance will be a critical bridge
Even as AI reshapes the shopping journey, payment choice remains fundamental to where consumers choose to shop. The research found that 86% of UAE shoppers say knowing that a merchant accepts their preferred payment method influences their choice of merchant, the highest level among the three markets surveyed.
Together, the findings point to a clear path forward: UAE consumers are ready, merchants see commercial potential, and readiness now needs to accelerate. Structured product data, authenticated and tokenized payment acceptance, consumer-defined controls and trusted payment infrastructure can help provide the bridge from AI-assisted shopping to agent-led transactions at scale.
Mario Makary, UAE Country Manager at Visa, said: “UAE consumers are clearly ready for the next evolution of AI-powered commerce, and merchants increasingly recognize the growth opportunity it presents. The priority now is to close the gap between ambition and readiness. That means ensuring merchants have the structured data, acceptance capabilities and trusted payment infrastructure needed for AI agents to move securely from discovery to transaction. Visa is focused on helping merchants prepare for this shift by enabling secure, authenticated and tokenized payments while keeping consumers in control of how, when and where their money moves.”
