AI-assisted shopping is no longer a niche technology. Around 41% of consumers now use assistants to search for products, 33% to check reviews and 31% to find promotions, with Asia outpacing the West in these practices, according to a major study.
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Entitled “Own the agentic commerce experience,” the study was conducted by IBM with 18,000 consumers across 23 countries. It finds that the use of virtual assistants has surged by 62% in two years.
Contrary to popular belief, however, the digitisation of the purchase journey is not the exclusive preserve of Gen Z, as Baby Boomers are already embracing AI, albeit with a persistent mistrust that platforms and e-tailers will need to address.
The study highlights a striking take-up of AI among seniors, with usage soaring by 92% among Baby Boomers and 82% among Generation X. While the physical point of sale remains a mainstay for 72% of shoppers, the customer journey is now decisively hybrid, with IBM identifying five broad consumer profiles.
Of these five profiles, “Smart Spenders” dominate the market, accounting for 46% of the panel. These buyers move between the web and in-store with a pragmatic aim: optimising their budget. At the other end of the spectrum, “Affluent Leaders who embrace AI” account for just 7% of volume, but they are a strategic target: three-quarters use AI to find products, and they are also highly active in social commerce.
The analysis segments the remainder of the panel into 19% “Conscious Connectors,” digitally engaged consumers seeking ethics and personalisation; 21% “Habit-Driven Shoppers,” loyal to physical retail out of routine; and 7% “Price-First Pragmatists,” a cohort resistant to digital channels and motivated exclusively by very low prices.
Resilience of strong brands
In an inflationary climate affecting even affluent households, AI is accompanying a shift towards increasingly “surgical” consumption. While 39% of buyers are trading down to cheaper alternatives and 29% to retailer own brands, overall consumption is not collapsing.
The study shows that strong brands are holding firm: 25% of customers remain loyal to their favourite labels despite price rises, and 20% are making trade-offs, saving on basics to treat themselves in “pleasure” or wellbeing categories.
Persistent mistrust
Yet the success of AI in customer journeys exposes a major point of friction in the agentic model. The system relies on extensive use of customer data, and mistrust remains widespread. Although 52% of consumers say they are comfortable sharing information, 83% simultaneously express concerns about security.
The consequences of a breach would be immediate: 23% of affluent consumers say they have already switched brands following a security incident. This mistrust also extends to the agentic tool itself, with only 24% of respondents placing complete trust in AI recommendations.
For now, companies are struggling to respond to this challenge. While 70% of executives consider integrating AI crucial to streamlining the experience, more than half (54%) are hampered by technical barriers to data integration, as well as a lack of in-house expertise, which for the time being limits the use of agents to basic customer service functions rather than transactional purchase assistance, the study indicates.
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