Australian retailers push AI despite consumer trust gaps and rising bot threats

Australian retailers are rapidly embedding artificial intelligence throughout the shopping journey. A survey by payment platform Adyen found that all surveyed enterprises are investing in AI tools for product discovery, decision‑making and checkout, with 95 % familiar with "agentic commerce". Nonetheless, consumer confidence lags: 64 % of Australians are uncomfortable with AI completing a purchase, only 5 % fully trust an AI‑only checkout, and payment errors cause 24 % to avoid a retailer.

At the same time, cybersecurity firm Akamai reports a 63 % surge in AI‑driven bot traffic targeting commerce in the Asia‑Pacific region in 2025, with commerce accounting for 38 % of all AI bot activity. Retail, and particularly travel and hospitality businesses, face heightened exposure to malicious bots that can scrape data, conduct credential‑stuffing attacks or abuse APIs. Akamai urges firms to adopt risk‑based defenses that protect these new digital surfaces without adding friction for legitimate customers.