Survey Shows U.S. Consumers Gradually Accepting AI-Powered Shopping Agents

In July 2026, AI marketing cloud service provider Zeta Global released the latest findings from its AI shopping behavior survey. Conducted online in May 2026, this survey covered 2,000 U.S. adults who had used AI to complete a purchase within the past three months, representing the second installment in the company's AI Shopping Insights series. The results indicate that consumers are increasingly willing to authorize AI agents to select products on their behalf, a trend signaling the early emergence of agent-based shopping.

Fully autonomous AI shopping remains in its nascent stages, with consumers currently more inclined to delegate parts of the shopping process to AI. At this stage, AI primarily serves a role in product discovery and evaluation, with 70% of AI shopping users still preferring to complete transactions directly on brand websites rather than placing orders through AI. Furthermore, 54% of AI shopping users show a preference for personalized AI services offered by brands over generic AI tools, a figure that rises to 58% among the 18-45 age group.

Parents with children under 18 are the earliest adopters of this trend. 43% of surveyed parents mentioned a willingness to allow AI to place orders within a set budget, compared to 27% among non-parents. Similarly, 43% of surveyed parents expressed a willingness to let AI automatically repurchase household essentials, versus 31% for non-parents. 74% of surveyed parents noted that AI helped them discover new brands they wouldn't have otherwise considered, compared to 66% for non-parents. 60% of surveyed parents indicated a stronger preference for brand-specific, personalized AI services, compared to 49% for non-parents.

Significant shifts in consumer behavior are also observable across the full sample. 36% of AI shopping users reported spending less time on product research, and 59% mentioned that AI reduced their likelihood of returning items. 21% of users reported an increase in shopping expenditure after using AI, while 29% noted that AI decreased their inclination to shop in physical stores.

The use cases for AI-assisted shopping show clear variations by product category and demographic. Electronics is the most common category for AI-assisted shopping, listed by 33% of AI shopping users as the category they most frequently use AI to select, with this figure reaching 45% among males. For female users, the most common category is beauty products, at 20%, compared to just 4% among males. Household goods rank second overall at 21%, followed by apparel, jewelry, and accessories in third place at 15%.

David A. Steinberg, Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Zeta Global, commented that consumers are increasingly trusting the shopping decisions made by AI. The more critical question now is whether brands are prepared to be discovered, recommended, and ultimately chosen by AI. As consumers rely more on AI for product discovery and evaluation, brands need to clarify their visibility within AI channels.

Pamela Lord, President of Client Relationship Management at Zeta Global, noted that when the company first conducted its AI shopping survey at the end of 2025, consumers were just beginning to accept AI's involvement in shopping decisions. Merely months later, this acceptance has evolved into authorizing AI to act on their behalf. As AI's influence in the shopping journey continues to grow, brands need to understand how they are presented in AI recommendations and create sufficiently practical experiences to capture user attention.