Walmart introduces Agent Gateway and Agent Profiles for AI shopping agents
Industry News · Retail and E-commerce · October 26, 2026
While Amazon blocks shopping agents, Walmart gives each one a profile, a spending limit and a set of terms
Walmart announced on October 21, 2026 the Agent Gateway and Agent Profiles. The Agent Gateway is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets approved AI agents search inventory and buy on a shopper’s behalf. Agent Profiles arrive in customer accounts in November 2026, before the holiday peak. Both cover Walmart and Sam’s Club.
A shopping request starts in the assistant that the customer chooses. The first time an agent shops at Walmart, the gateway creates an Agent Profile. The profile is a digital summary of the shopper’s credentials and contact details. Each authorized agent appears in the customer’s Walmart account, and its purchases show separately from the customer’s own. Any account holder can use it, with no Walmart+ membership required.
The customer picks one of two approval models. The customer approves every purchase, or the agent buys within a spending limit that the customer sets. Walmart gave $50, $100 and $200 as examples. Walmart compares the profile to adding an authorized user to a credit card. The customer can turn off or delete the profile at any time.
Walmart published terms for agents. An agent cannot act beyond what the shopper intends. It cannot access payment information, and it can access only the data that a task needs. Walmart will block agents that break the terms. The standard returns process applies even when an agent buys the wrong item. Agent builders request gateway access on a page at Walmart.com.
John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart, discussed the launch at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco. The announcement came weeks after Amazon began to block AI agents from shopping on its site. Walmart already works with Muse from Meta, ChatGPT and Gemini. In its post, Walmart said, “Shopping with an agent won’t be for everyone, and it doesn’t have to be.”
The takeaway
Walmart turned the agent from an intruder into an account holder with a name, a limit and a returns policy. Decide whether your store treats a buyer’s agent as a threat to block or a customer to onboard.
Why it matters for agent-led growth
- The agent gets an identity. One profile per agent makes its orders visible, auditable and revocable. Copy that pattern for any agent that spends on behalf of a customer.
- The spending limit earns the yes. Wix set a 10-minute approval window and American Express built an intent token last week. Walmart set a dollar cap. The control, not the model, wins the trust.
- Terms are the new API docs. Walmart wrote rules for agent behavior and a block for violators. Write your agent terms before you open an MCP endpoint.
- Returns absorb agent error. Walmart keeps its returns process when an agent makes a mistake. Decide who pays when the agent buys the wrong thing, and say so in the terms.
