TLDR: A new survey by Applause reveals that a significant majority of consumers are willing to use artificial intelligence to assist with their holiday shopping this year, leveraging AI for tasks like finding deals, gift recommendations, and visual searches. While consumer adoption is high, only half of software professionals report their organizations are developing AI shopping agents.
BOSTON – November 12, 2025 – A recent survey conducted by Applause, a global leader in digital quality and crowdsourced testing, indicates a strong consumer inclination towards utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) for their holiday shopping needs this year. The company’s sixth annual Holiday Shopping & Payments Survey highlights AI’s growing integration into the commerce landscape, with both consumers and software professionals anticipating reliance on the technology for purchasing and selling activities.
The survey’s findings reveal that a substantial portion of consumers are ready to embrace AI as a shopping assistant. Specifically, 60% of respondents intend to use AI to discover deals, 56% will seek AI-powered gift recommendations, and 53% plan to leverage AI for visual searches to locate desired presents. This trend extends to social media platforms, where 57% of consumers are likely to shop, with popular channels like Instagram (68%), Facebook (63%), and TikTok (53%) increasingly powered by AI for advertisements and recommendations.
Despite this high consumer readiness, the survey also points to a gap in enterprise-level AI development. Only 50% of developers and quality assurance professionals reported that their organizations are actively developing shopping or purchasing agents. Among those that are, 32% are handling development in-house, while 18% are engaging in partnerships, such as OpenAI Instant Checkout or Microsoft’s Copilot Merchant program.
Luke Damian, Chief Growth Officer at Applause, commented on the findings, stating, ‘Good news for retailers — consumers are planning a healthy mix of in-person and online shopping over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend and throughout the holiday season. But, it’s clear the industry needs to adapt to a world where AI is more and more involved in the customer journey. Despite continuing concerns around AI accuracy and bias, people are more than willing to let an AI agent help with their holiday shopping. This reflects the explosive growth potential of AI across markets and increasing quality that is enabling agentic AI to enter the consumer equation.’
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The survey also provided insights into broader holiday shopping behaviors. A significant 92% of respondents plan to shop online, with 41% expecting to spend more than last year. Similarly, 90% intend to shop for gifts in person, with 36% planning increased spending. The trend of returning purchases remains prevalent, with approximately one-third (33%) of shoppers likely to return holiday gifts, treating it as a standard part of online shopping. The cost of returns to retailers was estimated at $890 billion in 2024, underscoring a persistent challenge for the industry.
