January 12, 2026
AI Is Getting to Shoppers Before Brands Do, Survey Reveals
Shopping rarely starts where brands expect it to anymore. Long before a customer opens a retailer’s app, lands on a product page, or walks into a store, AI is already in the background helping them make sense of options, filter out noise, and decide what feels right. The promise of endless choice hasn’t disappeared, but for many consumers, the work of choosing is increasingly being handed over to AI.
Recent research from IBM and the NRF gives a clearer sense of how widespread this behaviour has become, showing how often AI is already part of product discovery and decision-making before shoppers reach a brand directly.
AI Is Moving Shopping Decisions Earlier
AI has already worked its way into the middle of many shopping decisions, even if the final purchase still happens in a store. While 72% of consumers say they continue to shop in physical locations, almost half now involve AI somewhere along the way. Oftentimes, the involvement starts well before they see a shelf or checkout screen.
People are using AI to handle the thinking-intensive aspects of shopping. Product research is the most common use, followed by help making sense of reviews and tracking down better prices. By the time shoppers reach a retailer directly, a lot of the comparison work is already done, and the list of options is shorter than it used to be.
Guided Buying
This change is pushing shopping away from search and toward guidance. Instead of typing in keywords and scrolling through results, more consumers are leaning on AI assistants to help them move forward when they feel unsure.
Matthieu Houle, CIO at ALDO Group, describes this shift as shopping becoming more conversational. He said: “AI is turning shopping into a trusted conversation, much more than a search. Consumers now rely on assistants that feel almost human, know their preferences, and offer neutral, best-for-me advice that reshapes how they validate and decide what to buy.”
Use of AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other chatbots has risen sharply over the past two years, with adoption climbing fastest among Gen X and Baby Boomers. What was once seen as experimental or niche has now become a normal part of how people prepare to buy.
Shopping No Longer Has a Starting Point
Retailers used to have a good sense of where a shopping journey began. This is no longer the case. Physical stores still matter, but they’re rarely where the journey starts.
Social platforms now play a major role in discovery, and their influence is growing, particularly among higher-income consumers who rely more heavily on AI recommendations. In these cases, AI is actively shaping interest, steering attention toward certain products and away from others.
This pattern is also more pronounced in markets such as Singapore, India, the UAE, and China, where AI-assisted shopping is gaining traction faster than in other regions. Across geographies, consumers move easily between physical and digital spaces, often within the same decision.
When AI Decides What Gets Seen
As AI becomes a gatekeeper to discovery, product visibility starts to depend less on shelf space or search rankings and more on data. AI systems need clear, consistent, machine-readable information to recommend products with confidence.
Many brands are still struggling in this area. Data gaps across channels make it harder for AI to surface the right options, and when recommendations don’t match reality, trust erodes quickly. Fixing that foundation goes beyond a technical task, but is a customer experience issue.
IBM’s research frames this as a move toward “converged commerce,” where stores, marketplaces, social platforms, brand sites, and AI assistants all influence the same decision. Without stronger data alignment, the move toward more autonomous AI-led shopping will remain uneven and frustrating for consumers.
