Stall library · Buy
An AI agent can buy only the option already selected
This finding means an AI agent could buy the product but could not choose which one. The size or colour controls did not respond to it, and the product page already had an option selected, so add to cart worked with that option and nothing else. The purchase goes through, which is why this is not a stall, but a shopper who asks for a different size gets the wrong one or none.
Why the agent stops
Themes commonly preselect the first available variant so that add to cart works the moment the page loads. That keeps a purchase possible even when the option controls are built in a way an agent cannot operate, such as options that only respond to a hover or controls built from elements that are not form controls.
The agent can see the other options and cannot select them, so it can only ever buy the default. Whether that is the product the shopper wanted depends on the default.
How often we see this
Not stated here. A frequency means nothing without the cohort it was counted over, and this page is about one stall rather than one category. Where a category has enough stores measured at every stage, the share of them showing this stall is published on its benchmark page, with the methodology beside it.
See it for yourself
- Open the product page and note which option is selected when it loads.
- Try to choose a different option using only the keyboard: Tab to the options and press Enter or Space.
- If the selection does not change, an agent is limited to the default in the same way.
What to change
- Build the options from real form controls: a select, or radio buttons with visible labels.
- Make every option respond to a click and to the keyboard, not only to a hover.
- Keep the preselected default, which is what lets agents buy at all while the options are fixed.
What Ottom looks at
The journey agent tries to choose an option and gets no response, then checks whether add to cart already works with the option the page selected. When it does, the journey carries on and this is raised instead of a stall, because the purchase is possible and only the choice is missing.
Questions
Why is a store that sells only the default size not a stall?
Because the purchase completes. The agent reaches payment with a product in the cart, so the buy stage passes and benchmarks do not count it as a stall. It is reported so you can fix the options, because a shopper who wanted a different size is not served.
Should we stop preselecting a variant?
No. The preselected default is what lets agents buy anything while the option controls do not work for them. Fix the controls and keep the default: then agents can buy the default or choose another, which is what a shopper would expect.