AI demands among UK shoppers are rising, with more customers now expecting retailers to deliver AI-powered shopping experiences within their buying journeys, the latest research from DHL Ecommerce reveals.

Original research of over 24,000 shoppers globally, including 1,000 from the UK, in its latest Ecommerce Trends Report 2025 revealed that six in ten (60%) of British consumers now want AI-driven tools to support their shopping experiences.

Virtual try-on capabilities topped consumers’ AI demands (77%), followed by support from AI-powered shopping assistants (76%) and voice-enabled product search (72%). Meanwhile, a further 70% of those polled by DHL Ecommerce said they wanted AI to automatically add product suggestions to their shopping baskets.

Fitting rooms, but make them virtual

As consumer adoption of AI accelerates, retailers have already started building virtual try-on functionalities within digital customer journeys.

Debenhams is partnering with be Retail Social to deploy its virtual try on tech across its beauty products, before extending it in to its fashion and clothing brands.

be Retail Social’s AI-powered virtual fitting room platform blends animated, interactive and personalised content with social influence. It allows shoppers to swipe through different collections and products and then invite friends, family, followers or brand shopping consultants into their virtual fitting room for instant feedback.  

Daniel Finley, CEO of Debenhams, said the “use of moving, personalised human avatars with social influence is a real step forward in the virtual try-on space” adding it is already seeing “tangible benefits” from the be Retail Social solution.

Agentic AI answers consumer demands for AI-powered shopping assistants

Tech businesses are also increasingly integrating agentic AI into their solutions in response to growing demand from customers for AI-powered shopping assistants.

This week, Algolia announced it is will enable fashion retailers to deploy AI agents to style consumers digitally. It will use AI agents to consider shoppers’ purchase histories and buying intent behaviours, before matching these to retailers’ available inventory to deliver personalised product recommendations for each customer.

“By acting as the connective intelligence layer between customer data and front-end AI agents, brands [can] create shopping experiences that feel as tailored and responsive as an in-store stylist,” Bernadette Nixon, CEO of Algolia, said.