‘AI is becoming active participant in purchasing’

New reports on ecommerce in the five biggest European online markets shows that online shopping is still increasing in popularity. By 2029, online revenues in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and France could reach a total volume of 600 billion euros. This is driven by the use of AI in online shopping.

Management consultancy McKinsey & Company has recently published a report called “Europe’s new e-commerce agenda: How AI is resetting growth and competition.” It looks into the state of ecommerce in Europe, specifically in the five biggest markets: Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and France. It estimates that, over the next three years, ecommerce is expected to grow by 6 percent annually in these markets.

Customers delegate tasks to AI

According to this analysis, AI is becoming an active participant in the purchasing process. Customers are delegating tasks like finding the best deal, automatically reordering items, or compiling a shopping cart according to set criteria like price, brand, delivery speed or sustainability. The research says that currently, around 38 percent of European consumers already use generative AI tools to research products and make purchasing decisions.

Only 10% want AI assistant embedded in an online store

Another report was released this week, by PSE Consulting. They surveyed 4,250 consumers in the United Kingdom, United States, France and Germany. The participants all already use AI for online shopping. The study found that when shopping online, 74 percent of them prefer an independent AI assistant, like ChatGPT.

‘74% of participants prefer an independent AI assistant, over one that is embedded in an online store’

Another 41 percent said that they prefer an AI assistant that works across platforms and providers, like Gemini. And 33 percent said that they prefer a specialist AI assistant, focused on one category. Just 10 percent of the participants want their AI shopping assistant to be embedded within an online store.

Comparing prices across platforms

According to the researchers, consumers mostly engage in AI-assisted online shopping because of pricing. They compare prices across multiple online sellers, instead of relying on a single platform, or using a search engine.

‘90% of participants expect their use of marketplaces to stay the same, or increase as AI adoption grows’

At the same time, participants said that they do not expect AI assistants to reduce the market share of online marketplaces. Up to 90 percent said that they expect their use of online marketplaces to stay at the same, or increase as AI adoption grows. While independent AI assistants have become an important factor in product discovery, they are unlikely to displace established platforms, said the researchers.

‘Discovery and execution are becoming distinct stages’

“There has been a narrative that agentic AI would make marketplaces less relevant by allowing consumers to curate the internet in their terms, rather than relying on marketplaces. What the research suggests instead is that consumers increasingly see discovery and execution as distinct stages of the shopping journey”, said Chris Jones, managing director at PSE Consulting. “Consumers increasingly want AI to help them navigate choice across the internet, but they still rely on established brands such as marketplaces when it comes to fulfilment, payments, logistics, customer service and operational trust.”