NEW YORK — Large retail chains and technology companies offer new or updated artificial intelligence tools just in time for the holiday shopping season, hoping to make it easier for consumers to buy gifts and increase the share of online spending.
Although AI-assisted shopping is in its early stages, shopping assistants and agents are being implemented by companies such as Walmart, Amazon and Google can do more than just chatbots from past holidays. The latest versions were designed to provide personalized product recommendations, track prices and place some orders through unrecorded “conversations” with customers.
These features complement shopping updates on AI platforms such as AAIP Opika and Google Gemini. In one of the most talked about launches of the season, Google this month unveiled AI agent they can be instructed to call local stores to see if the desired item is in stock.
San Francisco software company Salesforce estimates that AI will somehow impact $73 billion, or 22% of all global sales, from the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to the Monday after the holiday, according to Kayla Schwartz, Salesforce's director of consumer insights.
That figure, which stood at $60 billion a year ago, includes everything from a ChatGPT query to AI gift suggestions on a retailer's website, Schwartz said.
Despite the advances, AI's impact on holiday shopping this year will be “relatively limited” as not every shopping site has useful tools and not every buyer is willing to try them, said Brad Jashinsky, senior retail analyst at information technology research and consulting firm Gartner.
“The more retailers launch these tools, the better they become, and the more consumers feel comfortable and start looking for them,” Yashinsky said. “But customer behavior takes a long time to change.”
Here are three ways technology could impact holiday shopping habits in 2025:
The potential of artificial intelligence to simplify the search for the perfect gift is currently most evident in tools that promise to provide shoppers with faster, more detailed results than a web browser, with far fewer clicks.
OpenAI has updated ChatGPT to include a shopping research feature that provides personalized shopping guides. Information comes from product pages and reviews. prices and previous user interactions with the chatbot. According to OpenAI, the tool works best for complex products, such as electronics and appliances, or items with a lot of parts, such as cosmetics or sporting goods.
Then there's Rufus, the shopping assistant that Amazon introduced last year. He now remembers information that clients previously gave him, such as that he has four children who love board games. The user's browsing and purchasing history, as well as reviews, are used to personalize recommendations.
Google has updated its AI search tool to provide answers to detailed questions written in natural language. For example, users can tell an agent that they want to buy a casual sweater to wear with a skirt or jeans in New York City in January, which will be paired with a skirt or jeans.
The answers are drawn from 50 billion Google product listings. The tool can also create side-by-side comparison charts of prices, features, reviews, and other factors. Previously, shoppers had to use keywords, filters, and product links to find the information they needed.
“I think this is a moment of expansion for all of technology and commerce,” Lillian Rincón, vice president of product and consumer purchasing at Google, recently told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Walmart AI Shopping AssistantSparky offers case-specific recommendations and summarizes reviews. The AI-powered gift search in Target's holiday app responds to queries such as the recipient's age and special hobbies.
Online price tracking tools have been around for years, including CamelCamelCamel, a third-party Amazon price tracking service, and the Paypal Honey browser extension for monitoring thousands of online stores.
Shoppers have new options this holiday season.
This month, Amazon launched 90-day price history tracking for almost everything it sells. Shoppers can also now set up alerts to be notified when prices on certain items fall within their budget.
Google, which has had a basic price tracker for years, has launched a more advanced version that allows users to refine their searches by entering details such as clothing size and color. Microsoft Copilot also launched a price tracker this year.
Jason Goldberg, director of commercial strategy at Publicis Groupe, said he believes the new pricing tools will put more pressure on retailers to make sure their prices are competitive.
“Many consumers who weren’t even looking for price alerts will see price alerts for the first time,” Goldberg predicted.
Amazon, OpenAI and Google are aiming to create tools that enable a seamless AI-powered shopping experience, allowing consumers to move from browsing to purchasing within the same experience, rather than having to go to a retailer's website to make a purchase.
OpenAI launched new instant payment feature this allows users to purchase products offered by ChatGPT without leaving the application. Users can order products from Etsy sellers and some brands that use Shopify, including Glossier, Skims, and Spanx.
OpenAI and Walmart announced a similar deal in October, saying the partnership would allow ChatGPT members to use the instant checkout feature to purchase virtually anything available on Walmart's website, with the exception of fresh produce. However, this feature currently only supports purchasing one item at a time.
Another deal Target Thanks to OpenAI, shoppers can add multiple items to their shopping cart on ChatGPT, including fresh produce. But when customers are ready to pay for their orders, they are redirected from the chatbot to the Target app.
New tools from Amazon and Google will let shoppers feel like autonomous AI assistants are doing their shopping for them. While services are still limited, “agent AI” is designed to be more independent and advanced than generative AI chatbots that excel at research and writing, experts say.
Amazon now allows Rufus to automatically purchase items for customers who click the “autobuy” button when setting up price alerts. Once a product's price drops to its desired level, customers are notified of completed orders and have a limited time to cancel, the company said.
e-commerce the giant has also started allowing shoppers to use the Rufus brand search in the Amazon app as a gateway to other retailers. If Amazon doesn't have the item they want in their store, the Shop Direct button will take them to the website of the place that does.
Google's AI price tracker also includes a “buy for me” option that automatically makes a purchase through Google Pay when the price is right. The feature is available for products sold by Wayfair, Chewy, Quince and some Shopify merchants, and Google plans to continue adding more stores, the company said. sellers.
Google has also enhanced its web browser with an AI-powered robocall feature that calls local businesses on behalf of customers seeking information or specific products. Google's software tells the store it's the caller using artificial intelligence, and stores can opt out, the company said.
Google said it is initially rolling out the feature to certain product categories: toyshealth and beauty, electronics. Target and Walmart declined to comment on whether this type of service will be part of their future plans.
