More than third of UK consumers now use AI to shop – survey
19 May 2025, 00:04
More than half of those using AI said it had helped to ‘inspire’ them and 51% said it helped to cut through ‘online noise’.
More than a third of UK consumers now use AI to shop, a 39% increase on last year, according to a survey.
The annual Retail Report by financial technology platform Adyen found that some 35% of consumers say they have used AI to help them with their shopping.
Among those who have used AI, 56% said it had helped to “inspire” them when buying outfits, meals and other purchases and 51% said it helped to cut through “online noise”.
While the use of AI when shopping is rising in popularity across all age groups, those aged 44 to 59 recorded the biggest increase over the past 12 months.
However, just 15% of those aged 60 and over say they currently use AI for shopping, compared with 54% of 16 to 27-year-olds and 51% of 28 to 43-year-olds.
Overall, 66% of UK consumers said that they understood that retailers might be using AI to recommend products to them.
Roelant Prins, chief commercial officer at Adyen, said: “Consumers are embracing AI at an unprecedented rate as they discover how this technology is transforming the shopping experience.
“We’re likely entering an era where AI can act as our own personal stylist, curating outfits tailored to individual tastes and preferences.
“The demographic splits from our research showed some interesting results, especially seeing how older generations have been integrating AI into their shopping habits.”
More than a third of UK retailers (35%) said they would invest in AI to support their sales and marketing.
The study found almost a third of UK consumers (30%) use social media to shop.
However, 30% of shoppers said physical stores remained their preferred retail destination, compared with 26% who said they preferred to shop online.
Some 44% of consumers said they wanted to see and feel the product before making a purchase and 41% liked try on items before buying, while 33% said they like to walk out of the store with the product at the moment of purchase.
Censuswide surveyed 2,000 UK adults between February 26 and March 12.
