Agentic Commerce Igniter: Your Guide to Conversational Commerce in an AI World

Commerce is moving into conversations. While you’re still directing guests through form-based booking engines, the world is shifting to natural language transactions. Here’s what most luxury properties miss: You can implement agentic commerce on your own properties right now. You don’t need to wait for third-party platforms or industry protocols. The fragmented booking experience you’re forcing on guests – different engines for rooms, dining, spa, golf, activities – can be collapsed into natural conversations that happen on YOUR website, YOUR mobile app, YOUR SMS channels, YOUR voice systems. And the same foundation that enables conversational booking on your owned channels? It positions you to plug into third-party platforms (ChatGPT, social commerce, future channels) as they open for hospitality. Immediate value + strategic positioning = the Agentic Commerce Igniter.

The Shift Agentic Commerce Is Already Happening (Just Not in Hospitality Yet)

In September 2025, OpenAI and Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open standard enabling agentic commerce for retail products. Within weeks, Etsy sellers and major brands like Glossier, SKIMS, and Spanx enabled purchasing directly in ChatGPT conversations. “Hey ChatGPT, I need a large t-shirt under $40” now leads to actual purchases, not just recommendations. Meanwhile, Booking.com and Expedia integrated with ChatGPT’s Apps SDK in October 2025, bringing travel discovery into conversational interfaces. Travelers can now search for hotels and flights through natural dialogue, though they still complete bookings on traditional platforms. The pattern is clear: commerce is fragmenting across conversational channels. Retail moved first. Travel is exploring. Hospitality needs to act.

But You Don’t Need to Wait for Third-Party Platforms

Here’s what most properties miss while watching retail’s agentic commerce evolution: You can implement this on your own properties right now. The immediate opportunity isn’t ChatGPT or Perplexity or some future platform. It’s YOUR website. YOUR mobile app. YOUR SMS channels. YOUR phone system. Think about your current guest booking experience: Current State (Form-Based, Fragmented):

• Guest wants romantic weekend package
• Navigates to room booking engine → forms, dropdowns, date pickers
• Separately books spa treatments → different system, re-enters dates
• Makes dinner reservations → OpenTable or Resy, third login
• Reserves golf tee time → another platform, fourth transaction
• Arranges wine tasting → fifth separate booking

Five different booking engines. Five logins. Five confirmation emails. Page hops. Form friction. Abandonment. Agentic Commerce on YOUR Channels (Implementable NOW): Guest: “I want a romantic weekend package – oceanview room, couples massage on Saturday, dinner reservations both nights, and wine tasting Sunday afternoon.” Your System: “Perfect. I found availability for November 15-17. Oceanview suite ($850/night), couples massage at 2pm Saturday ($420), reservations at Coastal Kitchen for 7pm both nights, and premium wine tasting at 11am Sunday ($150). Total is $2,847. Ready to book?” Guest: “Yes.” Done. One conversation. One transaction. On YOUR channel. Protecting YOUR direct booking margin. This isn’t theoretical. This is implementable TODAY if you have the right foundation. And here’s the strategic beauty: The same data and content architecture that enables conversational booking on your owned channels positions you to plug into third-party platforms when hospitality-specific opportunities emerge. Immediate value (better conversion on owned channels) + strategic positioning (future channel agility) = the complete picture.

Why Most Luxury Resorts Aren’t Ready

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: even if you decided to implement conversational commerce on your website tomorrow, most luxury properties couldn’t do it. And these same gaps block participation in third-party platforms when they open for hospitality. Why? Your booking infrastructure is fragmented:

• Different engines for rooms, dining, spa, activities, golf, events
• Each requires forms, page hops, separate authentication
• No unified data layer connecting offerings
• No structured content describing what you actually sell

Your data isn’t accessible:

• Availability and pricing trapped in disparate systems
• No real-time APIs for external platforms to query
• Guest preferences scattered across silos
• Inventory data doesn’t speak a common language

Your content isn’t machine-readable:

• Room descriptions exist as human-readable text, not structured data
• Policies buried in PDFs and web pages
• Amenities and offerings lack semantic markup
• No way for AI to understand what you offer and how to book it

The result: Immediately: You can’t implement conversational commerce on your own channels because your systems can’t support it. Future: When conversational commerce channels open for hospitality, properties without proper foundation will watch from the sidelines while prepared competitors and OTAs capture bookings.

