PayPal Holdings is making its biggest move yet into artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shopping with the launch of a new suite of “agentic commerce” services aimed at connecting merchants directly to AI platforms where consumers increasingly discover and buy products.

It build the new services on PayPal’s payments, identity verification, and buyer protection infrastructure. They mark the company’s formal entry into the emerging market of AI-powered transactions. PayPal designed the platform to help merchants make their products visible and purchasable through AI agents such as Perplexity, browser-based assistants and conversational shopping tools that can complete purchases on behalf of users.

PayPal’s initiative centers on two core offerings:

1. Agent Ready, a payment solution that lets existing PayPal merchants accept transactions originating from AI agents.
2. Store Sync, a feature that automatically connects a merchant’s catalog, inventory and fulfillment systems to leading AI discovery platforms.

It intends for the integration to make products searchable and purchasable directly through AI interfaces without extra technical work for merchants.

PayPal said the system will initially integrate with Wix, Cymbio, Commerce (which includes BigCommerce and Feedonomics), and Shopware. It will allow sellers to make their catalogs “AI-discoverable” instantly. Through one PayPal connection, merchants can become visible across multiple AI environments, including Perplexity and PayPal’s own in-app shopping agent, now being assessed in select markets.

How PayPal is entering the agentic commerce space

“AI is driving the next wave of innovation in how payments are made and managed,” said Michelle Gill, general manager of small business and financial services at PayPal. She said the company’s new agentic commerce layer “connects PayPal merchants to millions of consumers who are now using agent platforms for their day-to-day shopping needs.”

The broader goal is to give sellers an open, flexible system that works across multiple AI ecosystems. PayPal said it will support leading payment protocols. It also said it plans additional releases that expand its AI commerce capabilities globally.

The company’s new approach reflects a shift underway across the retail and payments sectors. There, retailers expect AI agents to manage an increasing share of product discovery, recommendation and checkout. Instead of searching websites or browsing marketplaces, consumers may soon rely on digital assistants that understand their preferences and can purchase on their behalf. That would create new opportunities for payment providers that can embed themselves into those transactions.

For merchants, PayPal’s move could offer access to new customer acquisition channels while preserving brand control and customer data. Transactions will continue to identify the seller as the merchant of record. That would ensure that fulfillment, communications, and customer relationships remain direct.

The Store Sync feature is available immediately through PayPal.ai, while merchant discoverability on Perplexity is expected before year-end. Agent Ready payments will roll out in early 2026.

PayPal began laying the groundwork for agentic commerce earlier this year with developer tools that allow AI agents to connect to payments, invoicing and fulfillment workflows. The company’s new offering, combined with its partnerships across web-commerce platforms, signals a strategy to anchor PayPal at the center of the next wave of digital shopping — one where AI, not humans, initiates the checkout.

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