Acosta Group survey finds 34% of shoppers use AI while shopping

Acosta Group said in a press release that 34% of shoppers use AI tools while shopping. The survey covered 1,271 US shoppers from May 15 to 21, 2026. Respondents were drawn from Acosta Group's own Shopper Community panel of more than 40,000 people rather than from a general population sample, and Acosta sells sales and marketing services to the brands the findings concern.

Generative AI use reached 74% among Gen Z and Millennials, compared with 45% among Boomers. Shoppers mainly use AI to compare products, conduct research, save money and save time. ChatGPT and Google Gemini were the preferred tools, while 25% routinely used Gemini to search for products online.

Among Gen Z and Millennial AI users, half said AI influenced purchases during the previous three months. However, only 22% of AI users trusted agents to make purchasing decisions for them, rising to 35% among Millennials. Data storage and protection concerned 48% of respondents.