Walmart plans separate agent profiles and spending controls for AI shopping

Its proposed gateway starts with a developer beta, while customers would see agent purchases separately and retain approval controls.

Walmart announced Agent Profiles, an Agent Gateway and terms for AI shopping on October 21. The tools are intended to distinguish purchases made by a customer from those made by an assistant acting for them.

Agent Profiles are planned for the following month. Walmart says each assistant would have a dedicated profile linked to the customer’s account, with separately visible purchases. Customers could require approval for every purchase or set a spending limit, and could delete the profile.

A gateway instead of a human browsing path

Walmart describes the Agent Gateway as an interface being built for assistants, beginning with a beta for developers and companies. The aim is to avoid making agents navigate every step of a website designed for people.

The proposed flow starts in the agent’s application, then asks the customer to authorise the connection through Walmart and select controls. That is a planned workflow, not evidence that every outside agent already supports it.

Commerce needs explicit authority

The published terms say agents must stay within customer intent, cannot receive payment-card information or change payment methods, and remain subject to additional purchase approvals. Walmart says the same prices apply whether a person or an agent shops, with offers and fees shown before purchase.

The approach makes delegated authority visible as a separate part of shopping. A spending limit defines one boundary, while the purchase record shows what actually happened. The next practical milestone is whether the beta and profile rollout deliver those controls consistently across supported assistants.

Sources

- [Walmart makes it possible for agents to shop on behalf of customers](https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/10/Making-It-Possible-for-Agents-to-Shop-on-Behalf-of-Customers) — Walmart