The OTA Advantage (and Your Vulnerability)

Here’s what’s happening while you figure out your booking engine problems: OTAs are building conversational infrastructure:

• Booking.com and Expedia already integrated with ChatGPT
• They’re investing in AI-first discovery and booking experiences
• Their data is structured, accessible, and ready for any new channel
• They have the architecture to plug into emerging protocols quickly

They’ll own conversational commerce in hospitality if you don’t build yours. Think about it: when travelers shift to conversational booking (and they will), OTAs will be there with seamless experiences. Direct booking channels will still be stuck with forms and page hops. Every percentage point of bookings that moves to conversational channels without your direct participation is margin you’re losing to OTA commissions.

What the Agentic Commerce Igniter Actually Delivers

The Igniter isn’t about implementing a specific protocol (none exist for hospitality yet). It’s about building the foundation that enables you to plug into any channel that emerges. Think of it this way: We don’t know if hospitality will adopt ACP, create its own protocol, or fragment across platform-specific implementations. What we DO know is that properties with mature data and content architecture will be channel-agile. Properties without it will be stuck.

The Foundation Assessment

The Igniter begins by evaluating your readiness for conversational commerce across all your offerings: Accommodations:

• Room inventory and availability systems
• Pricing and rate management
• Booking engine integration points
• Guest preference and history data

Dining:

• Restaurant reservation systems
• Menu data and dietary information
• OpenTable, Resy, Tock integrations
• Table management and availability

Experiences and Activities:

• Spa booking systems
• Golf tee times
• Activity scheduling
• Event and group sales workflows

Content and Data Structure:

• How offerings are described and categorized
• Whether data is structured or unstructured
• API availability and documentation
• Integration complexity and architecture

The Goal: Understand exactly what needs to change to enable conversational commerce participation when channels open.

Gap Analysis: What’s Blocking Channel Agility

The assessment reveals specific foundation gaps preventing rapid channel deployment: Data Architecture Gaps:

• Hub-spoke model missing (PMS-centric architecture blocks agility)
• No unified availability and pricing layer
• Real-time data access limited or nonexistent
• Guest data scattered across disconnected systems

Content Structure Gaps:

• Offerings described as human text, not machine-readable data
• Policies and procedures buried in documents
• No semantic markup (schema.org, JSON-LD)
• Missing structured metadata for AI consumption

Integration Gaps:

• Closed vendor architectures blocking API access
• Point-to-point integration chaos
• No composable architecture enabling best-of-breed tools
• Legacy systems without modern integration capabilities

Commerce Flow Gaps:

• Fragmented booking engines creating friction
• Multiple authentication and payment flows
• No unified commerce layer across all offerings
• Manual fulfillment coordination across departments

Each gap directly limits your ability to participate in conversational commerce channels.

Quick Wins: 90-Day Deliverables

The Igniter doesn’t just identify problems. It delivers immediate improvements including your first conversational commerce implementation: Unified Commerce Experience (Weeks 1-4):

• Connect fragmented booking engines through integration layer
• Create single authentication flow across all offerings
• Implement unified payment processing
• Reduce friction in current form-based booking paths

Result: Foundation for conversational interface that can orchestrate across systems. Conversational Booking Prototype (Weeks 4-8):

• Implement first conversational booking flow on YOUR website
• Natural language interface for multi-offering packages
• Collapse form friction into dialogue
• Test with real guests, measure conversion improvement

