Thirty years into the e-commerce boom, and shoppers are still rage-quitting their carts. It’s not a lack of choice, it’s a lack of understandable product content.
According to LilyAI’s new 2025 Online Shopping Consumer Research and Insights Report, 80% of U.S. shoppers have abandoned an online search because they couldn’t find what they were looking for. Not because it didn’t exist, but because they couldn’t find it. It turns out that “cerulean ultra crop full zip athleisure” isn’t quite what most people would type when they’re after a “blue hoodie.”
The report, based on a survey of over 2,000 consumers who shop online at least once a month, calls out a massive disconnect: retailers are still stuck in “merchant speak,” while shoppers are typing in everyday language, such as “red cashmere sweater,” not “cardinal luxe crew.”
It’s not just about language, consumers want clarity. Nearly 90% have seen something they liked online, but went to a physical store instead because they had unanswered questions about the fit, color, or quality. Bad news for online-only retailers: confusing product pages are a fast track to abandoned carts, mounting returns, and missed sales.
Consumers are ready. Retailers? Not so much.
While 66% of consumers say product descriptions are too confusing, younger shoppers are especially annoyed: 69% of Gen Zers and Millennials blame retailer jargon for making it harder to find what they want. Gen X is the least patient: one in five will ditch a search after just three failed attempts.
It doesn’t help that online shopping still involves a lot of detective work. Most people (84%) need up to six searches to find what they’re after. When the results feel irrelevant or opaque, they’re gone in one click.
Enter AI, but only if retailers use it right
Despite all the hype, personalised shopping hasn’t really arrived but it could. The key, according to LilyAI, is using AI not just for flashy features, but for making product content smarter. That means optimising product descriptions, tags, images, and metadata using consumer-friendly language.
Amazon remains a powerhouse in this area, with 69% of shoppers starting their product discovery journey there. It’s no accident that their use of AI to tailor content and search experiences keeps them at the top.
If other brands want to compete, they’ll need to follow suit quickly. Already, 40% of shoppers say they’ve used AI-powered tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity to help with online searches. And those tools rely on the content retailers provide. If that content is packed with jargon or missing key details, AI can’t help and neither can the retailer.
When retailers describe products the way real people do, everyone wins. Shoppers are happier, spend more, and come back. According to the study, 71% of people say the search experience affects how much they spend. If it’s good, they’ll shell out $25 or more per visit, sometimes even $100. If not? 85% will take their money elsewhere.