Key Takeaways

• Kelsie Johnston launches KJT Ventures to guide brands in leveraging AI for consumer engagement.
• Agentic commerce, driven by AI, is expected to transform traditional marketing strategies and enhance brand interactions.
• Beauty brands should prioritize advocacy, optimize content for AI platforms, and adopt new metrics of visibility.

AI as the Future of Commerce

Kelsie Johnston, instrumental in TikTok Shop’s rapid growth in the U.S., has shifted her focus to artificial intelligence as a key driver of retail innovation. Her new venture, KJT Ventures, aims to advise consumer brands on successful commerce strategies aligned with the shift toward AI-driven shopping experiences.

Recent studies from Bain & Co. indicate that approximately 80% of consumers use AI for a significant portion of their product searches. Moreover, OpenAI’s Instant Checkout feature, which facilitates single-item purchases via ChatGPT, will soon be integrated into over 1 million Shopify merchants’ platforms. This underscores the significant role that AI plays in modern e-commerce.

Having served as the General Manager for beauty and personal care at TikTok Shop, where she helped the platform achieve $2 billion in beauty sales, Johnston recognizes that the landscape is changing once again. She emphasizes the importance of “agentic commerce,” which she believes will disrupt traditional marketing funnels and transform consumer-brand interactions. Johnston states, “Everyone talks about AI, but very few understand the impact of agentic commerce.”

KJT Ventures focuses on three key areas: community, content, and social commerce. The firm caters to a diverse clientele, from startups to established consumer product companies, and aims to provide fractional leadership in operations, marketing, sales, and team building. Currently, Johnston is operating KJT Ventures independently, with future plans for team expansion.

Johnston’s career began as an apparel buyer at Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, followed by a transition to online retail with Jet.com after its acquisition by Walmart. She later worked at Coty as the Senior Director of U.S. e-commerce and digital, before moving to TikTok, where she played a pivotal role in reshaping influencer marketing and social shopping.

As AI tools like ChatGPT prioritize recommendations based on authority and accuracy, Johnston urges beauty brands to cultivate online and offline advocacy to maintain momentum in this evolving landscape. “Agents are scraping the internet for what people truly think. They’re rewarding brands that have built ecosystems of advocacy,” she explains. Johnston sees community as a central pillar in the future of commerce and advises brands to act strategically alongside creators and consumers.

To adjust for this new era of online shopping, beauty brands must refine their online presence with clear, easy-to-understand information about their products. Johnston highlights the importance of answer-ready formats—such as how-to guides and FAQs—that can easily be accessed by AI chatbots. She suggests refreshing product detail pages to reflect actual customer inquiries rather than traditional marketing jargon.

Moreover, Johnston recommends that brands enhance their credibility through partnerships with creators and engagements in social media discussions. Platforms like Reddit, which foster user-generated content and discussion, can significantly amplify a brand’s visibility in an AI-driven market.

As AI shopping emerges, measuring success will hinge on visibility metrics rather than conventional traffic stats. Johnston asserts that brands should invest in tools to track how AI applications discover and recommend their products, as traditional measures may soon become obsolete.

In conclusion, Johnston predicts that brands adopting AI optimization early will enjoy significant benefits, mirroring the success seen by early adopters of TikTok Shop. She emphasizes the timing of these strategies; urgent discussions and education about implementing AI are essential for brands to thrive in a future where AI-driven commerce is the norm. “It doesn’t have to be a fully baked perfect strategy, but let’s just get educated and let’s get conversations going,” she advises.

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