Shopping with Muse: Walmart, Sephora & Agent Checkout

How agent shopping works

Shopping is the feature Meta talks about most, because it's the clearest demo of an agent versus a chatbot. You describe the outcome in plain language — the widely used example is “I’m hosting a Christmas dinner for 10 people on Friday. Order everything I need from Walmart.” Muse then navigates to the retailer, checks inventory, builds the cart, applies discounts, and calculates local taxes.

The purchase itself is deliberately careful. Muse generates a secure, one-time-use digital payment card via Stripe — your real card number is never revealed to the merchant — and then pings you for final confirmation: “I’ve set up your Christmas dinner order for $50. Tap to approve purchase.” Nothing is charged until you say yes, and you can close the app entirely while it works.

Who partnered with Muse

At Connect on September 23, Meta unveiled a long roster of retail partners integrating directly with Muse: Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Wayfair, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ulta Beauty, Fanatics, Michael Kors, American Eagle Outfitters, and GameStop. Travel and grocery ordering run through Expedia and Instacart, with restaurant reservations via OpenTable.

Underneath, the commerce plumbing is Stripe’s Link and Shop Pay plus PayPal for payments, and Shopify’s catalogue for product search. Meta also opened its connector framework to outside developers and received more than 1,500 applications for new integrations in under a week — so the partner list should keep growing.

The business model: no ads, a cut of transactions

Zuckerberg has been explicit that Meta does not plan to sell ads inside Muse. Instead, the company expects to profit “by taking a small fee from transactions” the agent completes — purchases, bookings, bill negotiations. That is also why Muse stays free for most usage: Meta bets the agent will earn its keep by saving and spending your money. For the bigger picture, see Muse use cases and whether Muse is free.

The saving side is real. Meta's Alexandr Wang described Muse negotiating with a cable company through its online support chat and knocking $85 a month off the bill, plus hunting down car-insurance savings and refunds users didn't know they were owed. An agent that pays for itself is a much easier sell than a subscription.

Who said no: Amazon and the holdouts

The biggest name missing is Amazon — deliberately. Amazon blocked Muse from its store, saying it was given no notice or choice about participation, and citing concerns about how account credentials are handled and that the agent doesn't identify itself as AI during transactions. Resy, the restaurant-booking platform, likewise says it does not permit unapproved third-party agents.

This is the industry's open fight, playing out in real time: retailers deciding whether AI agents are welcome shoppers or unwelcome bots. Expect the partner list — and the block list — to keep shifting through the rest of 2026.

Shopping safely with an agent

• Always review the total before approving. The approval ping is the safety net — actually read it.
• Start with low-stakes orders (groceries, household basics) before handing over big purchases.
• Set a mental spending cap per order and tell Muse explicitly: “keep it under $60.”
• Prefer partner retailers with direct integrations over agents improvising checkout on unfamiliar sites.
• Remember the one-time payment cards: even if something goes wrong, your real card number was never exposed.
• Keep the app updated — commerce features and their safeguards are evolving fast.

Sources & further reading

• Walmart, Sephora, and Gap introduce ‘concierge’ service for shoppers — The Sun, September 2026
• Zuckerberg says Muse will stay free for many as major retailers join new AI shopping push — Dimsum Daily, September 2026
• Meta Muse AI agent will earn from transaction fees, not ads — MediaNama, September 2026
• AI agents promise to do everything for you. There may be a big wrinkle in that plan — CNN, September 2026