Consumers Express Interest in AI-Driven Shopping

THE EXPERIENCE of shoppers and their expectation for new technology is a mixed bag, according to a major study of 20,000 consumers across 26 countries by the IBM Institute for Business Value.

Only 9% of respondents say they are satisfied with the in-store shopping experience while only 14% say the same for online shopping. However, about eight of ten consumers polled, who haven't used artificial intelligence for making purchases, indicated they were interested in this technology for various aspects of their shopping trip.

The research found that that over half of consumers are eager for AI enhancements like virtual assistants (55%) and AI applications (59%) as they shop. The findings indicated that personalization and targeted offerings were appealing, with 52% interested in receiving information, deals, and advertisements from stores.

“In the face of rapidly shifting consumer expectations and the stark realities of today's economic picture for households, the retail sector is presented with an ongoing challenge—and an unprecedented opportunity,” said Luq Niazi, Global Managing Director at IBM. “We are seeing that today's consumers, faced with more choices and channels than ever, are increasingly making their purchasing decisions based on the cost and the quality of experiences that retailers provide.”

He said the study underscores an opportunity for retailers to integrate AI and other technologies into both digital and physical shopping experiences to meet these changing consumer demands and their economic challenges.

“Leveraging advances in AI technologies, retailers can forge ahead into a new era of commerce and fulfilment, leading with innovation to create shopping experiences that are intuitive, unified, personalized and efficient,” he said.

Commenting on the study results, James Tenser, President, VSN Strategies based in Tucson, Ariz., said, “Responses to polls like this one, which ask consumers, ‘What would you do if…?’ tend to be influenced by recently-viewed media coverage. I suspect this may be a factor here, as stories about generative AI have been quite frequent in the past year.”

He added, “But while such a bias is based on limited actual experience, the overall positivity of the results is notable. Consumers expect AI will make shopping better, even if the means are not yet clear. They are already seeing a few benefits from operational improvements and offer personalization, too, even though the AI is hidden behind the scenes.”
Other findings from the study include:

• In-Store Experience Lacks Luster:  Consumers surveyed want greater variety of products available (37%), more information about products (26%), and faster checkout (26%) in stores. Most consumers surveyed (65%) are supplementing their in-store experience by using mobile apps while shopping, indicating a trend toward a digitally integrated in-store experience.
• Online Shopping Shortcomings: Many consumers who are  dissatisfied with their online shopping journey cited challenges finding the products they want (36%), not enough information about products (33%), and a cumbersome return process (33%).
• Shoppers Want Digital Integration: Six of ten consumers (59%) said they would like to use AI applications as they shop and 4 in 5 consumers who haven't used the technology for shopping reported an interest in trying it. Only about one-third of responding consumers who have used virtual assistants are satisfied with the experience. In fact, nearly 20% were so disappointed that they don't want to use virtual assistants again.

“This study from IBM suggests that awareness of AI’s potential is already influencing consumer attitudes worldwide,” said Tenser of VSN Strategies. “But direct experience with AI agents and virtual assistants has been underwhelming for most.”

He added, “AI-enabled tech is already impacting some retail operational challenges, such as on-shelf availability, assortment planning and personalization. The service benefits that result won’t feel like AI encounters to shoppers, and they shouldn’t have to.”