Believe everything you read and you might be forgiven for thinking GenZers were the ones who are driving the AI shopping revolution but it is Millennials who are fully embracing the technology, relying on it for everything from gift ideas to financial advice.
According to new data from commerce media company Criteo, across all generations more than eight in ten (82%) consumers in the UK and US find AI useful in shopping.
Among the most common use cases are identifying the best price for a product (40%), querying features of a product (38%) and identifying products within a set budget (33%).
Yet while GenZers actually use AI the most (90%), Millennials are more likely to use AI’s advanced commerce capabilities; which may just be because they are slightly more financially savvy than your average 18- to 24-year-old or that with huge mortgages or rents they are keener to use try anything to save cash. Alongside finding the best possible price for a product, 37% of users are happy to approach AI for gift ideas.
Trust in AI runs even deeper among this demographic, with 22% saying they would even ask AI for financial advice.
Differences become more pronounced among older generations. While 23% of Millennial users would approach AI to help them plan a holiday, perhaps unsurprisingly, this drops to 15% among Gen X and 10% among Baby Boomers. Alongside holiday travel, Boomers are similarly cautious about approaching AI for new purchase ideas and for financial advice.
While Gen Z users are the most likely generation to ask AI questions about a product they have found (37%), the digital natives seem hesitant to use it for inspiration such as identifying products for themselves (22%) or relevant online shops to visit (23%).
This may be attributable to Gen Z preferring to happen upon product inspiration on social media (46%) as opposed to using search (37%). In fact, 70% of Gen Z confirm clicking the links they see online in videos, blogs and articles, and often three in four then subsequently share the link with friends and family.
The uptake of AI corresponds with 66% of all Millennial and Gen Z shoppers feeling the experience of finding a new purchase online has improved recently.
One channel yet to be fully embraced with this generation, however, is connected TV. Only about 18% currently say they find inspiration for purchases on streaming platforms, but half of all Gen Z would be open to seeing more product promotions in exchange for discounted subscriptions.
Millennials appear to be more focused and considered shoppers. Many prefer to go online and search directly for product and gift ideas (49%) than rely on inspiration from social media (43%) or TV (12%).
Following in the footsteps of Gen X, the top discovery destination after search is retailer sites (46%).
Criteo executive managing director EMEA Marc Fischli said: “By connecting users with relevant products in a single action, AI is rapidly transforming commerce.
“For retailers, it means the products and promotions that appear when a consumer searches on their digital properties must be pinpoint accurate. This isn’t simply a case of turning a switch, AI is only ever as good as the data it has access to.
“With the right approach to data collection and application, formats like sponsored products and in-store display are a powerful commerce tool for retailers and an unrivalled media opportunity for advertisers.”
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