AI shopping: 93 per cent want a stop button, 51 per cent want to pay by invoice

What happened

Riverty and Adyen published a consumer survey on shopping via AI agents on 24 September 2026. The research institute Appinio surveyed 1,000 people in Germany between 14 and 17 August 2026. 49 per cent expect AI assistants to take over most of their everyday purchases within the next five years, and 67 per cent say they understand the principle. 93 per cent want to be able to view or stop an AI's purchasing decisions at any time. When the AI buys on its own, 51 per cent prefer paying by invoice. 39 per cent would leave a monthly budget of 51 euros or more to an AI; in the first survey in December 2025 the figure was still 50 per cent. Important for context: Riverty itself provides invoice payment, so this is a vendor study.

Who is affected

Online merchants considering agent channels such as Shopify with Meta Muse or ChatGPT checkouts, and everyone offering invoice or instalment payment. Also payment providers building agentic payment methods.

Analysis

The figure that matters is not 49 but 93. Consumers are curious about the shopping agent, but they trust it with less money than nine months ago. That is not a setback, it is realism: the more concrete the topic becomes, the more precisely people ask who is liable when the agent gets it wrong. I have set out my position on this at length in my commentary on liability in agentic payments.

That half of respondents want to pay by invoice when an agent buys is no surprise, given that an invoice provider is asking. For merchants the finding is still serious: invoice payment shifts default and fraud risk to the back end, and that is exactly where requirements are rising. From 20 November 2026 the new German consumer credit law applies, covering buy-now-pay-later models for the first time. Anyone allowing agent purchases on invoice should therefore know who bears the risk: themselves or their payment provider.

What to do now

Clarify in writing with invoice and instalment providers whether purchases via AI agents are covered and who is liable in a dispute over an agent order.
Plan a simple stop and cancellation route for agent orders; the survey shows customers expect one.
Before 20 November, check with your BNPL partner what the new consumer credit law changes in the checkout.