Consumers are increasingly comfortable completing purchases directly inside artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, signaling a potential shift in how digital commerce journeys are structured.
A new PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 1,425 U.S. adult consumers conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 29 shows that more than half of AI users would prefer to make purchases within a dedicated AI platform rather than being redirected to a merchant’s website, highlighting growing trust in AI-driven shopping experiences and a willingness to trade traditional browsing for convenience and personalization.
The findings suggest AI is beginning to reshape not just product discovery but also transaction flow itself. As AI platforms evolve from recommendation engines into end-to-end commerce interfaces, consumer preferences are starting to favor fewer handoffs, less friction and more integrated experiences.
Consumers Favor Integrated AI Shopping Experiences
The survey finds that 52% of AI users prefer to complete purchases directly within an AI interface, compared with 48% who would rather be sent to a merchant site to finish the transaction. That near-even split marks a notable departure from the dominant eCommerce model of the past decade, where both discovery and checkout typically occurred on merchant-owned platforms.
The preference for in-platform purchasing reflects a broader appetite for streamlined shopping journeys. Rather than bouncing between search engines, comparison sites and retailer checkouts, many consumers appear ready to let AI handle more of the process, provided the experience feels trustworthy and valuable.
As AI-powered assistants become more adept at surfacing relevant products, comparing options and anticipating needs, the incentive to leave the AI environment diminishes.
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Discounts, Free Shipping and Personalization Drive Willingness
While consumers show openness to AI-native commerce, their preferences are shaped heavily by tangible benefits. About 70% of AI users say they are willing to see sponsored products in AI-generated product lists if it results in exclusive discounts, compared with roughly 30% who prefer ad-free results without discounts. That trade-off highlights how value guides consumer expectations.
Free shipping offers a similarly strong incentive. Roughly seven in 10 AI users say they would accept sponsored products in exchange for free shipping, while fewer than three in 10 favor ad-free results without that perk. The data suggests consumers are pragmatic about monetization, if the payoff is clear and immediate.
Personalization also plays a critical role. More than six in 10 AI users say they would allow access to their purchase history in return for more personalized product recommendations, compared with fewer than four in 10 who prefer generic listings without sharing that data. That openness indicates growing comfort with data-driven personalization when it improves relevance and reduces decision fatigue.
Taken together, the findings show that consumers are not rejecting ads or data sharing outright. Instead, they are recalibrating expectations around transparency and value exchange. AI platforms that clearly communicate why certain products are shown and what consumers gain in return appear better positioned to win trust.
Commerce Control Begins to Shift Toward AI Platforms
The preference for buying within AI platforms carries implications for merchants, marketplaces and payments providers alike. If AI interfaces increasingly become the place where discovery, decision-making and checkout converge, control over the customer relationship may start to migrate away from traditional merchant sites.
That does not mean merchant websites will disappear, but it does suggest their role could evolve. Rather than serving as the primary destination for browsing and purchasing, merchant sites may increasingly function as fulfillment, brand and service endpoints behind AI-driven front ends.
As PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote, this shift in consumer behavior is colliding with a deeper fight over who controls the rules of AI-driven transactions. Competing commerce protocols are emerging to define how AI agents discover products, express purchase intent and execute payments, with some models designed to keep transactions anchored to merchant infrastructure and others positioning AI platforms as the primary interface for commerce.