It’s hard to escape the narrative around how artificial intelligence (AI) is pervading our everyday lives. But one report released at the end of 2025 revealed that UK shoppers are more amenable to AI use in retail than those working in the sector may think.
In fact, the research by CI&T found that almost two-thirds of UK shoppers (61 per cent) had used AI while shopping, or regularly do so.
While it might be tempting to think that AI only has a place in online shopping, when speaking to Retail Gazette global director of retail strategy and insights at CI&T Melissa Minkow stressed that it has a place in physical retail environments too.
However, her observation is that AI agents can help direct consumers into stores – such as by making purchases on their behalf that can then be collected in store.
Ultimately, the key is to create convenient shopping experiences for customers, because this is what many are looking for.
If you don’t already offer some form of “click and collect” service at your stores, could this be an element you incorporate? Or could you make those areas of your stores more obvious for customers to find, to streamline the process of collecting their online orders.
These are areas you could explore as part of your regular shop maintenance. If you don’t already, it would be worth tracking how shoppers use your stores too. That way you can explore how to streamline the shopping experience for them.
The key, as Melissa Minkow explains, is to make sure you are designing for what your customers actually want, rather than what you think they want. Introducing more AI into your processes is no different.
And consumers will welcome this technological development if it makes their lives easier while protecting their data.