66% of consumers in the US and UK are now ready to use AI assistants for online shopping. But 69% of early users have immediately abandoned an AI shopping assistant when shown irrelevant product suggestions. Only 28% tried rephrasing their question and kept interacting until the AI found something relevant.
NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- New research suggests that 66% of US and UK consumers have already tried, or would be open to trying shopping online with an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or a retailer's own AI shopping tool (1). But almost seven out of ten (69%) who received irrelevant product suggestions have given up on an AI assistant and searched elsewhere.
The findings come from a survey of 2,000 consumers commissioned by Nosto, the agentic Commerce Experience Platform (CXP). The research explores attitudes to the rapid rise of AI assistants that help shoppers find and compare products, select complementary items, complete purchases faster, and more.
According to the data, 72% of consumers expect AI shopping assistants to help them shop online (2), with that figure rising to over 80% among consumers aged under 45. This includes helping surface deals and gift ideas, as well as offering fashion advice, such as suggesting complete-the-look bundles or answering questions about which items go well together (see chart below).
Among consumers who expect AI shopping assistants to help, they want:
- Deal & price-drop alerts (59%)
- Personalized recommendations (51%)
- Gift inspiration (44%)
- Real-time Q&A ("What goes with this?") (41%)
- Bundles that save money or complete a look (40%)
Global platforms like ChatGPT and Google have been among the first to introduce agentic AI shopping features. But nearly half of consumers (48%) in Nosto's survey said they would be open (3) to using an AI shopping assistant from their favourite retailer if it was introduced this year, rising to 62% among 25-34 year olds.
However, retailers must provide shoppers with full transparency into how AI uses their data and put shoppers firmly in control of their purchasing decisions. The top reasons consumers are most likely to stop using AI for shopping are concerns about how their data is being handled (24%) and feeling that AI is making decisions without their input (21%).
Jim Löfgren, CEO of Nosto said: "The high level of AI acceptance sets the stage for rapid adoption for the right use cases, and for retailers it's all about execution now. That means delivering guardrailing and training the agent to ensure relevance from the first interaction, and ensuring that the data is protected and used responsibly. The brands that get this right will win!"
The early adopter experience builds trust
34% of consumers have already tried shopping with a conversational AI shopping assistant (4), rising to 59% of 25-34 year olds. Younger consumers are consistently more positive towards all aspects of using AI assistants for shopping, the data suggests.
And once someone has experience of using AI for shopping, it really makes a difference: 77% of early adopters (5) said they would trust a brand more if it had an AI shopping assistant (6).
When asked how they'd prefer to access an AI assistant to discover products on a retail website, 46% of early adopters said they'd prefer to do it through a website's search bar. 41% would prefer a dedicated on-site chatbot. This suggests that AI assistant interactions should not be limited to being offered via dedicated chatbots - even though that might currently seem the most obvious option. For product discovery, consumers prefer to have AI integrated into the search bar.
But a poor discovery experience can damage conversions. After receiving irrelevant product suggestions, 69% of early adopters who received irrelevant suggestions gave up and searched elsewhere. Only 28% tried rephrasing their search query and kept interacting until the assistant found something relevant.
"This makes personalization more important than ever," said Jim Löfgren. "As LLM-powered AI assistants become a new interface for shopping, their value will increasingly depend on how well they are trained on rich, intent-driven and contextual commerce data, rather than on natural language capabilities alone. This is what enables them to deliver truly personalized responses and product recommendations that turn conversations into conversions."
A third (33%) of these early adopters believe AI can have the greatest impact by improving decision-making (e.g., comparing or choosing products). A quarter believe that the biggest improvement will be in product discovery (finding the right items). Slightly fewer (20%) think improving checkout speed and ease or the post-purchase service experience are areas where AI can provide the biggest impact.
This suggests that while much of the market focus is currently on agentic checkout and payments, consumers see the greatest value for AI earlier in the journey, where it helps them narrow choices and discover the best options faster.
Where early adopters think AI can improve the shopping journey the most
- Decision making (Comparing or choosing products) 33%
- Product discovery (finding the right items) 25%
- Checkout (Speed/ease of payment) 20%
- Post purchase service (returns, recommendations, support) 17%
Once shoppers gain confidence in AI, they are also more open to using it for complex shopping tasks. Among early adopters, 81% would be open to using AI for building full shopping carts for specific occasions and 88% would find it helpful if AI recommended product bundles or complementary items.
"Consumers already believe AI can meaningfully improve how they discover and choose between products, and the experience of early users points to where expectations about AI assistants are likely headed," said Jim Löfgren. "For example, once someone has used an AI assistant, their trust quickly builds, and they're more willing to let AI handle more complex shopping tasks, from building full baskets for specific occasions to recommending complete product bundles."
The readiness gap
The research suggests that there's a readiness gap between consumers' openness and desire to embrace AI for online shopping and retailers' investment in delivering it.
While consumer demand for AI-powered shopping is already high and clearly articulated, Nosto's separate poll of 39 ecommerce retailers suggests retailer investment in this area is happening, but remains limited. While AI investment exists, it remains constrained in scale and scope for most retailers. For example, 36% of retailers in the survey currently allocate additional, dedicated budget to AI agent tools - but among those investing, three-quarters say their current investment is limited.
"The readiness gap between consumer demand and retailer investment in AI is not massive, but it's real. While shoppers stand ready to embrace AI, many retailers have been slow to respond. Those who move first and focus on transparency, relevance, and ensuring shoppers feel in control of their buying decisions are likely to gain a clear competitive advantage," said Jim Löfgren.
Footnotes
1 Combining responses on whether respondents have tried shopping with a conversational AI assistant: 'Yes, with an AI shopping assistant on a brand's website', 'Yes, in a conversational interface like ChatGPT or Google Gemini', and 'No, but I would in the future'
2 Reverse of those who selected 'N/A I would not expect an AI shopping assistant to help with anything'
3 Combining responses 'Very open' and 'Somewhat open'
4 Combining responses 'Yes, with an AI shopping assistant on a brand's website' and 'Yes, in a conversational interface like ChatGPT or Google Gemini'
5 Refers to those who have ever tried shopping with a conversational AI assistant
6 Combining responses 'Yes, definitely' and 'Yes, maybe'
About the consumer survey
Nosto commissioned international market research consultancy Censuswide to conduct a survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 consumers in the US and the UK (18+). The data was collected between 13.11.2025 - 17.11.2025. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.
About the merchant survey
Nosto conducted a retailer survey of a panel of 39 merchants across multiple international markets. The data was collected between 21 November and 10 December 2025.
About Nosto
Nosto (www.nosto.com) is the agentic Commerce Experience Platform (CXP) that gives brands intuitively designed tools and AI agents to increase their online revenue through end-to-end commerce experience management.
With experience.AI™, Nosto's intelligence engine, brands can enrich and connect customer, product, and content data in real-time and make it actionable to personalize every step of the customer journey.
With Huginn, the always-on AI commerce agent orchestrating a network of purpose-built agents, brands unlock new levels of productivity and relevancy, accelerating the path from ideation to execution and enhancing every customer interaction.
Nosto supports intelligent commerce experiences for more than 1,500 brands in over 100 countries, including Kylie Cosmetics, O'Neill, New Era, Marc Jacobs, Belstaff, FIGS, and Todd Snyder, Douglas, Muji, Diane Von Furstenberg, Diptyque, and Tuckernuck.
Media Contact
Uday Radia, Nosto, 44 7940584161, [email protected], https://www.nosto.com/
SOURCE Nosto
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