The AI agents are here: from recommending products to taking and tracking orders, online shopping has been transformed. And according to some, this trend is unlikely to be quelled. Looking ahead to 2030, one recent forecast from Mastercard sees one in 10 people tapping into the ecosystem to purchase products. But while adoption is up, new research from Sinch suggests that shoppers are still apprehensive about AI.
Shoppers are skeptical about AI
In a study across eight markets surveying 2,501 consumers, it was found that this year, fewer people believe AI will make their holiday shopping easier, down to 43% from 48% in 2025. At the same time, 53% of people now say they’d trust advice from a “real person,” more than AI, up from 51% last year.
Just 7% of people have no concerns about AI, with data privacy cited by 43% as the top concern for the second year running.
However, there is market variation here. In the US, only 26% of shoppers believed that AI would make their shopping easier, 17 points down from the global average, with Brazil comparatively the most optimistic (78%).
Where will consumers delegate?
So, where are customers willing to delegate?
According to the research, the most popular use cases include order tracking and shipping updates (48%), product research (47%), and customer service (36%).
In contrast to consumer sentiment, retailers are ramping up their agent offerings here, with 63% having already gone live with AI customer communications agents. But Robert Gerstmann, Chief Evangelist and Co-Founder of Sinch, said that AI for AI’s sake “doesn’t land with shoppers” it’s when it’s attached to a job they actually want done that it does.
“Order tracking and pre-purchase questions are the easy wins, where confidence is already high. Payment, billing and account changes are different: shoppers still want a human close by, and brands need to make that handoff easy and obvious,” added Gerstmann.
Competition in Q4
The research comes as brands and marketers vie for consumers’ attention after a summer of cutbacks on non-essentials, amidst fragmented purchase journeys, and more scrutiny around budgets and performance.
Against this backdrop, the research suggests that AI gimmicks will not fly with consumers, risking alienation, while for affiliates, it emphasises the importance of high-quality and authentic content to assist shoppers with product research. Plus, word to the wise, as the season draws near: be present early, be consistent, and as industry veteran Rachel Said says, understand the “old funnel doesn’t really exist anymore.”
