Tier 2 · Should know

Checkout

In one line

The conversion-critical final step; increasingly a decoupled, optimisable capability and an agentic-commerce frontier.

Fuller explanation

Checkout is where conversion is won or lost, and in composable stacks it can be a discrete capability (Stripe Elements, platform-native checkout). It's also the frontier of agentic commerce — ACP defines 'agentic checkout' and delegated payment so agents can complete purchases.

Interview phrase

"Checkout is the highest-stakes few seconds in commerce — and it's the first thing agents will try to automate."