eMarketer: 47.1% of US Digital Shoppers Reject Retail AI Chatbots
Research shows that resistance to retail AI chatbots among US digital shoppers has risen to 47.1%, and one major shopping-information error could cause users to stop using them.
What are the key facts?
- 147.1% of US digital shoppers have not used and do not intend to try retail AI chatbots
- 2The rate is higher than the 38.2% recorded in a previous comparable survey
- 3A single product, address, or payment error may cause more than one-quarter of consumers to stop using the assistant
What happened?
A study released by eMarketer on October 20 shows that US digital shoppers have limited acceptance of retail AI chatbots. About 47.1% of respondents said they had not used a retail AI chatbot and had no interest in trying one, up from 38.2% in a previous comparable survey.
The study also found that the accuracy of shopping assistants affects whether consumers continue using them. If a shopping assistant makes a single error involving a product, address, or payment method, more than one-quarter of consumers may stop using it.
For cross-border ecommerce sellers, this means they should not simply assume that consumers will use AI shopping assistants to discover and purchase products. Sellers should also not reduce investment in traditional search optimization, product images and text, FAQ content, review management, or human customer service merely because a platform or direct-to-consumer website offers a chatbot.
The impact mainly concerns emerging-brand sellers relying on direct-to-consumer websites, social commerce, or AI shopping-assistant traffic. The original article recommends using AI tools as an auxiliary conversion channel while ensuring that product titles, specifications, compatibility, inventory, delivery promises, and return policies are clear and structured, reducing after-sales and refund risks caused by incorrect AI recommendations.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
US digital shoppers are becoming less receptive to retail AI chatbots, so sellers should not treat AI shopping assistants as the sole entry point for product discovery and purchase. Because an error involving a product, address, or payment method may cause more than one-quarter of consumers to stop using the assistant, sellers relying on direct-to-consumer websites, social commerce, or AI-shopping traffic should retain clear listing information, FAQs, and human-service backup.
What should sellers do now?
- 1Within this week, review priority listings on direct-to-consumer websites and social-commerce channels, filling in each title, specification, compatibility, inventory, delivery promise, and return-policy field. Export a structured checklist to ensure every field is completed and internally consistent.Listing Optimizer
- 2Within this week, establish human-service backup for stores that rely on AI shopping assistants. Check responses covering products, addresses, and payment methods, record and correct errors, and create a verifiable FAQ and escalation list.AI Customer Service
- 3Within this week, before enabling an AI presales adviser in priority categories, test responses to common buyer questions about compatibility, inventory, delivery, and returns. Check each response against the page information and record the issue, answer, and owner in three columns.AI Presales Agent