Result: Working proof that conversational commerce on owned channels improves conversion NOW. Structured Content Implementation (Weeks 5-8):

• Implement schema.org markup for key offerings
• Create JSON-LD structured data for rooms, dining, activities
• Structure policies and procedures for machine access
• Build transactional schemas for bookings

Result: Content accessible to both YOUR conversational system and future third-party platforms. Commerce Intent Catalog (Weeks 6-8):

• Map how guests naturally express booking intent
• Create conversation flows for common requests
• Identify booking patterns across all offerings
• Document fulfillment requirements per offering type

Result: Understanding of what conversational commerce looks like for your property specifically. Multi-Channel Deployment Plan (Weeks 8-10):

• Roadmap for expanding conversational booking to mobile app
• SMS/messaging channel strategy
• Voice channel implementation approach
• Third-party platform readiness assessment

Result: Clear path from first implementation to omni-channel conversational commerce. Measurement Dashboard (Weeks 10-12):

• Track conversational vs traditional booking conversion
• Monitor friction points eliminated
• Measure time-to-book improvement
• Calculate direct booking margin protection

Result: Clear ROI from conversational commerce on owned channels.

The Transformation Roadmap

Quick wins prove value with conversational commerce on owned channels. The roadmap shows how to expand and build channel agility: Phase 1: Owned Channel Conversational Commerce (Months 4-8)

• Expand from website prototype to full production
• Deploy to mobile app with native conversational interface
• Implement SMS/messaging booking flows
• Add voice channel capability (phone, smart speakers)

Outcome: Conversational booking operational across all YOUR channels, improving conversion and protecting direct booking margins. Phase 2: Data Foundation Maturity (Months 6-10)

• Implement hub-spoke data architecture
• Data warehouse or lake as central repository
• Real-time data pipelines for availability and pricing
• Unified guest profile across all systems

Outcome: Data accessible and queryable for both owned and future third-party channel integrations. Phase 3: Content Architecture for Multi-Channel (Months 8-12)

• Omni-channel content platform (OCP) implementation
• Comprehensive structured content for all offerings
• API-first content delivery
• Multi-channel publishing capability (owned + third-party)

Outcome: Content deliverable to any channel in required format. Phase 4: Third-Party Channel Readiness (Months 10-14)

• Plugin architecture for emerging platforms
• Rapid integration capability (days, not months)
• Channel-specific adaptation layer
• Discovery and visibility optimization per platform

Outcome: Ability to participate in third-party conversational commerce channels as they open for hospitality. Phase 5: Continuous Optimization (Months 12+)

• A/B testing across all conversational interfaces
• Conversion optimization per channel
• New channel evaluation and deployment
• Performance measurement and refinement

Outcome: True omni-channel conversational commerce – owned channels performing at peak, strategic participation in third-party channels as opportunities emerge.

The Conversation IS the Commerce™

This is more than a tagline. It’s a fundamental shift in how commerce happens. Traditional Commerce:

1. Guest discovers property (search, ads, word of mouth)
2. Guest visits website or calls
3. Guest navigates booking engine (forms, dropdowns, page hops)
4. Transaction completes (if they don’t abandon)

Conversational Commerce:

1. Conversation happens anywhere (ChatGPT, WhatsApp, Instagram, voice assistant)
2. Intent expressed naturally (“I need a romantic weekend getaway near Napa”)
3. Discovery, comparison, and booking flow as dialogue
4. Transaction completes within conversation

There’s no separation between “browsing” and “buying” in conversational interfaces. The conversation IS the commerce. Properties that understand this are building foundation now. Properties that don’t are optimizing booking forms while the world moves to conversations.

