---
id: "claim-trust-gap-measurable"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Trust Gap is Measurable"]
tags: ["statistics", "consumer-behavior", "trust"]
related: ["concept-trust-layer"]
confidence: "high"
enrichment_confidence: "medium"
testable: true
speakers: ["Ali Furman", "Ege Gürdeniz", "Rima Safari", "Remzi Ural"]
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2026/02/how-brands-can-adapt-when-ai-agents-do-the-shopping"
source_title: "How Brands Can Adapt When AI Agents Do the Shopping"
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-ext-14-brands-adapt-ai-shopping"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/02/how-brands-can-adapt-when-ai-agents-do-the-shopping"
sourceTitle: "How Brands Can Adapt When AI Agents Do the Shopping"
---
# The Trust Gap in Agentic Commerce is Measurable

**Claim (source confidence: high · testable):** The trust gap in agentic commerce is measurable.

According to **PwC's 2025 Future of Consumer Shopping Survey** (see [[entity-pwc-d3]]), **64% of respondents require at least one safeguard** — such as a money-back guarantee — to feel comfortable allowing an AI agent to make a purchase on their behalf. This hesitation **spans all demographics**, including digitally native **Gen Z and Gen Alpha**, indicating that curiosity is heavily tempered by caution around **payment access, data storage, and agent allegiance**.

This is the empirical anchor for the [[concept-trust-layer]] and the reason brands must build safeguards rather than assume adoption.

> **Enrichment / validation — confidence: medium (revised down from source's "high").** The **direction** (a majority of consumers want safeguards before trusting AI shopping) is consistent with PwC's Voice of the Consumer 2025 and CPG Executive Survey work, which emphasize "clear guardrails." However, publicly visible materials do **not** explicitly confirm the exact **64%** figure or the precisely named "Future of Consumer Shopping Survey"; percentages vary across public snippets. **Treat the 64% as plausible but not fully verified** against open-web sources.