Until a few years ago, it was common to consult friends and relatives when it came to shopping. That friend has since been replaced by search engines and price comparison platforms. Now, the new shopping companions are called Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini, all of which are artificial intelligence applications that are also increasingly being used by consumers to create lists of household and party essentials.
According to a survey conducted by the Institute for Retail and Consumer Products (IELKA) recently presented at the 16th Food Retail Conference, two out of three respondents have used an AI application such as a chatbot or digital assistant, 15% use an AI application every day, and 42% use an AI application sometime during the week. The most popular application among consumers is ChatGPT, with 79% of users AI choosing it, followed by Gemini, used by 35% of users, and third place in popularity is Microsoft Copilot with 19%.
Of particular interest is the fact that 3 out of 7 AI users use AI to receive product information. Specifically, 43% of consumers have requested information about a product or service, 34% have requested information about a product before visiting a store, 27% have compared products through AI, 11% have compared different supermarket chains, and 6% have used AI to create a list of supermarkets.
These percentages vary. Especially since the majority of respondents (over 40%) who have not taken any of the aforementioned actions intend to do so in the future.
While asking store staff for information about products still seems like the best option, the acceptance rate of AI as a possible solution is important. For example, 12% of consumers say they would seek the help of AI to find out if a food they saw contains an allergen when shopping at the supermarket. Although most people agree that nutritionists are the best people to trust when choosing food at the supermarket, AI comes in second place in our overall rating, and first based on certain criteria because it is faster, more easily accessible, and more affordable.
