---
id: "action-build-strategic-moat"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ An Agent-to-Agent Strategic Playbook"]
tags: ["services", "differentiation"]
related: ["entity-pottery-barn"]
action: "Offer installation, protection plans, and service add-ons exclusively on the company site."
outcome: "Anchors consumers to the vendor's ecosystem and defends against price-scraping algorithms."
speakers: ["Mikey Vu", "Maureen Burns", "Aaron Cheris"]
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-nm-97-retailers-ai-shoppers"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/10/what-should-retailers-do-about-ai-shoppers"
sourceTitle: "What Should Retailers Do About AI Shoppers?"
---
# Build a moat with value-added services

## Action — Build a moat with value-added services

**Do this:** Offer installation, protection plans, and service add-ons exclusively on the company site.
**Expected outcome:** Anchors consumers to the vendor's ecosystem and defends against price-scraping algorithms.

Vendors cannot compete on price alone in an A2A world. They must anchor consumers to their ecosystem with services that agents **cannot easily replicate or scrape** — installation, protection plans, personalized service add-ons. This is dimension 3 of the [[framework-a2a-strategic-playbook]], demonstrated live by [[entity-pottery-barn]] (design/registry gated on-site). It is the antidote to becoming a [[concept-dumb-pipe]].


## Related across articles
- [[action-create-scarcity]]
- [[action-double-down-community]]