Marketplaces earn their money when you browse, not when you buy. An AI assistant that shops for you skips the browsing.
Ad revenue vs operating income (2025):
- Amazon retail: 2x
- DoorDash: 1.9x
- Instacart: 2.2x
AI assistants don't need to rebuild Amazon's warehouses to hit Amazon's profits.
Full piece from
@aleximm and
@santiago__rdz on who gets paid when AI does the shopping: