AI Product Discovery Starts With Just 10% of Consumers

Nearly 70% of consumers earning $150,000 or more consider shopping with AI important, even though only 10% start product discovery with it, according to AlixPartners. The company surveyed more than 9,000 U.S. consumers about shopping habits.

Where does AI sit in the shopping journey?

AlixPartners’ 2026 Consumer Sentiment Index describes AI as an ascendant, if not yet commonplace, discovery channel. Its data shows low adoption across generations and income groups. Most consumers also said they are not ready to hand the actual purchase to an AI agent.

Interest varies sharply by income: 53% of consumers earning less than $45,000 consider AI shopping important. Among Gen Z and millennials, 14% start product searches with AI.

What will drive the next adoption wave?

AlixPartners predicts a forthcoming increase in AI shopping, particularly for commoditized goods. At the top of the fashion market, brand and relationship will still matter, according to the report.

Replenishment basics appear more ready for agent-led search. The report expects queries such as “black leggings, TTS, under $30” to shift more readily to AI agents.

How will AI divide retail competition?

AlixPartners expects AI to pull the retail market in two directions. At the upper end, brands remain brand-led, and their central concern becomes AI-powered copycats. At the lower end, shopping becomes “spec-and-price driven,” according to the report.

Middle-market brands must reconcile both forces. AlixPartners says upper-income shoppers will use AI as a concierge for styling and curated product recommendations. Other consumers will treat AI as a price-comparison and decision-making tool, a pattern the company says aligns with other research into current use.

Why will product metadata decide visibility?

AlixPartners says structured product metadata will become crucial for most companies as AI takes on more discovery work. The report states: “The machine doesn’t read your beautiful imagery or your persuasive copy — it reads structured data: attributes, availability, price.”

AlixPartners also warns that weak records have direct commercial costs: “If your product data is thin or messy, the agent either can’t surface you or describes you badly, and you go invisible in the fastest-growing channel there is.”

Will agents displace brands from the customer relationship?

As agents improve at suggesting products, AlixPartners expects consumers to trust them for more of the buying process. The report warns that brands may then be sidelined from the customer relationship.

AlixPartners says large retailers such as Target, Best Buy, Macy’s and The Home Depot are insulating themselves by launching their own internal AI assistants. The report presents those launches as a response to the growing role of external agents in product discovery.

AlixPartners expects adoption to rise from today’s 10% starting point, particularly for commoditized goods. For marketers, structured metadata serves as the product label an agent can read: complete attributes, current availability and accurate pricing decide whether a brand remains visible.