𝐈𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

Retail spent a decade removing friction without asking a basic question: which friction were customers actually enjoying?

Waiting at a register is friction. Spending twenty minutes choosing between two dresses for the party is also friction.

One is resented. The other can be part of the thrill.

The difference isn’t the time. It’s what the effort is spent on.

Effort spent on the product can create value: comparing, discovering, trying, anticipating, deciding, and savoring the whole experience.

Effort spent on the store is a tax: the wait at checkout, the form, the store that still does not recognize you after 10 visits, the associate who can’t find the stock.

Same minutes. Opposite effect.

This isn’t an argument for making things difficult.

Research on effort justification has shown that, under the right conditions, effort can increase how much we value an outcome.

So the rule for retail, especially physical retail, shouldn’t systematically be “remove friction.”

It should be:

𝙎𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚. 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙬𝙣.

And AI agents are about to make that distinction much more important.

An agent is built to remove effort between intent and outcome.

It can search 200 products, compare specifications, check availability, fill forms, monitor prices and complete a transaction without getting tired or frustrated.

Which means agents won’t just remove friction.

They’ll reveal what the friction was doing.

If the friction existed because your systems were slow, fragmented or inconvenient, an agent will route around it.

But if the effort was part of how the customer discovered, compared, anticipated or ultimately valued the product, an agent removing it may subtract from the experience itself.

That gives retailers a simple test.

Take your ten biggest customer experiences and ask:

If an agent could skip this step at zero cost, would my customer thank me or feel robbed?

Anything in the “thank me” column is a tax. Optimize it away.

Anything in the “feel robbed” column is where you should invest. Nurture it. Heighten it. Make it more special, more exciting, more unforgettable. Don’t automate it away. 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡.

The question for retailers isn’t how much friction to remove.

It’s which friction customers would actually miss.

Most retailers have never separated the two.

Agents will force them to.

Which of your friction would survive the test?

#AgenticCommerce #RetailStrategy #CustomerExperience #FutureOfRetail

Contact

bruno.gentil@sherpaconsultingasia.com

© 2026. All rights reserved.