With the National Retail Federation's “Retail’s Big Show” this week, there are lots of announcements and stories about retailers embracing AI. How much of this matters? Will consumers shop and actually buy through AI?

The smart money should be a resounding yes. 

It makes sense if you’re skeptical. There so many good reasons why general AI tools would make for terrible shopping experiences. Here are a few:

1) AI interfaces are ugly and text-heavy. Brands' websites hardly spark joy (does anyone ever visit Amazon because it's aesthetically pleasing?), but AI apps strip out a lot of the navigation and factors that contribute to making consumers comfortable with a purchase.

2) Pointing and clicking is usually way faster than discussing what you want. Remember when people thought we'd buy using Alexa's voice assistant? Some form factors are inefficient. 

3) There's presumably a magic range for purchases made through AI apps -- a kind of Goldilocks Zone. A quick, cheap purchase doesn't usually require a whole conversation about it. A more expensive, considered purchase will require going to the source and likely comparing multiple sources and vendors. How much room do AI apps have to maneuver?

I needed some weather-sealing tape recently, which Amazon sold me for $8. Do I really need a whole conversation about it?

Well, yes, I did need a whole conversation about it. It came up in a lengthy exchange where Gemini empowered me to build my own cover for my air conditioner that was letting in too much of a draft. That $8 tape wound up being a high-consideration purchase, even if it was a low-dollar-volume one. 

Humans are weird and don't always make sense. We often spend way too long doing things that don't matter and not enough time on what does matter. AI is perfect for screwing with our priorities. We think we're being thorough and learning something and gathering a lot of information when we probably could have been way more efficient and saved the time for more meaningful activities.

I remember nearly 25 years ago getting a tour of FreshDirect's first facility in New York. Their VP Marketing John Boris walked me through their different rooms for packing various kinds of food. He showed me some kind of melon and said people would always tell them that they need to feel the melons themselves and would never buy melons online. But, as John put it, everyone would go into grocery stories, shake melons, and have no idea what they're doing. FreshDirect had folks there who were spending all day packing melons and knew way more than any grocery store shopper. Now, for many of us, we’re good with grocery sites or Instacart shoppers selecting our melons. Attitudes change.

We need plenty of AI skepticism. There are some people who seem to think we won't be able to figure out how to go to the bathroom without ChatGPT's help. On the flipside, do you ever navigate somewhere without Google Maps and feel like you're Lewis & Clark? Yeah, it's liberating.

Not everyone needs to buy everything through AI for it to become a healthy sales channel. This year, many of the sources of friction are going away. Consumers may be surprised at first that they can buy that weather-sealing tape without leaving the conversation. Soon enough, they'll expect it. And they'll demand even more.

— David Berkowitz, Chief Community Officer, Marketecture Media

Who: Retail marketers, experiential commerce teams, DTC leaders

What: JD Sports plans to allow customers to purchase products directly via AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, targeting younger shoppers who increasingly use chatbots for discovery.

Why it matters: Brands are adapting product catalogs and checkout flows for conversational platforms, signaling a shift in how consumers move from inspiration to purchase. Pretty soon, these stories will be expected, but consumers using AI apps will enjoy the surprisingly useful novelty feeling for now of making more seamless purchases with AI.

(The Guardian)

Who: Brand marketers, creative directors, performance media teams

What: Authentic Brands Group (read: Reebok, Champion, and others) launched a proprietary AI agent system that generates creative assets, including video, and has driven up to 60% higher ROI versus traditional creative workflows.

Why it matters: Brands investing in first‑party AI tools can gain speed, cost efficiency, and tighter control over brand voice. It’s essential to build sturdy guardrails though, especially with widespread rollouts of such tools.

(Consumer Goods)

Who: Retail strategy leaders, digital commerce teams, performance marketers

What: Walmart announced that customers will be able to browse products, build carts, and complete purchases through Google’s Gemini assistant, powered by a new Universal Commerce Protocol.

Why it matters: Retailers are treating AI assistants as extensions of their storefronts. Marketing teams will need to optimize product data and offers for AI‑first buying journeys.

(Axios)

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