By PYMNTS | October 21, 2026
Walmart has introduced three tools designed to let customers shop at Walmart and Sam’s Club through their choice of apps and artificial intelligence (AI) agents.
“Shopping with an agent won’t be for everyone, and it doesn’t have to be,” the company said in a Wednesday (Oct. 21) press release. “But for customers who choose to use one, our goal is to make our experience the most trusted by building clear controls and protections into the experience from the start.”
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One new tool, which is set to launch in November, is Agent Profiles. This tool will enable customers to authorize each AI agent with a dedicated profile within their account so they can see the agent’s purchases separately from their other purchases; determine whether they want to require approval for every purchase or give the agent permission to make purchases within a specified spending limit; and turn off those permissions at any time, according to the release.
Another new tool, which is now in beta for companies and developers, is the Walmart Agent Gateway. This gateway will enable agents to shop by using a model text protocol (MCP) rather than a web browser. It will also help an agent shop for the user’s usual purchases without giving the agent access to the customer’s personal information or purchase history.
Walmart also unveiled terms for AI agents, which establish rules that the agents must follow when shopping on behalf of a customer. The terms specify that, for example, agents must not take actions beyond what the customer intends, can’t add or change a customer’s payment methods and can only access the information needed for the task and allowed by the customer, per the release.
“We’ve always worked to understand what customers need and make shopping easier for them,” Walmart said in the release. “As customers begin using agents to help them shop, we’re building connections, permissions and options that complement those tools and support how customers want to use them.”
PYMNTS reported Friday that retailers are responding differently to customers’ adoption of AI shopping agents. For example, Amazon is blocking prominent outside agents, Target is permitting approved providers and Walmart is partnering with AI companies to attract customers.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Will the 2026 Shopping Season Go Agentic?” found that merchants expect agentic commerce to become a paid sales channel, but many feel unprepared to connect with agents.