According to one set of global surveys, technology has affected different consumer and retail profiles in terms of challenges and opportunities.

Based on two double-anonymous surveys conducted during 27 November through 26 Dec 2024 across 8,350 shoppers and 1,700 retail industry decision-makers across 21 countries* on consumer behavior patterns and retail business sentiments about technology deployment, a global firm providing business software and CRM solutions has disclosed some findings.

First, among the retail leaders, 84% globally had reported using AI in some capacity, with 75% optimistic  that AI agents will be essential for competitiveness by 2026. Among the respondents that were shoppers, 66% had indicated never using AI for purchases; 55% cited avoidance of AI customer service. Those that were Gen Zs were 10x more likely than Baby Boomers to use AI for product discovery.

Second, 59% of respondents in the retail leaders group had indicated offering in-store services such as product customization, and also that their store associates were spending less time on checkout duties. Among the respondents that were shoppers, projected sentiments were that they would shop less in physical stores (by an estimated 4%).

Other findings

Third, 88% of retail leaders in the survey considered a retail strategy of connecting all sales channels, data and back-end systems into a single seamless platform as critical#, with 15% among them indicating they had fully implemented it. Also:

  • 84% of shoppers who were members of loyalty programs had indicated that such frills boost repurchases; 35% had cited that they “belong to unused programs”. Gen Z shoppers valued experiential rewards (undefined in the methodology) 3x more than Baby Boomers. Traditional points and discounts were the most popular incentives among all shoppers. Gen Z shoppers were three times more likely than baby boomers to value exclusive experiences as loyalty rewards.
  • 75% of respondents who were shoppers had cited switching brands in the past year, most commonly attributing this to high prices (66%), poor customer experiences, or inconsistent quality.
  • 53% of respondents who were shoppers had discovered products on social platforms, a figure that had increased from 46% in a similar survey for 2023. However, 25% had cited having gone on to make purchases through social media, and 16% through messaging apps.
  • YouTube (38%), Instagram (35%), and Facebook (34%) were the most frequently cited platforms for product discovery among all shoppers, while TikTok was especially prominent among Gen Z, with 40% of this cohort using it for shopping discovery, compared to 4% of baby boomers.
  • 89% of respondents who were retailers had agreed to prompts that they expected a return on their AI investments. The most commonly agreed-to benefits included increased employee productivity, improved shopper experiences, increased revenue, and improved supplier relationships. Top challenges cited by respondents (retail leaders) for implementing AI included security/privacy concerns, data quality, and implementation costs. High operational costs and disconnected systems were among the most frequently cited obstacles by those trying to integrate .
  • 43% of respondents who were retail leaders had indicated piloting autonomous AI agents, with use cases spanning customer service, website optimization, and inventory management. Among respondents who were shoppers, the strongest reported interest in AI agents was for optimizing loyalty points (30%) and answering questions for faster customer service (30%). Trust factors most often cited included data privacy protections, the ability to turn features on or off, approval requirements for purchases, transparency in data use, and access to human customer service
  • 74% of respondents who were shoppers had said they would abandon a brand after three or fewer bad experiences.

According to Brian Kealey, Area VP and Country Leader (Singapore), Salesforce, the firm that commissioned the survey, to fully leverage AI, retailers can consider “connecting front- and back-end operations for efficiency and personalized customer experiences.”

*Comprising 500 respondents (defined as “third-party panelists”) for Australia^/New Zealand^, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom^, except for the Nordics^ (100) and the US (750). Age groups comprised: 22% baby boomers, 28% GenX, 32% Millennials, and 17% Gen Z.
^Respondents were defined as being in a “single sample group” for Australia/NZ, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden

#A solution offered by the firm that commissioned the surveys