AI agents, GEO and data quality: What the 2026 online merchant survey brings

Payrexx: The Online Merchant Survey 2026 is finally here. Prof. Dr. Darius Zumstein, can you summarise the three most important insights for us?

Prof. Dr. Darius Zumstein: For me, the biggest highlight is very clear: AI agents are coming – and extremely fast. A year ago, this was hardly a topic; back then, it was mainly about using AI for individual use cases like text, image, or video generation. Now, we are reaching a completely new stage.

Secondly, discoverability in generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Perplexity has become key. Every SME and every online merchant no longer only need to be found in classic search engines, but also in AI systems. With Generative Engine Marketing (GEM), a completely new Marketing discipline is emerging here – consisting of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and, more recently, also Generative Engine Advertising (GEA).

The third focus of our study was the level of automation: To what extent are the processes in Swiss e-commerce companies already manual, semi-automated, or fully automated, and where are they already using AI agents?

If you had to give concrete recommendations for action: What should Swiss online shops ideally start implementing in their operations tomorrow?

The first and most important thing is: Merchants must have control over their data. Product data, availability, delivery conditions, and returns information must be available on the website in a clean and structured format. Every day, crawlers and bots from AI systems and search engines visit product detail pages. Anyone with poor data quality here will not only face problems with automation and digitalisation but is simply not "agent-ready".

My appeal to merchants is therefore: Invest in data quality and interfaces! Technical standards like UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol) or MCP are developing rapidly. It is important to keep an eye on these, regularly check how much traffic is already coming via AI systems, remain open and curious, invest in internal training, and create clear responsibilities for AI in the company.

The big tech companies are also developing rapidly at the same time. Which trends do you see with providers like Google or OpenAI?

For example, Google introduced AI Mode in May, which has a direct impact on every Marketing department. In addition, the Agentic Checkout was announced. In the USA, it is already possible for consumers to add products directly to a universal shopping cart on Google and pay via Google Pay.

Payment service providers and online shops must also ask themselves: What happens if customers handle their transactions directly via AI systems or search engines in the future? Currently, most consumers use AI primarily to search, compare, and look for offers. It will take a little longer before purchasing is completely delegated to agents. However, we are already seeing this shift clearly in the younger target group.

More than 470 merchants participated in the ninth edition of the Online Merchant Survey. What significance does the study have for the Swiss market?

It is the largest and only representative e-commerce study in Switzerland that covers such a wide range of industries – from food to home & living, sport, health, and the construction industry. From small hobby shops to large providers like Galaxus, Brack, or Zalando, everything is included.

As a researcher, it is particularly important for me to see where merchants are currently struggling. The challenges have changed significantly: After the pandemic years, the focus today is on a difficult market environment, global competition, Temu, price pressure, and the question of how to remain relevant to customers.

Do you have any tips for merchants on how they can best network and stay informed?

Firstly: Participate in studies, because sharing knowledge helps everyone! Secondly, the old rule applies: "Markets are conversations." Merchants should get out of their silos, attend industry events, join specialist groups, and maintain their network – for example, also in associations such as the trade association. And thirdly: Use LinkedIn! In our networked world, isolation is the death of any trade.

A look ahead: Which topics will be key for e-commerce and next year's survey?

In addition to technology, the human factor is coming back into strong focus. The keyword is Human in the Loop: How do humans and machines work together optimally? Which tasks are delegated, and where do humans retain leadership? It is about AI sovereignty, critical thinking, transparency, data protection, and how organisations and teams adapt sustainably.

In addition, this development offers huge opportunities for SMEs. Through modern tools like code assistants, even small teams without huge IT budgets can build innovative solutions and prototypes. If small SMEs use these tools cleverly, they can keep up with the big players perfectly.