UK consumers are happily embracing AI assistants when shopping online (as well as when undertaking other tasks) with a new study showing 69% of British shoppers trust AI assistants to provide accurate information.
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That’s according to Adobe Analytics, which ran a consumer survey of 2,000 UK respondents last month.
Some 76% of those surveyed said AI is making life easier and the same number want generative AI agents “to take actions and complete tasks on their behalf – both at home and at work”. That includes ordering products on their behalf.
When shopping, consumers are using AI for product research and to find the best price. The most popular AI use cases in retail are research (46%), sourcing product recommendations (44%), creating shopping lists (38%), gift inspiration (37%) and finding the best prices for products (29%).
Some 35% have used AI assistants when shopping online, while 47% plan to use it this year. Usage is higher among younger age groups, with 48% of Gen Z and 44% of Millennials using the services.
As many as 89% of users agree that AI improves the shopping experience, 73% said AI was now their main source of product research and 85% said they used AI primarily as the final check on price before purchasing.
And here’s the big point — the most popular retail categories for using AI is clothing at 39%. The health & beauty category is in third place on 31%.
Adobe Analytics also said it recorded a 500% increase in AI-sourced traffic to retail sites from UK consumers between October 2024 and February 2025. Since August 2024, traffic to retail sites from GenAI sources has increased by more than 30% every month.
Importantly too, those shoppers landing on-site having used AI assistants spent 23% longer there than non-AI-sourced traffic. But there’s a sting in the tail as well as those shoppers were 38% less likely to convert. Yet the conversion gap is narrowing — between October and February conversions from AI-sourced traffic increased by 85%.
