Machine Customers - The Impact of Consumer Bots on Customer Journeys

Megatrends like IoT and smart devices are reshaping how products and services are purchased, making “machine customers” increasingly important. A machine customer is an intelligent machine capable of buying goods or services in place of a human, ranging from simple automated reordering (e.g., a printer buying ink) to highly autonomous procurement driven by analytics and machine learning. While humans ultimately benefit from many machine-initiated purchases, more advanced machine customers may also buy for their own needs, such as software updates and maintenance.

Machine customers differ fundamentally from human customers: human buying journeys are heavily influenced by emotions across awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, and advocacy, while machine decisions are data-driven and may bypass certain journey stages. Machines require triggers to detect needs, access to structured and interpretable data to evaluate options (features, price, availability, terms), and the ability to execute end-to-end purchasing steps such as registration, authentication, contracting, and payment—where blockchain is positioned as important for machine-to-machine transactions. Retention and advocacy also become data-centric, with networks of machines potentially exchanging purchasing intelligence at scale.

Two major market dynamics emerge: existing markets transformed by digitalization (e.g., connected cars purchasing services or consumables) and entirely new markets tailored to autonomous machine buyers. Organizations must design machine-centric touchpoints using familiar frameworks (Design Thinking, Lean UX, Scrum, DevOps) but with faster iteration cycles due to rapidly evolving machine capabilities. Success depends on strong data foundations, API-centric architectures, identity and fraud controls, and transparent human oversight. Key risks include security, privacy (especially with PII and GDPR-like constraints), and fraud, requiring continuous improvement and monitoring of regulation.

• A machine customer is an intelligent machine able to purchase goods or services in place of a human being.
• Desktop printers can automatically reorder ink cartridges when needed.
• Machine-customer decision-making is based on data rather than emotional experience.
• More intelligent machine customers can compare offerings using criteria such as features, prices, and availability.
• Autonomous machine customers may purchase items for their own needs, including software updates and maintenance.
• Existing markets can shift when products become integrated solutions, such as cars buying services or supplies autonomously.
• Machine awareness requires triggers, such as an empty ink cartridge or a security-driven software update need.
• Machine purchases require executable steps like registration, authentication, contracting, and payment.
• Blockchain technologies are identified as key for machine-to-machine interactions during purchasing.
• Highly automated transactions require stronger fraud detection and identity management to distinguish good bots from bad bots.

• “In general, the term ‘machine customer’ refers to an (intelligent) machine that is able to purchase goods or services ― in place of a human being.”
• “Machine customers are different. Their decisions are based on data.”
• “Machine customers depend on the accessibility of data to make a decision to buy a particular product or service.”
• “Looking at these five steps of a customer journey, it is clear that a data-driven strategy is key to satisfying the needs of machine customers and establishing business success…”
• “Similar to human buyer personas, machine buyer personas will be relevant to be successful in such markets.”
• “Continuous improvement is key as the capabilities of machines will change more rapidly than the behavior and habits of humans.”
• “As with any other emerging technology, new risks need to be considered when it comes to machine customers as well.”
• “Finally, in order to manage risks, it is important that machine-centric processes remain transparent to humans.”
• “Machine customers will play an essential role in existing and future markets.”
• “Constant research and discovery are essential to identify what type of machine customers are relevant for a specific type of business ― as they will be the new buyer personas.”