Ron Johnson, the former Apple retail chief who built the company’s physical store network, rejects the Silicon Valley idea that AI agents will soon handle all shopping. He believes people will continue to visit physical stores.
The bet against agentic commerce
Major tech firms are investing heavily in AI agents that can find and buy products automatically. Google is rolling out its Universal Commerce Protocol to standardise this process. OpenAI is integrating shopping directly into ChatGPT so users can research and purchase without leaving the chat interface.
Johnson sees these moves as an overestimation of how much consumers will trust machines with their purchases. He told TechCrunch that while AI will improve the online experience, it will not change the fundamental way people shop.
When asked if anyone would let an AI choose and buy a laptop costing $1,000 or $2,000 without visiting a website or store, Johnson was direct: “Honestly, nobody’s going to do that.”
He argues that buying a laptop is too personal to delegate. Customers need to feel the weight of the device, inspect the screen, and decide which size fits their needs. AI might narrow down options, but it cannot replace the physical act of trying a product before spending significant money.
“AI will never be able to have you physically experience a product,” Johnson said. Instead, he expects these agents to act as research assistants. They will inform shoppers before they arrive at a store, making them more knowledgeable when they walk through the door.
Why Apple stores still work
Johnson’s confidence comes from a strategy Apple adopted more than 20 years ago. The physical stores were designed to be places where people could try products, learn how to use them, and get help when issues arose.
His new book, Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple’s Genius, details this approach. Johnson notes that competitors copied the glass-heavy design and open layouts, but often missed the human element.
“The secret sauce for Apple has always been its people, the people in the store, and how they treat the customer,” he said.
Apple Store staff do not earn commission. This removes the pressure to sell and allows employees to focus on understanding what a customer actually needs. This contrasts sharply with the sales-driven culture found in much of the wider retail sector.
A lesson from J.C. Penney
Johnson’s retail philosophy changed after he left Apple. In 2011, he took over J.C. Penney with a plan to reinvent the struggling department store chain. He was removed from his role less than two years later after sales fell sharply.
Johnson now admits he tried to change too much too quickly. He failed to bring employees and customers along with the shift. Apple’s stores had evolved like a startup alongside the company’s products. J.C. Penney required a turnaround strategy that demanded a different approach.
“I applied a startup mentality to what needed to be a turnaround transformation,” he recalled.
Johnson later founded Enjoy Technology, an e-commerce firm that delivered technology products and setup services to homes. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and sold its assets to Asurion.
What it means
Johnson remains an optimist about AI technology itself. He believes Steve Jobs would have embraced it, but not as a replacement for human judgment. There is no substitute for human intuition, he said, recalling Jobs’ belief in gathering smart people to debate problems and find new perspectives.
