Industry Trends

Coupon sites and browser extensions saved shoppers billions between 2010 and 2024, but AI deal finders that negotiate prices in real time are making them obsolete. The shift is not theoretical. It is already happening, and the data shows it. The Rise and Fall of the Browser Extension Era Browser extensions like Honey, RetailMeNot, and Rakuten built massive user bases by doing one thing well: automatically applying coupon codes at checkout. Honey reached 17 million users before PayPal acquired it for $4 billion in 2020. RetailMeNot was pulling in 50 million annual visitors at its peak. ...

AI shopping agents moved from novelty to mainstream in 2026, with an estimated 35 million American consumers now using some form of AI-assisted purchasing tool. The shift is happening fast enough that major retailers are redesigning their checkout flows, price matching policies, and even their advertising strategies to account for automated buyers. Here are the seven trends driving this change and what they mean for anyone who buys things online. ...