Beyond the Kitchen: Why the Shopper Schism Isn't Just About Consumer Goods

How AI agents are restructuring tourism, PR, and professional services—and what it means for your industry

When I first developed the concept of the Shopper Schism—the structural separation between the human who consumes and the algorithm that purchases—I was looking at consumer packaged goods. Coffee pods. Laundry detergent. Kitchen appliances. The sector I know best from 25 years of commercial leadership.

But a conversation with a hotel executive changed my thinking.

"We don't compete for the customer anymore," she told me. "We compete for the algorithm."

She was describing Booking.com. Her properties had strong guest satisfaction scores. Repeat visitors loved them. But new customer acquisition had become entirely dependent on algorithmic visibility in a platform she didn't control, optimising for objectives she couldn't see.

That's when I realised: the Shopper Schism isn't a consumer goods phenomenon. It's a universal transformation of how commerce works when algorithms mediate transactions.

What Is the Shopper Schism?

Quick recap for those new to the concept.

For over a century, the "consumer" and the "shopper" were the same person. The human who would use a product was the same human who selected and purchased it. All of marketing—from the AIDA model to modern customer journey mapping—assumed this fusion.

The Shopper Schism breaks that fusion apart.

When AI agents select, evaluate, and purchase on behalf of humans, the consumer (who experiences the product) and the shopper (who makes the purchase decision) become separate actors. The human retains consumption. The algorithm takes over shopping.

This isn't futuristic speculation. It's happening now:

•       Amazon's Subscribe & Save and Alexa auto-replenishment delegate routine purchases to algorithms

•       Google Shopping and comparison platforms filter options before humans see them

•       AI assistants increasingly handle purchase research and even transaction execution

The question is: does this dynamic apply beyond consumer goods?

Tourism: Where the Schism Is Already Complete

Tourism is the clearest example of the Shopper Schism operating in a non-CPG context.

Think about how you book travel. You probably don't go directly to hotel websites. You search on Google, which serves algorithmically curated results. You compare on Booking.com or Expedia, where ranking depends on factors you can't observe—including commission rates hotels pay to the platform.

The platform decides what you see. The platform ranks your options. The platform presents a "recommendation" based on criteria optimised for platform revenue, not your satisfaction.

By the time you "choose," the algorithm has already done most of the shopping. You're selecting from an algorithmically curated shortlist, not the full universe of options.

Evidence of the transformation:

•       Research shows travellers increasingly trust platform ratings over hotel brand reputation

•       Booking.com's "Genius" programme provides visibility boosts to properties meeting platform criteria

•       Hotel loyalty programmes show declining effectiveness as platform loyalty grows

The human consumes the hotel experience. The algorithm shopped for the hotel.

Public Relations: The Algorithm as Gatekeeper

PR presents an interesting variant: the Shopper Schism operating on the supply side of attention markets.

When organisations communicate with audiences, they no longer reach those audiences directly. Algorithmic gatekeepers—news aggregators, social media feeds, search engines—decide what messages reach which recipients.

This creates what I call "audience schism": the separation between the humans organisations want to reach and the algorithms that control reach.

The practical implications:

•       A press release optimised for journalist interest may fail algorithmic distribution criteria

•       Crisis communications must satisfy both human stakeholders and algorithmic amplification dynamics

•       Reputation is increasingly shaped by "reputation algorithms"—Google Knowledge Panels, LinkedIn visibility, platform-specific ratings—whose optimisation objectives serve platforms, not organisations

PR practitioners now serve two masters: the human audience they want to persuade, and the algorithmic gatekeepers they must satisfy to gain access to that audience.

Professional Services: The Emerging Frontier

Legal, financial, and healthcare services represent the next frontier of Shopper Schism expansion.

These sectors have historically resisted commoditisation through emphasis on trust, expertise, and relationship. How can algorithms mediate services that depend on interpersonal trust?

The answer: they already do, at the selection stage.

•       Legal platforms (Avvo, LegalZoom) algorithmically match clients with attorneys

•       Financial aggregators route investors to advisors or robo-advisory solutions

•       Healthcare navigation tools recommend providers based on algorithmic matching

The trust relationship happens after selection. But selection is increasingly algorithmic. Law firms competing for clients must now optimise for platform visibility alongside building the expertise and relationships that actually deliver legal value.

The emerging challenge: The skills that make you algorithmically visible may not align with the skills that make you professionally excellent. Platforms optimise for metrics they can measure (keywords, reviews, response time). Professional excellence often depends on factors they can't.

The Universal Pattern

Across consumer goods, tourism, PR, and professional services, I see the same structural pattern:

1.    Delegation: Humans delegate some portion of decision-making to algorithmic agents

2.    Intermediation: Platforms insert themselves between humans and providers

3.    Loyalty transfer: Trust shifts from providers to intermediating platforms

4.    Shadow principals: Algorithms optimise for platform objectives while presenting themselves as serving user interests

The intensity varies. Consumer goods see advanced algorithmic delegation; professional services are just beginning. But the direction is consistent across sectors.

What Should Your Industry Do?

If the Shopper Schism is universal, every industry needs a response. Here's my framework:

For industries where the transformation is advanced (travel, hospitality, retail):

•       Develop "Agent Intent Optimisation" as a core capability

•       Invest in algorithmic visibility alongside brand building

•       Build direct customer relationships that bypass platform intermediation where possible

•       Accept that some brand equity is now mediated by platforms you don't control

For industries where the transformation is emerging (PR, professional services):

•       Map algorithmic gatekeepers in your customer/audience journey

•       Develop dual competency: human persuasion AND algorithmic optimisation

•       Monitor the gap between what makes you algorithmically visible and what makes you professionally excellent

•       Position now, before competitors establish algorithmic advantage

For industries that think they're immune:

•       Ask: are algorithms influencing how customers discover, evaluate, or select your offerings?

•       If yes (and it's increasingly yes everywhere), you're in the transformation whether you've recognised it or not

The Research Continues

This cross-industry analysis is part of ongoing research for my forthcoming book with St. Martin's Press. I'm particularly interested in sector-specific variations: how does the Shopper Schism operate differently in experiential versus utilitarian purchases? In trust-intensive versus commodity contexts? In B2B versus B2C markets?

If you're seeing these dynamics in your industry and want to share your perspective, I'd welcome the conversation. The patterns are universal, but the responses will need to be industry-specific.

The algorithm is becoming the customer across every sector. The question is whether you're ready.

Academic papers on the Shopper Schism, Agent Intent Optimisation, and Algorithmic Readiness are available on SSRN. His book on algorithmic commerce is forthcoming from St. Martin's Press in 2027.

Related Research:

•       The Shopper Schism: When Algorithms Become the Customer (https://ssrn.com/abstract=5694102)

•       Agent Intent Optimisation: Marketing for Algorithmic Intermediaries (https://ssrn.com/abstract=5511758)

•       The Trust Paradox in Agentic Commerce (https://ssrn.com/abstract=5709083)