First-Party First, Third-Party When Ready

Let’s be clear about the strategic sequence: Start with First-Party Conversational Commerce (NOW): Your owned channels are where conversational commerce creates immediate value:

• Your website – Conversational booking interface replacing form-based engines
• Your mobile app – Native natural language booking flows
• Your SMS/messaging – Text-to-book capability for guests
• Your voice channels – Phone system, smart speakers in rooms

Why start here:

• You control the experience and brand
• You own the customer relationship
• You protect direct booking margins
• You prove ROI before expanding
• You learn what works for YOUR guests and offerings
• You build foundation without third-party dependencies

Then Expand to Third-Party Channels (When Opportunities Open): The same foundation that powers owned channel conversational commerce enables third-party participation:

• AI platforms – ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity (when hospitality protocols emerge)
• Social commerce – Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp Business
• Voice assistants – Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri
• Emerging platforms – Whatever comes next

Why this sequence matters: Properties that wait for third-party platforms:

• No immediate value (platforms may take years for hospitality)
• Scramble to participate when channels open
• Sacrifice strategic control for speed
• Pay whatever vendors charge for rushed implementations

Properties that start with owned channels:

• Immediate ROI from improved conversion
• Proven conversational commerce capability
• Foundation already built when third-party channels open
• Deploy to new platforms strategically, not desperately

The Strategic Advantage: While competitors wait for ChatGPT to “support hospitality,” you’re already converting guests through conversational experiences on YOUR channels. And when third-party opportunities materialize, you plug in quickly because the foundation exists. First-party first. Third-party when ready. Not either/or – sequential.

Why Foundation Matters More Than Features

Here’s the pattern we see repeatedly: Property A: Implements chatbot from vendor X

• Works poorly because it can’t access actual availability data
• Can’t complete bookings because systems don’t integrate
• Abandoned after six months
• Money wasted, no foundation built

Property B: Builds data and content foundation first

• Can deploy conversational interfaces that actually work
• Can plug into emerging channels as they open
• Can switch vendors if better options emerge
• Investment compounds over time

The difference: Property A bought a feature. Property B built a capability. Features are ephemeral. Vendors come and go. Protocols evolve. What persists is the foundation: structured data, composable architecture, and strategic ownership of your technology destiny.

The Fragmentation Problem (And How to Fix It)

Let’s be specific about what’s broken: Guest wants to book a romantic weekend:

• Selects room on one booking engine
• Books spa treatments on different system
• Makes dinner reservation through OpenTable
• Reserves golf tee time on separate platform
• Arranges wine tasting through third system

Five different transactions. Five different logins. Five different confirmation emails. Massive friction. Conversational commerce collapses this: “I want a romantic weekend package – oceanview room, couples massage on Saturday, dinner reservation both nights, and a wine tasting Sunday afternoon.” “Perfect. I found availability for November 15-17. Oceanview suite, couples massage at 2pm Saturday, reservations at Coastal Kitchen for 7pm both nights, and premium wine tasting at 11am Sunday. Total is $2,847. Ready to book?” “Yes.” Done. One conversation. One transaction. Seamless. But this only works if:

• All your systems can be queried in real-time
• Availability data is unified and accessible
• Booking can be orchestrated across platforms
• Fulfillment is coordinated automatically

That’s the foundation the Igniter builds.

What Success Looks Like

Immediate (90 Days):

• Conversational booking prototype operational on website
• Reduced form friction and booking abandonment
• Unified experience across previously fragmented systems
• Measurable conversion improvement on owned channels
• Clear ROI proving conversational commerce value

Near-Term (6-12 Months):

• Conversational booking operational across website, mobile app, SMS, voice
• Hub-spoke data architecture powering real-time availability
• 20-40% conversion improvement vs traditional form-based booking
• Direct booking margin protection through superior owned-channel experience
• Foundation ready for third-party channel participation

Long-Term (12-24 Months):

• Best-in-class conversational commerce across all owned channels
• Strategic participation in third-party platforms as they open for hospitality
• Channel-agile architecture enabling rapid deployment to new opportunities
• Competitive advantage through early-mover owned-channel capability
• Proven track record attracting guests away from OTA experiences

The Payoff: While competitors struggle with fragmented booking engines and wait for third-party platforms to “support hospitality,” you’re already converting guests through superior conversational experiences on YOUR channels. And when third-party opportunities emerge, you deploy strategically through existing foundation rather than scrambling under pressure.

