New research shows that UK consumers are ready for AI-assisted shopping – but AI still needs to win their trust. If given irrelevant product suggestions, 7 out of 10 (69%) would walk away.
The research, commissioned by the agentic commerce experience platform Nosto, surveyed 2,000 consumers in the USA and the UK, exploring their attitudes toward agentic shopping. The findings show that 72% of consumers expect AI assistants to help them shop more effectively online, providing deal and price-drop alerts (59%), personalised recommendations (51%) and gift inspiration (44%), among other things.
However, transparency and trust are key to maintaining that relationship. 24% of those surveyed would stop using AI for shopping over concerns about how their data is being handled, and 21% would do the same if they felt AI was making decisions without their input (21%).
What this means for online retailers
With AI adoption already underway, Jim Löfgren, CEO of Nosto, says retailers should focus on execution now. “That means delivering guardrailing and training the agent to ensure relevance from the first interaction, and ensuring that the data is protected and used responsibly,” he said. “The brands that get this right will win!”
Nosto’s data suggests that the early adopter experience is crucial to building trust. Younger people are typically more likely to be early adopters; although 34% of consumers have already tried shopping with a conversational AI shopping, this rises to 59% among 25 to 34-year-olds. Younger consumers are also consistently more positive towards all aspects of using AI assistants for shopping. 77% of early adopters said they would trust a brand more if it had an AI shopping assistant.
Building that trust relationship
The more trust shoppers gain in AI, the more content they are to use it for more complex tasks. Among early adopters, 81% would be open to using AI for building full shopping carts for specific occasions, and 88% would find it helpful if AI recommended product bundles or complementary items.
Nostro says its research points to a readiness gap between consumers’ openness and desire to embrace AI for online shopping and retailers’ investment in delivering it. This dovetails with data from the new Ecommerce Delivery Benchmark Report 2026, which found that although retailers are linking AI investment directly to conversion and delivery performance, adoption challenges remain. More than a third of European retailers cite keeping pace with AI as a key concern for 2026, with large retailers pointing to skills gaps and legacy system complexity, while smaller firms highlight development costs and compliance demands.
Research from integration platform Patchworks also found that just one in four UK retailers (27%) believe their technology stack is connected and scalable enough to support autonomous, AI-driven shopping experiences.
With demand for AI-assisted shopping rising, the challenge for retailers, then, is to keep pace with the rate of change. The message for retailers is simple: shoppers are ready for AI. The question now is whether brands can meet their expectations.
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