New study reveals how AI is reshaping how people shop online — but they still don't really trust it enough

ChatGPT and Google Gemini have overtaken popular social media sites for discovering new products 55% of UK shoppers have made a purchase based on AI-powered product recommendations Privacy and advanced features like visual search could be holding back wider adoption New research has claimed that whi

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>ChatGPT and Google Gemini have overtaken popular social media sites for discovering new products</strong></li><li><strong>55% of UK shoppers have made a purchase based on AI-powered product recommendations</strong></li><li><strong>Privacy and advanced features like visual search could be holding back wider adoption</strong></li></ul><p>New research has claimed that while AI is helping people to shop, the technology is yet to contribute to any noticeable increases in revenue.</p><p>Figures from Vercel and the World Retail Congress found 20% of UK consumers use AI search platforms such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini over social media to kick off their retail discovery, with Facebook on 19%, TikTok on 18%, and Instagram with just 14%. </p><p>Meanwhile, 87% of UK shoppers find AI recommendations useful, but only 55% have made a purchase following an AI recommendation.</p><h2 id="ai-shopping-assistants">AI shopping assistants</h2><p>While AI recommendations and price comparisons are considered useful, retailers are yet to see any increase in buying. This could be due to trust or privacy issues, with only 10% of shoppers admitting that they would spend more time with an AI shopping assistant than a human fulfilling the same role, a figure that is repeated across Europe.</p><p>In the UK, while AI is being increasingly adopted by storefronts, it is still some way from wider adoption as a replacement. 79% prefer to open a retailer’s website to start online shopping, and for high value purchases, 65% still prefer to pay a visit to the retailer’s bricks-and-mortar location and see the goods for themselves before parting with their cash.</p><p>Some of the resistance can be attributed to trust and privacy issues. The report found a third (33%) of UK customers are concerned that AI doesn’t show them the best products, perhaps because they are inaccurate, or worse – influenced by manufacturers or some other promotional tool.</p><h2 id="the-challenge-to-retailers">The challenge to retailers</h2><p>"For most of the web's history, we optimized storefronts for two audiences: people and Google," said Malte Ubl, CTO at Vercel.</p><p>"There's now a third: AI agents that discover, compare, and increasingly recommend products on a shopper's behalf. The retailers who win the next decade will be the ones who can iterate and ship quickly enough to keep up with how fast this consumer behavior is moving."</p><p>But challenges exist. While 43% are likely to prefer one retailer over another due to a superior AI-powered experience, privacy concerns and features like visual search need to be addressed.</p> </article> ]]>