From Hype to Habit: How Shoppers Are Embracing AI … and What Retailers Must Do Next

E-commerce has been moving at warp speed lately, and it’s thanks to artificial intelligence.

The last two years have brought more changes to online shopping — and how we discover products — than the two decades before. Consider this:

• Think back to 2023: Back then, shopping online for a game-day barbecue meant searching for each item one-by-one: “charcoal,” “party cups,” “burger buns” and so on. If your results didn’t include charcoal face masks or glitter unicorn cups, consider yourself lucky.
• Today: You can just type, “I need supplies for a football barbecue for 12 people,” and an AI agent connects the dots — surfacing relevant, useful options in one go. The difference is striking!

A Look at the Data

The contrast between “then” and “now” isn’t just anecdotal.

It jumps out in the numbers in Constructor’s third annual State of Ecommerce report, published with our partner Shopify. We surveyed more than 1,500 consumers across the U.S., U.K. and Germany about their expectations, shopping patterns, and comfort levels with AI-powered e-commerce experiences.

The verdict is clear: AI has moved from hype to habit.

• Back in the day: When we first conducted this survey two years ago, only 29 percent of people had tried generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT in their daily lives.
• Flash forward to 2025: That number has more than doubled. It’s a whopping 64 percent and climbing.
• So what does this mean for retail? As GenAI becomes more ingrained in people’s everyday routines, shoppers are increasingly open to using it — and want to use it — for discovering products online. In fact, nearly six in 10 (58 percent) say they would feel comfortable using conversational AI features to find items on a retail site.

And that comfort is turning into action. Almost four in 10 shoppers (38 percent) have already used natural language agentic AI tools like Amazon.com's Rufus or Walmart’s Sparky to help narrow their searches. And for Gen Z, it’s even higher (51 percent).

By and large, those experiences are working for consumers too. Half who have tried generative or agentic AI on a retail site say it’s “often” or “always” helpful; for 86 percent, it’s helpful at least sometimes.

Further proof that consumers are increasingly embracing AI: One in five would trust it more than their partner to pick them a gift!

Consumers Are Ready, But Are Retailers Keeping Up?

The stars have aligned — the technology is there, the interest is there, and consumer behavior is shifting. Now, e-commerce retailers have a big opportunity to make search and product discovery far better. But are they taking it?

The data suggests there’s still work ahead. In fact, 68 percent of shoppers think search on retail sites needs an upgrade, a figure that hasn’t budged since last year. That’s not necessarily a sign that all retailers are standing still, but it could mean consumer expectations are rising faster than sites are evolving. Meanwhile, generic, one-size-fits-all experiences continue to stymie shoppers: 41 percent say their favorite retail site treats them like a total stranger.

The good news is shoppers are clear about what would make their experiences better: more personalization, conversational search, smarter filtering, and tighter integration between online and in-store experiences, to name a few.

Retailers that listen reap the rewards, since these wish-list items are tied to real business value:

• Shoppers say they’re more loyal to retailers with consistently strong product discovery.
• More than half (55 percent) say they would be willing to pay 5 percent to 10 percent more for an item when it’s easy to find.

5 Tips for Better Product Discovery in the Age of AI

I love conducting this study each year because it shows how shopper behaviors and sentiment are evolving. The data tells us what’s working and what’s not, and offers a road map for where retailers should focus their energy next.

Based on the findings, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Place bets on what’s next.

It’s tempting to optimize for current behaviors. However, history rewards those who plan ahead. Think about how Amazon anticipated the shift to one-click convenience or how Netflix saw the streaming wave coming.

The signs are there: Large language models (LLMs) are already reshaping how people search and shop. And with 77 percent of people arriving at retail sites unsure what to buy, they need the space to explain — not just with keywords, but with natural, open-ended requests. Retailers that understand their shoppers and where things are headed will come out ahead.

2. Your brick-and-mortar store? Your app? Your website — they’re all you.

Many retailers have different strategies and different teams working across channels. But when data remains siloed and the left hand doesn’t talk to the right, it shows: the customer journey can get disjointed and confusing.

Put yourself in the shopper’s shoes: No matter how or where they engage, they see you as the same, single brand. Therefore, make it easy for them to pick up where they left off with cohesive, personalized and genuinely helpful experiences.

3. Meet shoppers where they are (even if it’s TikTok).

Shopping doesn’t just happen on your site anymore. Just over one-third of shoppers (58 percent among Gen Z) discover items through TikTok. Social shopping isn’t a blip; it’s becoming a familiar and favored part of the shopping journey.

To show up in those moments, retailers need to think beyond traditional e-commerce and lean into the platforms, creators and formats their shoppers use daily. That also means crafting snackable content, optimizing product feeds for social, and creating easy paths from discovery to checkout.

4. Think generationally.

Your customers aren’t a monolith. Different generations discover products differently, shop differently, and value different things.

Some patterns may be expected — e.g., Gen Z discovering products on TikTok and Instagram. But others might surprise you. For example, millennials prioritize reviews and ratings more than any other group, while baby boomers are more concerned about secure checkout options. And Gen Z? They trust influencer endorsements more than other generations.

To truly connect, retailers need strategies and campaigns that resonate with each generation.

5. AI isn’t optional. But it needs to be useful.

AI is becoming deeply embedded in the customer journey, with huge potential to improve everything from search and product discovery to inventory management to customer support and more. But it’s not a catch-all.

Shoppers are showing real trust in AI, so it’s important not to squander that with flashy features that fall flat. The best AI initiatives will make shopping easier, faster and more tailored to your customers, while driving clear business value for you.

What’s Next

It’s clear that AI is reshaping e-commerce and will only become more central to how people shop. To that end, we’re already looking forward to next year’s study — showing what sticks, what shifts and what surprises are in store.

Nate Roy is strategic director of e-commerce innovation at Constructor, a leader in e-commerce search and product discovery.