Consumers and software professionals responding to polling by Applause suggested AI will become more embedded in e-commerce this season, helping shoppers find deals, get gift recommendations and conduct visual searches.
In the sixth annual Holiday Shopping and Payments Survey from Applause, which works with businesses to conduct testing on devices and digital tools such as apps, most people expressed willingness to let an AI agent do shopping for them. Although development of the technology is still being refined to best serve retail purposes, 69% of consumers said they would likely use AI to support shopping efforts, with 94% acknowledging they were willing to give digital agents a whirl. Still, survey results demonstrated that AI development, as available to consumers, isn’t sufficient to capitalize on their curiosity. Just half of software professionals reported their organizations were developing a shopping/purchasing agent.
The consequences of consumer disappointment in engaging retail technology remain, with about two-thirds of respondents to the Applause survey saying they would abandon a purchase if they encountered an issue during checkout or at any point during the purchasing process. The leading cause of cart abandonment was a lack of acceptance of consumers’ preferred payment methods, Applause observed, adding that digital wallets have advanced to become consumers’ most popular new payment method in 2025. Consumers also expressed a willingness to employ buy-now-pay-later options.
Other findings from the survey were:
- A third of organizations working on agents said they are handling development in-house, while 18% are joining a partnership, such as OpenAI Instant Checkout or Microsoft’s Copilot Merchant program.
- Six in 10 consumers would use AI to find deals, while 56% would employ it to get gift recommendations, and 53% would leverage visual search technology in searches to find gifts.
- Nine of 10 consumers said they would shop for gifts in person this holiday season, and 92% plan to shop online.
- As they prepare for the holidays, 57% of consumers are likely to shop through social media platforms, with the most popular being Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
- A third of shoppers are likely to return holiday gifts or purchases, essentially treating returns as a regular part of online shopping.
Applause noted that 51% of consumers are likely to leave a brand that has poor omnichannel performance. Omnichannel features consumer favorites include buy online, pickup in store (78%); delivery lockers (41%); and curbside pickup (41%), Applause indicated.
“Good news for retailers: Consumers are planning a healthy mix of in-person and online shopping over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend and throughout the holiday season,” said Luke Damian, Applause chief growth officer. “But, it’s clear the industry needs to adapt to a world where AI is more and more involved in the customer journey. Despite continuing concerns around AI accuracy and bias, people are more than willing to let an AI agent help with their holiday shopping. This reflects the explosive growth potential of AI across markets and increasing quality that is enabling agentic AI to enter the consumer equation. It is crucial for these agents to be rigorously tested to alleviate the risks: that means human-led fine-tuning, red teaming and more.”
