Consumers Trust AI to Buy Better: Brands Need to Move Quickly (Boston Consulting Group)

Summary

• Shopping-related GenAI use grew by 35% from February 2025 to November 2025.p.1
• Awareness of GenAI tools and use of them have increased by 12 percentage points and 25 percentage points respectively since BCG first monitored uptake globally.p.3
• It took Facebook more than four years to reach 100 million users, Instagram two and half years, and ChatGPT just two months.p.3
• 66% of GenAI users use the technology at least weekly.p.4
• Shopping-related usage has become the third most popular application of GenAI among the uses tested.p.4
• The survey waves each included more than 9,000 respondents from nine countries representing approximately 48% of the global population.p.2

Key insights

1. Consumers view GenAI as a particularly valuable and sometimes uniquely helpful source of information as they shop.p.2
2. Shopping-related GenAI use spans categories, making it relevant for all brands and retailers.p.2
3. In some countries, half of all consumers are GenAI users.p.3
4. Shoppers use GenAI for routine purchases such as groceries as well as big-ticket items.p.5
5. Most consumers surveyed who do not yet use GenAI as they shop are open to incorporating it into their shopping routines.p.7
6. AI-enabled qualitative research drew video responses from 303 US consumers who had recently used GenAI in a purchase journey.p.2