Consumers remain reluctant to let AI make purchases, survey finds

Uyen Duong

18th Sep 2026

Only 7 per cent of fashion and sportswear shoppers are willing to let AI make purchases on their behalf. Most want to retain control over spending decisions, according to a survey by ACI Worldwide and YouGov.

A poll of more than 3300 UK and US consumers found that price-focused AI tools attract the most interest. Price drop alerts and cross-retailer price comparisons were each selected by 35 per cent of respondents, compared with personalised product recommendations at 18 per cent and outfit recommendations at 17 per cent.

“Consumers are drawing a clear distinction between AI that helps them make better decisions and AI that makes decisions for them,” said Adriana Iordan, global head, merchant product management and payment intelligence at ACI Worldwide.

Responses on AI-led purchases show this preference for control. Discomfort with AI purchases was reported by 53 per cent, while 20 per cent would accept recommendations but not autonomous purchases. Manual approval was preferred by 14 per cent, while 7 per cent would allow purchases under predefined conditions.

As AI moves from assisting with shopping to completing transactions, payment reliability also matters. Among consumers who have experienced payment failures when shopping online, more than half try to complete the transaction using another payment method, while the remainder abandon the purchase or move to another retailer.

For AI-initiated transactions, retailers and payment providers will need to address transaction authentication, fraud prevention and risk management as AI takes a greater role in the purchasing process.

“As agentic commerce moves from concept to reality, merchants will need infrastructure that can securely authenticate transactions, manage risk and ensure payments are completed reliably,” Iordan said.

Marie Driscoll, president of the Retail Marketing Society, said AI adoption depends on whether the technology can provide information without taking control away from the buyer.

“Shoppers are telling us they want AI to inform the purchase, not make it,” Driscoll said. “Price tools succeed because they add insight without removing control. Handing a fashion purchase decision to an agent is a much bigger leap of faith.”

The adoption of agentic commerce will depend on how businesses define permissions and controls for transactions. Building trust will require AI to operate reliably, transparently and within defined limits.