Why does agentic AI in shopping expand the consumer consideration phase?
Even before the rise of agentic AI in shopping, the traditional path to purchase was becoming fragmented and protracted. From online reviews from both media sites and individual shoppers to price comparison sites and a proliferation of alternative brands to choose from, shopping journeys became as unique as the person embarking on them. People also began moving in a more chaotic, circular, and unpredictable way across multiple digital platforms, rather than following a predictable path from awareness to purchase. This non-linear swirl reshaped the funnel and created an ecommerce environment that was difficult for marketers to keep pace with.
Enter agentic AI. It theoretically allows consumers to collate and distill their research in a fraction of the time. Is it a surprise, then, to see in our survey that 43% of respondents report that AI actually increases the time needed to reach a final decision (with U.S. Gen Z at 48%)? Yes and no.
While it’s true that agentic AI in shopping provides relatively succinct research summaries and indeed “opinions,” it also uncovers angles and new products and brands that a user may not have previously thought of. It may well send a consumer in a different direction entirely; for example, when a consumer turns out to have been mistaken about the product they thought they needed, the AI consumer consideration phase tells them that they actually need a different type of item.
Think of an apartment owner searching for a high-intensity LED grow light panel to keep a new collection of tropical houseplants alive in a dark apartment. They use AI to research the installation process and realize these large panels require mounting hardware, create a harsh purple or bright white glare in the living room, and consume significant electricity. They switch their strategy entirely, deciding to leave the lighting alone and instead look for plants that thrive in low light. They begin researching low-light houseplants that require minimal sun. The entire research process has been reset, and the AI brand discovery continues.
As our survey also shows, this tendency for agentic AI to actively investigate and present alternatives leads to brand discovery. In fact, 59% of U.S. consumers discover unfamiliar brands via the AI consumer consideration phase.
In a nutshell, AI is making the consumer research phase longer, in which unfamiliar brands are surfaced. Of course, AI brand discovery would mean very little if there wasn’t an element of trust in the technology driving it. We uncovered some startling findings about the extent to which consumers trust AI and the difference between platforms.
Which AI platforms do consumers trust most for product discovery?
Few people would be taken aback if you told them that most consumers trust friends and family more than their favorite AI tool. This is indeed what we found. But what if we told you the gap is smaller than you might expect? We discovered that 56% of non-U.S. consumers trust friends and family, but 44% trust the leading AI tool.
And what about the trust hierarchy across the various leading platforms? In the U.S., the most trusted platform was Google AI Overviews at 44%, followed by ChatGPT at 43%. Trailing behind were Claude at 23% and Grok at 21%. This shows a notably high level of variance and that there are already winners and losers in the agentic commerce ecosystem.
How are older demographics adopting AI for brand discovery?
Gone is the stereotype of older technophobic generations needing patient younger family members to explain how their new smartphone works. Our research shows that U.S. baby boomers, in fact, lead the way in agentic AI in shopping adoption, with 62% using AI tools to discover new brands, just ahead of Gen X (61%) and notably ahead of millennials and Gen Z (59% and 52%, respectively).
The clear implication for digital marketers is that older generations are active rather than passive adopters and that online content should be shaped to address these key audiences.
Performance marketing checklist for Agentic AI in Shopping
There’s a strong imperative for digital marketers to quickly adapt to the new paradigm in which agentic AI has gained a strong foothold and is set to accelerate its influence. Here is a checklist of three of the most important areas to attend to ensure your brand can pivot and win in the age of agentic AI.
Implement deep retargeting strategies to re-engage shoppers over prolonged evaluation periods
Your opportunity to reach researching shoppers in their decision window is widening. Make sure you have next-generation retargeting solutions that meet the moment, accurately determine user intent, and serve precisely personalized messaging.
Optimize brand metadata and unstructured content for inclusion in leading AI overviews and summaries
Don’t risk not being seen. To gain consistent, strong brand visibility in agentic AI-driven research, you need to build content that is easily scannable and trusted by platforms. Learn which platforms your audience prefers and shape content to appeal to them.
Maintain a full-funnel presence across multiple digital touchpoints to capture shoppers bouncing between AI research and traditional channels
For all intents and purposes, agentic AI in shopping has upended the funnel, turning it into a huge game of snakes and ladders. The shopping journey is anything but linear. Using agentic AI, a consumer can be catapulted from brand discovery to conversion in a heartbeat, or, conversely, a shopper about to buy can be redirected to restart their research from a completely different angle. Deploy a full-funnel approach that addresses your audience wherever they are on their journey.
Download the full global agentic AI report to see how you can capture demand across extended consideration cycles.
