Recently, Ron Johnson, the early head of Apple's retail business, believes that although tech companies are investing billions of dollars to promote "agent-based commerce," AI agents are unlikely to replace the in-person experience for consumers in physical stores. Johnson, 66, joined Apple in 2000, responsible for building the retail business and establishing the network of physical stores that later became the core of Apple's product sales and customer service.

Apple

Google is pushing AI agents through the Universal Commerce Protocol to cover the processes of product discovery, comparison, and checkout, while OpenAI is also turning ChatGPT into a shopping platform.

Regarding this, Johnson said it is hard to imagine consumers allowing AI agents to directly purchase a laptop worth $1,000 to $2,000 without any personal experience. He believes that consumers still want to feel the product's weight, check the screen, and assess the size. AI is more suitable for helping users narrow down choices and provide information before purchasing, so that customers entering the store become more informed buyers.

Johnson said that the original design of Apple's retail stores was not just for sales but also to provide product experiences, learning, and after-sales support. He believes the key to the success of Apple's retail business lies in its employees and their service approach, such as employees not receiving commission to reduce sales pressure and focus on understanding user needs. After leaving Apple, Johnson took charge of JC Penney and founded Enjoy Technology, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022.

Although Johnson is cautious about AI changing the way people shop, he still expressed optimism about AI and believed that Jobs would accept this technology, but would not let it replace human judgment. "Human intuition is irreplaceable," he believes AI is more suitable as an assistant tool rather than completely replacing consumer decisions.