This holiday season, more shoppers are turning to artificial intelligence to help them find the right gifts at the right price, and companies are making it easier to shop with AI assistance.
"It brings it all to the forefront for me and makes for easy decision making," said Matt Huff, who was using ChatGPT to search TV deals at Best Buy.
"It will tell me about the displays, the models, the years, the smart operations," Huff said. "Then it's going to tell you which TVs you want to look at."
An Intuit QuickBooks report shows four in ten shoppers plan to use AI as a shopping sidekick this year, a 70% jump from last year.
"People are looking for deals; they're looking for gift recommendations," said smart shopping expert Trae Bodge.
Amazon, Walmart, and Target roll out AI helpers
AI is popping up inside big retailers and apps. Amazon's AI-powered Rufus shows reviews, price history and product comparisons.
This year, Walmart and Target announced partnerships with OpenAI, moves that will let shoppers buy from those stores directly inside ChatGPT. Consumers can already use ChatGPT to buy from some Shopify and Etsy sellers.
"You want a tool designed for shopping, especially in AI," said Bobby Ghoshal, CEO of Dupe.com, a platform that uses AI to help shoppers find similar, lower-priced versions of items they're looking for -- or dupes.
"People come to Dupe to save money first and foremost, but they leave Dupe feeling like they've done their research," Ghoshal said. "The best shopping tool should do both those things."
Ghoshal says Dupe users often find savings of about 60% to 70%.
"Especially in this environment that we're in right now, especially with inflation, we are seeing a lot of deal-seeking behavior," Ghoshal said.
Some downsides to know about
Bodge says AI is great for gift ideas, but finds it can lag on current deals.
"Remember the AI is pulling from the information that's already out there and it's moving so quickly, so it's very hard for the chatbot to be really accurate," she said.
Ghoshal agrees shoppers may see an occasional data gap, such as inventory and price changes, but he says the biggest weakness is the lack of tactile experience.
"It does not have contextual awareness of the physical product. What does it feel like? What does it mean to sit in this chair for three hours?" he said.
Huff said ChatGPT made this year's Black Friday shopping a lot easier, "I've got two TVs lined up, and a refrigerator," he said.
Even if AI doesn't find the best price, most shoppers say it saves them time — which is a gift in itself.
That way you don't waste your money.
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