Shopper adoption of AI has surged in the past 12months, rising +47% year-on-year as consumers increasingly use the tech in everyday buying journeys, the latest research from payment platform, Adyen, reveals.

Original research of 41,000 global consumers in its 2025 Annual Retail Report showed that now 37% of shoppers are using AI, with 12% having used the technology for the first time when shopping in the past year.

Growing AI adoption in product and brand discovery

Over half (58%) of consumers now use AI for inspiration when making purchases, with the same proportion saying AI assistants provide inspiration faster than anything else, such as traditional search.

A further 56% say using AI assistants for shopping helps them “cut through the noise” of crowded online and social sales channels. Meanwhile, 56% said they wanted to use AI to discover new or unique brands within product discovery and search.

“Consumers are embracing AI at an unprecedented rate as they discover how this technology is transforming the shopping experience,” Roelant Prins, CCO at Adyen, said. “We’re entering an era where AI can act as our own personal stylist, curating outfits tailored to individual tastes and preferences.”

Retailers bet big on AI

With such strong growth in AI adoption among consumers, a third (32%) of retailers plan to invest in the tech to support sales and marketing efforts this year, while a further 30% plan to use AI to support product innovation.

“The future of commerce is agentic, with unified commerce laying the groundwork for seamless online and offline experiences,” Nitin Mangtani, SVP & GM Commerce & Retail Cloud at Salesforce, commented.

“AI is no longer viewed as a future bet – it’s a current imperative for retailers and consumers alike.”

Holly Worst, VP of Retail, Adyen

This follows a separate report by software development company, Globant, which identifies retail as one of the sectors set to benefit the most from Agentic AI deployment. With a projected 86% growth in AI and data analytics investment this year, it said this underscored the essential role of AI agents will play in delivering competitive advantage to retail businesses.

“AI agents are marking the beginning of a new technological era that will completely transform how businesses operate and compete,” Gonzalo Vazquez, CTO of Globant Europe, said.

“With exponential growth and results already redefining the rules of the game, AI agents bring unprecedented creativity, speed, and precision. Organisations that adopt these systems will be better positioned to adapt and lead in an ever-evolving environment,” Vazquez concluded.