Who This Is For

Primary Decision Maker: Marketing and Revenue Leadership

• Control digital strategy and direct booking performance
• Face pressure to reduce OTA dependency and improve conversion
• Need to eliminate booking friction hurting direct channel performance
• Want immediate ROI from technology investments (not just future preparation)
• Recognize that conversational commerce is happening in retail and coming to hospitality

Supporting Stakeholders:

• IT Leadership (implementation and architecture)
• Operations (fulfillment and coordination across offerings)
• Revenue Management (channel strategy and margin protection)
• General Management (budget approval and strategic alignment)

The Conversation Typically Starts When:

• Direct booking conversion rates are disappointing vs OTA performance
• Guests complain about booking friction (multiple engines, forms, page hops)
• You recognize the fragmented booking experience is costing you revenue NOW
• You see conversational commerce transforming retail and want that capability
• You’ve been pitched vendor chatbots that don’t actually enable booking
• You want to improve owned-channel performance while preparing for future opportunities

Common Objections (And Honest Answers)

“We don’t know what channels will emerge, so why build now?” Exactly. You don’t know which channels will emerge. That’s WHY you need foundation that enables rapid deployment to ANY channel. Waiting until channels are established means you’re building under pressure, sacrificing strategic control to meet deadlines. Foundation = optionality. No foundation = dependency on whatever vendors can deliver quickly (usually poorly). “Can’t we just buy a solution from [vendor]?” Vendors sell features, not foundation. They’ll sell you a chatbot that fails because your data isn’t accessible. Or a “conversational commerce platform” that can’t integrate with your actual booking systems. Strategic capability can’t be procured. It must be built. “This sounds expensive and time-consuming.” The Igniter delivers quick wins in 90 days while building toward transformation. You get immediate ROI (improved conversion on current channels) while progressively strengthening foundation. What’s expensive is staying stuck: losing bookings to OTAs, watching competitors enable capabilities you can’t match, and eventually rushing to deploy poorly-integrated solutions under pressure. “We’re locked into vendor contracts.” Composable architecture works alongside existing systems. You don’t rip and replace. You build strategic capabilities vendors don’t provide, then transition away from closed systems as contracts allow. The foundation you build now makes eventual migration possible. Without it, you’re trapped. “Won’t hospitality-specific vendors solve this for us?” Legacy hospitality vendors are the problem, not the solution. They profit from your dependency and have no incentive to enable channel agility. They’ll eventually build inferior “conversational commerce” features that lock you into their ecosystem. Best-in-class foundation beats inferior hospitality-specific features every time.

What Makes Agentic Commerce Different from Other Igniters

All four Igniters reveal foundation needs and deliver quick wins. But each addresses different opportunities: Visibility Igniter: Make your property discoverable in AI search

• Focus: Structured data for AI engines (schema.org, JSON-LD)
• Outcome: Appear when guests search with ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.

Agentic Commerce Igniter: Enable conversational booking across all channels

• Focus: Commerce infrastructure and data accessibility
• Outcome: Channel-agile booking capability

Guest-Centric AI Igniter: Personalized experiences across touchpoints

• Focus: Guest data unification and knowledge base
• Outcome: AI-powered personalization

Team-Centric AI Igniter: Operational efficiency through automation

• Focus: Workflow automation and operational knowledge
• Outcome: Staff empowerment and burnout reduction

They’re complementary, not competing. Properties typically start with the Igniter that addresses their most urgent pain point, then expand to others as foundation matures.

