Market researcher NielsenIQ (NIQ) reported tracking survey results indicating 51% of U.S. consumers have used at least one AI-powered tool to support their shopping in the past month.
The result from NIQ’s Agentic Commerce Tracker marks a significant milestone in how consumers discover, evaluate and purchase products, and it offers an early signal of how artificial intelligence is reshaping the data-driven economy, according to NIQ.
The findings arrive while brands and retailers face increasing pressure to adapt as the consumer path to purchase evolves, the market research maintained. As AI tools take on a growing role in product discovery and decision-making, NIQ asserted that product content quality, digital discoverability and structured product information are becoming as important to sales performance as traditional merchandising and search visibility.
NIQ noted that results taken from its Agentic Commerce Tracker indicate:
- AI adoption, at 51%, has crossed the monthly halfway mark for the first time.
- Adoption has grown steadily over the past two quarters, suggesting a shift from early-adopter behavior to more mainstream use.
- AI-powered product recommendations are the most widely used application, with a 20% adoption rate.
- Personal shopping assistants driven by AI are next most-widerly used at a 16% adoption rate that reflects growing demand for personalized guidance and decision support.
- Adoption now spans the full path to purchase, from product discovery through final purchase decision rather than functioning as a single touchpoint.
“Crossing the 50% threshold is a defining moment for the industry,” said Liz Buchanan, North America president at NIQ. “Just months ago, AI-assisted shopping was viewed as an emerging behavior among early adopters. Today, it is now mainstream. With a majority of consumers now using AI to help them shop, the U.S. has reached a tipping point where AI is shaping how products are discovered, evaluated and, ultimately, purchased. The brands and retailers that succeed in this next era of commerce will be those that optimize not only for consumers but also for the AI systems helping consumers navigate their choices. The path to purchase is rapidly evolving from search-driven to AI-driven, and that change is happening faster than many organizations realize.”
