Agentic checkout is a stateful checkout flow in which an AI agent creates, presents, updates, or completes a merchant checkout session on behalf of a buyer.
The agent can relay selected items, buyer choices, fulfillment information, and appropriately authorized payment data, while the merchant remains authoritative for current totals, inventory, transaction terms, order acceptance, payment processing, and fulfillment.
Where the AON flow hands off
AON's offer-discovery flow ends when the user follows the documented tracked path to the merchant or downstream provider. AON can still correlate that handoff with a later partner-reported outcome.
Review AON Offer actionsTypical agentic checkout flow
Identify an item, cart, service, or booking
The journey begins from something the buyer wants to transact on, not necessarily from an AON offer.
Create or retrieve checkout state
The agent opens a merchant checkout session and receives the current authoritative state.
Update buyer choices
Items, quantities, addresses, fulfillment options, or other required details are added or changed.
Resolve required intervention
The buyer reviews terms, supplies missing information, authenticates, or authorizes payment when required.
Complete, cancel, or expire
The merchant accepts the order and returns confirmation, or the checkout ends in another explicit state.
Common state categories in agentic checkout
A checkout can remain active, require buyer action, pause for additional processing, or end in a terminal outcome.
| Behavior | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Non-terminal | Ready or in progress | The checkout can advance, or the merchant is actively processing it. |
| Buyer action required | The buyer must review terms, add information, authenticate, or authorize. | |
| Pending or escalated | The merchant or payment system needs additional processing or intervention. | |
| Terminal | Completed | The merchant accepted the order and returned confirmation. |
| Cancelled or expired | The checkout ended without a completed order. A recoverable payment or validation failure does not necessarily make the session terminal. |
- An offer payload or action target is not a checkout session, payment mandate, or order confirmation.
- A checkout can still require human review, authentication, or approval. The merchant or its checkout provider remains responsible for the final transaction.
Agentic checkout vs offer discovery
Offer discovery finds and presents eligible commercial options. Agentic checkout manages the transaction state after an item, cart, booking, or service has been identified and the buyer is moving toward order completion. See the Agentic offer discovery definition.
Example in practice
An AI travel assistant presents an eligible hotel offer. When the user chooses to continue, the booking provider—not AON—confirms the room, guest details, taxes, final price, payment, and booking status. The assistant should reflect that returned state rather than treating the offer click as a completed booking.
Common questions about agentic checkout
Does agentic checkout require autonomous payment?
No. An agent can manage checkout state while the user still reviews terms, authenticates, or approves payment. The required authority depends on the checkout and payment systems.
Is an offer payload the same as a checkout session?
No. An offer payload describes a discovery-time commercial option and its supported action. A checkout session is merchant-controlled transaction state with current totals, buyer details, authorization requirements, and order status.
Who decides when an agentic checkout is completed?
The merchant does. A checkout is completed only when the merchant accepts the order and returns an authoritative confirmation; an agent should not infer completion from a click, payment attempt, or pending state.
What should an agent do when buyer action is required?
The agent pauses the affected step and clearly surfaces the required review, information, authentication, or authorization. The flow resumes only after the merchant or payment system reports that the requirement has been satisfied.
Sources
- AON Core ConceptsAON documentation
- UCP Checkout capabilityRelated standard
- ACP seller implementation guideIndustry source
- ACP introductionIndustry source