6,750 consumers told us how holiday shopping is changing
See how shoppers across 8 markets are thinking about spending, product discovery, and the role of AI this holiday season.
The holidays are make or break. Be ready.
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Who will spend more this holiday season?
We expected AI to create sharper bargain hunters. It did. What we didn't expect was for those shoppers to arrive with bigger budgets.
AI-assisted shoppers have bigger budgets
Among shoppers who've used an AI assistant, 34% plan to spend more this festive season than they did last year. Among those who haven't used one, only 14% say the same. This finding runs counter to others in our study that suggest consumers use AI primarily for bargain hunting.
They do, and that's because an AI assistant can compare hundreds of products, offers, reviews, delivery promises, and returns policies before a shopper ever reaches a brand's website.
For a consumer with money to spend, the AI assistant doesn't necessarily reduce the budget. It reduces the time and uncertainty involved in spending it.
The search for gift ideas is getting shorter
A typical Google search results page may give a shopper 10 links and let them browse, but an AI assistant may only return three brand names. The breadth of brand browsing shrinks considerably when consumers use an LLM instead of a traditional search tool such as Google.
This matters because 67% of shoppers say they typically have an idea for a gift first, then go and search for the product. You need your brand to appear in traditional search results and in that smaller AI consideration set.
This makes product data part of the brand experience. AI assistants read product titles, attributes, sizes, prices, availability, delivery promises, returns terms and review content. Brands that treat the product feed as an administrative chore risk losing high-intent shoppers before a campaign or product page ever has the chance to persuade them.
Become the brand LLMs recommend
Watch our recent strategy session with Open AI to learn how to improve your ChatGPT search visibility.
What jobs are shoppers giving AI?
The one thing AI can't do is something you already do best
Consumers love early access to sales — 36% of them do, and that figure is even higher among those who have already used AI to shop.
Highlighting early access is something AI simply cannot do right now. But your brand can. Using email, text messages, WhatsApp or your social media channels, you can alert loyal subscribers, followers and customers to deals before AI gets wind of them.
Where is AI shopping happening?
Read the US technology press, and AI shopping can sound like an American behaviour the rest of the world is still adopting. The consumer data shows the reverse. In the US, 61% of consumers plan to use AI to shop this festive season — leaving nearly 40% opting out of agentic shopping. The UK feels the same, with 62% planning to use AI this season.
Singapore is the leader in AI-assisted shopping, with 81% of consumers there saying they'll use AI to shop this festive season.
AI discovery is growing
Shoppers say these are their most influential sources for gift ideas—behind browsing online stores (67%) and browsing in-store (55%). But the proportion of people using AI to find gifts is already higher than for any of your owned channels (email, text messaging or WhatsApp).
In other words, AI discovery is growing. For marketers, that means you need to make sure your products are appearing appropriately in LLMs.
“Agentic commerce is fundamentally changing how people discover and choose brands. As journeys become more conversational and intent-driven, companies have to rethink how they show up — not just to be found, but to be chosen, and to deliver value in that moment.”
What do consumers plan to buy?
Clothing and accessories, and beauty and personal care products, are what most consumers worldwide plan to buy this festive season — but preferences vary significantly between countries.
Clothing leads in the US, Australia and Singapore. Beauty leads in the UK, France and Italy. Germany favours hobbies, toys and entertainment, while Spain favours electronics.
Still, whatever you sell — including services such as restaurants or travel — consumers are planning to spend across the board.
Where do consumers want to hear from you?
Email is the preferred marketing communication channel in every country, ranging from 52% in Singapore to 73% in the UK.
Customer service messages are where the channel mix diverges: 31% and 23% prefer text messages in the US and Australia, respectively, while 30% prefer WhatsApp in Singapore, 25% in Spain and 24% in Italy.
Depending on your global footprint, the channels you use to reach customers will differ — but not by much. Email, text messaging, WhatsApp, your branded app, social media and even AI web chat are enough to deliver the right message in the right place at the right time.
Consumers expect AI in their inbox
Globally, 57% of consumers assume that most of the messages they receive from brands are AI-generated. Just under half say it bothers them when a message is written by AI rather than a person — and for over half (55%), if a brand's message is helpful and relevant, they do not care whether it is AI- or human-generated.
Sentiment is split roughly 50/50 worldwide, though European customers are the most likely to be bothered by AI-generated messages (50%), while Australian and Singaporean consumers are the least likely (44%).
Use AI to help produce personalised content across every channel — while ensuring messages remain helpful and relevant. After all, the same standard applies to human-written content.
How to be the brand LLMs recommend
Klaviyo and OpenAI sat down for a conversation about how to help your brand show up in holiday searches that start in ChatGPT. Watch now to see how AI systems discover and evaluate products, what it takes to improve your brand's visibility, and how to prepare for a customer journey that might begin long before someone lands on your site.
