One third of people would now buy directly through Chat GPT and other generative AI tools rather than click through to a retailer website, while one in four consumers ask AI for product recommendations, reveals new data from Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics business. In a sign of the technology’s growing influence over our shopping habits, 15% of the public claim that if AI didn’t suggest a brand when prompted, they would assume it wasn’t right for them.
Kantar’s research shows two in five people are ready to go ‘all in’ on AI, with UK consumers split into four camps:
- All in on AI – 41% of people are excited by AI’s possibilities, fully trusting and embracing it. This group makes up half of those who get product recommendations while shopping online.
- Growth ready – covering nearly one in five people (19%), this group feels overwhelmed but not necessarily negative about AI, instead being open and interested to use it.
- Anxious experimenter – 27% of the population who are open to trialling AI but do not entirely trust it.
- Indifferent avoider – 13% are purposefully trying not to engage with AI. Despite the scepticism, 45% of consumers who use voice assistants like Alexa, Siri or Google assistant fall into this cohort.
Men are 8% more likely to use AI generally and 25% more likely to use it for shopping than women. People’s use and broad openness to AI typically tails off among older demographics. However, Steve Dell, brand consultant at Kantar, cautions against stereotyping when planning marketing and customer experience strategy for AI: “People’s attitudes towards artificial intelligence are incredibly nuanced and consumer businesses planning their next steps need to dig into the detail to make sure their AI strategy doesn’t fall wide of the mark. There are broad demographic trends, but things get a lot more interesting when you look at mindsets. The lines around age and gender were very blurred within the groups we identified, so teams should avoid superficial or lazy assumptions. 16% of indifferent avoiders are Gen Z, for example, while almost a fifth of the all in group are 55 or older, including 9% who are Baby Boomers.”
Consumers are most likely to turn to AI for travel and tourism purchases, ahead of sectors like grocery, fashion and telecoms, with 43% already using it to find out more about what’s on offer, for price comparisons and for customer service enquiries. That compares with 33% of consumers who use AI to help sell or buy a car. But while people may increasingly want brands to offer AI functions or to be discoverable to support purchases, there is some wariness too. 41% of people think brands recommended by generative AI paid to be there.
Dell continues: “It’s clear that AI is already rewiring the shopper journey and businesses need to adapt fast to keep up. However, one size certainly doesn’t fit all and teams should be consumer, not capability led – doing what’s right for the brand and its audience and meeting them where they’re at, rather than forcing the latest tech on people just because it’s there.”