The Urgency Is Both Immediate and Strategic

Here’s what creates urgency: Immediate Opportunity (Owned Channels): Your fragmented booking experience is costing you revenue RIGHT NOW:

• Guests abandon when forced through multiple booking engines
• Forms and page hops create friction that OTAs don’t have
• Every abandoned booking is revenue you’re losing
• Conversational commerce on YOUR channels can fix this TODAY

You don’t need to wait for third-party platforms. The ROI is available immediately through better conversion on owned channels. Strategic Urgency (Third-Party Channels): The landscape is forming while you figure out your booking engines: Retail conversational commerce is proven. OpenAI’s ACP launched September 2025. Major brands enable purchases in ChatGPT. The infrastructure exists and works. OTAs are positioning for hospitality. Booking.com and Expedia integrated with ChatGPT October 2025. They’re building the conversational layer between travelers and properties. Protocols will emerge. We don’t know if hospitality adopts something like ACP, creates alternatives, or fragments across platforms. But something will emerge. Properties with foundation will plug in strategically. Properties without it will scramble desperately. The Complete Picture: Immediate urgency: Fix owned-channel conversion NOW through conversational commerce Strategic urgency: Build foundation that enables third-party participation when opportunities emerge Properties that act now get both. Properties that wait get neither. The strategic move: Implement conversational commerce on owned channels for immediate ROI, while building foundation that positions you for third-party opportunities as they materialize.

What the Igniter Includes

Discovery Workshop (1-2 Days):

• Map your current commerce infrastructure
• Identify booking flows across all offerings
• Assess data and system architecture
• Define business objectives and success metrics
• Align stakeholders on transformation vision

Foundation Assessment:

• Comprehensive evaluation of data architecture
• Content structure and API availability analysis
• Integration complexity assessment
• Vendor relationship and contract evaluation
• Gap analysis against channel-agile requirements

Quick Wins Plan (90 Days):

• Specific initiatives delivering immediate value
• Unified commerce experience improvements
• Structured content implementation
• Commerce intent catalog creation
• Measurement dashboard setup

Transformation Roadmap:

• Multi-phase plan building toward channel agility
• Data foundation requirements and timeline
• Content architecture maturity path
• Commerce integration layer design
• Channel deployment strategy

Executive Readout:

• Clear business case with ROI projections
• Risk assessment and mitigation strategies
• Resource requirements and budget allocation
• Quick wins vs long-term value balance
• Next steps and decision points

How to Get Started

The Agentic Commerce Igniter is designed for luxury resort groups and travel companies who recognize:

1. Fragmented booking experiences are hurting conversion on owned channels NOW
2. Conversational commerce can be implemented on your properties TODAY
3. The same foundation positions you for third-party channels as they emerge
4. OTAs are building conversational infrastructure while direct channels lag
5. Foundation determines who can act strategically vs who scrambles desperately

If you’re ready to implement conversational commerce on your channels while building strategic positioning: Schedule a discovery call to explore what’s possible for your property. We’ll discuss:

• Your current booking infrastructure and conversion challenges
• How conversational commerce eliminates form friction on YOUR channels
• Foundation requirements for owned-channel implementation
• Third-party channel landscape and what’s emerging
• Quick wins possible in your specific situation
• Whether the Agentic Commerce Igniter is the right starting point

The conversation is the commerce. The question is whether you’ll implement it on YOUR channels now, or wait while OTAs and competitors move ahead.

About the Agentic Commerce Igniter

The Agentic Commerce Igniter is one of four UHX Igniter programs from Sherpera, each designed to identify opportunities, deliver quick wins, and create transformation roadmaps. All Igniters reveal the same underlying truth: transformative capabilities require strategic foundation. The Three Imperatives:

1. Own your data strategy, content architecture, and AI strategy
2. Govern with authority your technology architecture
3. Realize the possibilities

You are the author of the outcome. Not your vendors. Not your consultants. You. We guide the transformation. You maintain the authority.