Glossary
Modern Shopping Glossary
Short definitions of terms from 3D shopping, AI in retail and ecommerce — with links to our articles.
- Agentic commerce
- Agentic commerce is shopping in which an AI agent — ChatGPT, Gemini or a retailer's own assistant — does part of the work for the customer: it finds products, compares offers and, in some markets, places the order and pays, usually with the customer's approval. The retailer stays the seller; the agent relies on its data and checkout protocols.
- AI shopping assistant
- An AI shopping assistant is a tool built on a large language model that helps you choose a product through conversation: it asks about your needs and budget, searches the web or a retailer's catalogue, compares options and summarises reviews. It leaves the decision and payment to you — unlike a shopping agent, which can complete the purchase itself.
- Immersive commerce
- Immersive commerce is selling where the shopper does not scroll through a product list but steps into the space of a shop or views a product in three dimensions: in a 3D mall in the browser, a virtual showroom, augmented reality on a phone screen or a VR headset. Checkout works as in an ordinary online shop.
- Shopping avatar
- A shopping avatar is a digital character that represents a shopper online: they move it around a 3D mall or virtual showroom and, in more advanced forms built from their measurements or photo, use it to try on clothes and compare sizes. It can be a ready-made character or a likeness of the shopper's own body.
- Virtual mall
- A virtual mall is an online 3D shopping centre where shoppers move around as avatars, browse shops and products, and place orders just as in an online shop. Modern virtual malls run in the browser on a computer or phone, with no VR headset and no app to install.
- Virtual showroom
- A virtual showroom is an online space, usually in 3D, where a single brand presents its products as it would in a physical showroom: on displays, mannequins and shelves. Shoppers view it in a browser, move around the interior and go from a display to a product card or basket. A showroom shows one brand; a virtual mall holds many shops.
- Virtual try-on
- Virtual try-on is technology that shows clothing or accessories on a shopper's body without a physical fitting: as an AI image generated from their photo, as an overlay on a phone's live camera feed, or on a 3D avatar built from their measurements. It helps judge style and colour; only measurement-based versions help with size.