Fashion Shoppers Trust AI for Price Alerts, Not Purchase Decisions

Fashion Consumers Want AI Assistance, Not AI Control

Fashion and sportswear shoppers remain deeply skeptical about letting artificial intelligence make purchasing decisions on their behalf, with only 7% currently willing to allow AI assistants to buy without approval, according to new research from ACI Worldwide and YouGov.

The survey of more than 3,300 consumers across the UK and US reveals a clear preference: shoppers want AI tools that help them make better decisions, not tools that make decisions for them. Price drop alerts and cross-retailer price comparisons emerged as the most valued features, each selected by 35% of consumers—nearly double the interest in personalized product recommendations at 18% and outfit suggestions at 17%.

The Trust Gap in Agentic Commerce

The findings underscore a significant hurdle for the emerging field of agentic commerce, where AI agents act autonomously on behalf of users. While 53% of respondents said they are uncomfortable allowing an AI assistant to make purchases on their behalf, the discomfort varies by degree. Twenty percent would accept recommendations from AI but reject autonomous purchases, while 14% would require manual approval for every transaction. Only 7% would permit autonomous purchasing even under predefined conditions.

Interest in price drop alerts peaks among 45-54-year-olds at 40%, compared to 27% among 18-24-year-olds, according to the research. Overall interest drops significantly for AI features that recommend rather than compare, including finding similar products or alternatives at 27%.

Why It Matters

As retailers invest heavily in AI-powered shopping experiences, this research reveals a fundamental mismatch between technological capability and consumer readiness. The gap suggests that merchants must prioritize transparency, control mechanisms, and proven reliability before autonomous AI purchasing can achieve mainstream adoption. For fashion retailers specifically, the data indicates that AI tools delivering price intelligence will see faster adoption than those attempting to replicate human judgment on style and fit.

Payment Performance Remains Critical

The research also highlights that payment reliability continues to drive conversion regardless of whether purchases are initiated by consumers or AI assistants. Among consumers who have experienced payment failures online, 39% abandoned the purchase altogether, 22% switched to another retailer, and 53% attempted to complete the purchase using an alternative payment method.

"Consumers are drawing a clear distinction between AI that helps them make better decisions and AI that makes decisions for them," said Adriana Iordan, global head of merchant product management and payment intelligence at ACI Worldwide. "Fashion shoppers see real value in AI tools that help them find better prices, but they're not ready to hand over the final purchase decision."

Marie Driscoll, president of the Retail Marketing Society, added that shoppers want AI to inform purchases, not make them. "The requisite trust will be earned when retailers prove that AI can be reliable, transparent and safely constrained, not just convenient," she said.

The findings were first reported by Fashion Network based on the ACI Worldwide and YouGov research.