Survey: AI continues to resonate with consumers
A rising number of U.S. consumers utilize artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily lives, and are ready for retailers to continue leveraging the technology.
According to a new survey from Intellias of 1,000 shoppers, a third (33%) of those surveyed consumers already use Generative AI (GenAI) tools, such as ChatGPT, in their day-to-day lives. The number increases to 60% of Millennials and 49% of Gen Z.
A sizeable number (41%) of U.S. shoppers are aware of retailers using AI in their buying journeys. Nearly half (44%) said AI helps retailers and brands create more personalized shopping experiences, rising to 68% of Millennials and 59% of Gen Z.
According to consumers, the top five areas where AI can deliver the most value are:
- Pricing and promotions -28%
- Loyalty - real-time personalized rewards – 23%
- Product discovery when searching online – 23%
- Product validation – 19%
- Product recommendations personalized by AI - 19%
“There’s little doubt that the hype-curve surrounding GenAI will continue to accelerate in 2024,” said Alexander Goncharuk, VP of Retail at Intellias. “And this will be driven both by the consumer who will become even more used to AI-interfaces in their day-to-day lives, as well as by the retailers innovating and exploring different use cases that drive efficiencies and enhance customer experience across the value chain.”
Despite increased adoption of AI both from consumers and retailers, 44% of consumers polled said that they are mistrustful of brands and retailers using AI in their shopping experiences. Two-thirds (66%) are concerned about how their data is used after an AI interaction during their shopping journey, and 65% said they are concerned that retailers and brands hadn’t put in place sufficient compliance/data safety procedures when using AI.
Still, a majority (57%) said they didn’t mind retailers using AI in their buying journeys as long as they were transparent about it, rising to 66% of Millennials. Nearly half (46%) felt that as long as they had a good experience with a retailer or brand, they didn’t mind if it involved AI or not.
“Looking ahead, the key to delivering AI-powered value to the shopper will rely on transparency of use, and seamless and intuitive integration as part of the omnichannel shopping experience, as well as building out robust and secure compliance procedures in the back-end,” added Goncharuk.