Two-thirds of consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom are now ready to use AI agents for online shopping, but 69% of early users have immediately abandoned an AI shopping assistant when shown irrelevant product suggestions.
Not everything has gone smoothly in the rollout of AI agents, and, in a consumer survey commissioned by Nosto, which bills itself as an agentic commerce experience platform, only 28% of users attempted to rephrase a question and interact until the AI found something relevant.
In the survey, 72% of consumers expected AI assistants to help them shop online by finding deals and gift ideas and by providing advice, such as suggesting a complete-the-look bundle or answering questions about which items go well together. The figure exceeds 80% among consumers under 45.
According to Nosto, what consumers want from AI assistants includes, by preference:
- Deal and price-drop alerts, for 59%
- Personalized recommendations, for 51%
- Gift inspiration, for 44%
- Real-time Q&A discussions and determinations, for 41%
- Bundles that save money or complete a look, for 40%
Although platforms such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini have been among the first to introduce agentic AI shopping features, 48% of consumers surveyed said they would be open to using an AI assistant from their favourite retailer if it was introduced this year, with the proportion rising to 62% among 25-34 year olds.
