60% of Consumers Now Use AI to Shop. Is Your Brand Ready?
Once upon a time, online shopping meant browsing a dozen tabs, reading reviews, texting a friend, and spiraling into decision fatigue.
Today? More and more shoppers are handing that mental load over to artificial intelligence.
A recent study found that nearly 60% of consumers are using AI to help them shop—and nearly half trust AI more than a friend for fashion advice. Yes, really.
We’re not in the old “marketing funnel” world anymore. We’re in the age of AI-augmented decision-making. And brands that don’t adapt will be left behind.
🤖 How AI Is Rewriting the Consumer Journey
According to Professor Luca Cian of the University of Virginia, we’re witnessing a major shift: AI is becoming the first stop in a buyer’s journey—not the last.
77% say AI helps them make decisions faster
Consumers are compressing their decision-making time
AI is acting as a filter, advisor, and product recommender
This means the “awareness-consideration-decision” funnel? Outdated. Brands now need to influence earlier, faster, and more intuitively—often through the AI itself.
🧠 Why People Trust AI (Sometimes More Than Humans)
Surprisingly, shoppers aren’t just using AI out of convenience—they trust it.
Why?
Because AI doesn’t sugarcoat. It isn’t worried about your feelings. In style decisions (like “Does this outfit work?”), people see AI as more honest than their friends.
But that trust is contextual. AI shines for practical purchases, while humans still lead when it comes to emotional or luxury buying.
Knowing when to lean into AI and when to offer a human touch is key.
🔄 What This Means for Small Businesses & Brands
AI isn’t just helping buyers. It’s reshaping the entire playing field for marketers and entrepreneurs.
Here’s what Team Kimes Design sees coming—and how we’re helping clients get ahead:
1. You’re Not Just Selling to People. You’re Selling to Algorithms.
Recommendation engines are now gatekeepers. If your content isn’t optimized for AI, it may never reach the shopper. That’s why we help brands fine-tune their metadata, structure, and storytelling to speak the language of search, recommendation, and relevance.
2. Speed is the New Advantage
If AI helps people shop faster, your brand’s first impression matters more than ever. Our AI tools help generate branded assets, product videos, landing pages, and ad content quickly—without sacrificing personality.
3. Contextual Trust Wins
Consumers want helpful, honest, and emotionally aware experiences. That means balancing AI automation with real, human connection—like custom onboarding, live support, or heartfelt storytelling. We help you build both.
4. Conversational AI Is the Future
Shoppers increasingly expect chat-style help: product finders, virtual try-ons, personal recommendations. We design and integrate AI-powered conversational tools that act like a personal shopper for your website or store.
🚨 Watch Out: AI Isn’t Foolproof
Consumers love convenience, but they still expect:
Transparency (Why am I seeing this?)
Control (Can I opt out or adjust this?)
Authenticity (Is this brand working for me—or for itself?)
That’s why we always recommend hybrid strategies: let AI do the heavy lifting, but keep the human touch in the loop.
✅ Your Brand’s Next Marketing Partner? AI. (With a Human Guide.)
Think of the AI revolution in retail like this: your customers are handing part of their journey to smart assistants. But they still care who they're buying from.
At Team Kimes Design, we help you:
Build brand messages that connect with both customers and algorithms
Use AI tools to accelerate production and personalization
Keep your brand voice authentic and consistent across every touchpoint
Because the brands that win won’t be the ones with the most content.
They’ll be the ones with the clearest voice, fastest response, and smartest AI strategy.
📲 Let’s talk about what AI-powered marketing can look like for you.
Book a free consultation and let’s future-proof your brand together.
