• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 7, 2025

Artificial intelligence this year is expected to help consumers make purchase decisions, with 53% in the United States and 50% in the United Kingdom, according to the Criteo Shopper Survey. It may suggest growing trust in AI tools to assist with shopping, but consumers are still feeling nervous about how companies collect and use data.

AI concerns are real, and were identified in results from the study conducted in December 2024. Responses came from more than 7,000 participants worldwide, and many were tied to ways that advertisers will personalize ads and content.

U.S. and U.K. consumers were concerned about data use and security. The survey found that some 67% of U.S. and 64% and U.K. shoppers are concerned in the way personal data is collected.

Sherry Smith, executive managing director of the Americas at Criteo, said in an earlier interview that many of the company’s clients are interested in retail media networks (RMNs) for retailers or commerce-related sectors like travel.

“The biggest opportunity for advertisers is to reduce fragmentation, better measurements, and expand the ecosystem,” Smith said, adding that the company works with 235 retailers globally.

Smith also said RMNs have begun to pick up many of the traits that search has become famous for, such as self-service.

“Retail media is very hands on today, but we want to make it easier to execute campaigns,” she said. "We are working with several retailers getting ready to launch new networks."

RMN will become one of the premier types of platforms to use AI and agentic technologies that will transform most retailers and the ways they interact with consumers.

In the first two months of 2025, the industry has seen the growth of automation, from Google and Microsoft, to Jivox and others. 

Criteo’s survey explored consumer behaviors, preferences, and trends across various categories and markets that could help companies reach consumers.

The focus pointed to digital and omnichannel shopping habits in key regions such as the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

ChatGPT emerged as the frontrunner in AI-driven product discovery -- up 27 percentage points year-over-year (YoY) -- with 49% of global shoppers saying they used the platform in Q4 2024. The percentage points represent the difference between two numbers.

The Criteo survey also showed a rise in voice assistants -- up 14 percentage points YoY to 38% -- while Google Gemini rose 16 percentage points to 34%. Retailer chatbots rose 6 percentage points to 25%.

But AI concerns around personalization in the U.S. and U.K. persisted. Most concerns were centered on data use and security. Results from a study show 67% of U.S. and 64% of and U.K. shoppers are wary of how their personal data is collected.

Security of personal information was a concern for 64% of U.S. and 59% of U.K. shoppers. Discomfort with AI's in-depth knowledge of preferences was uniform at 58% in both regions, with 52% saying they felt AI recommendations could be biased or manipulative. Only 27% of shoppers the U.S. and 26% in the U.K. found them to be irrelevant or unhelpful.

Consumers, globally, tend to lean toward search engines when it comes to product discovery, the company found.