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AI Is Redefining In-Person Shopping
VIP T-shirt run // Illustration by Kate Walker
AI is changing the way people shop in physical stores, turning them into final destinations where they can pick up exactly the product they want without wasting time… and maybe have a cool experience along the way.
Why It Hits: It turns out people love using AI to help narrow down what they want to buy… but don’t love using it to actually make a purchase. In fact, Coveo’s 2026 Commerce Relevance Report found that only 16% of consumers would let an AI agent shop for them — which could explain why OpenAI backed away from checkouts within ChatGPT. As a result, stores now face added pressure to have exactly what their customers want in stock.
Between The Aisles: According to Axios, AI may have killed store browsing.
McKinsey and ICSC released a new report finding that people are going to physical stores less — but when they do, they’re more intentional about their purchases.
That’s because they’ve used chatbots to essentially act as retail workers — answering queries, comparing prices, and surfacing reviews.
So, shoppers know what they want the moment they walk in, are informed about the product, and will turn around and leave if it’s not available. That’s high stakes for retailers.
Checkout: Outside of having what customers want conveniently ready on the rack or optimized for pickup, brick-and-mortar retailers are realizing they need to step up the experience they provide. Giving customers something memorable that only an in-person visit can offer is how stores can differentiate themselves from digital shopping…
…and may even prompt them to pick up another product they didn’t intend to buy.
Next Purchase: If in-person retail becomes more specialized and experiential, expect the types of people hired to work in stores to change as well. That could be bad news for high-school and college-aged employees.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.