Artificial intelligence in shopping. E-commerce 2026 report

illustration: DALL-E

The report was created based on a study of a representative group of 1,085 adult Poles. As many as 55% of respondents use artificial intelligence as an advanced product comparison tool, and 30% treat it as a tool for gathering hard facts before a purchase.

The report comprehensively analyzes the behavior of e-consumers across 13 industry categories. The differences between categories can be huge - the highest technology adaptation was recorded in the financial sector (insurance and loans) and health - in the latter, consumers actually have the most trust in the "machine" (for a large group, more than in human opinions). On the other hand, the "Culture and Entertainment" industry is the biggest victim of the zero-click phenomenon. The study also shows that the most important factor determining how a consumer searches for information about products and whether they include artificial intelligence is AGE. The generational gap shows that it is not worth putting all cards on AI, the report`s authors claim.

How to survive the paradigm shift?

The report`s creators emphasize that the key to success in 2026 is providing AI assistants with precise data. Pages cited by AI assistants have, on average, over 30% more hard facts. This requires marketers to create expert content saturated with structured data that AI can easily process and cite as reliable sources.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the consumer journey. Studies show that nearly 40% of consumers encountered results generated by artificial intelligence at some stage of the shopping journey - importantly, not always consciously! This means that search results, including Google AI Overviews, are often treated as a single whole, and a brand`s failure to appear in AI summaries and, more broadly, in the responses of popular chatbots, will determine a potential loss in the race for the consumer. Already 55% of users consider artificial intelligence most helpful when comparing specific models and products, which is one of the most tedious and time-consuming stages. The fastest adoption of artificial intelligence is seen among the youngest: 33% of people aged 18-24 consciously shop with the help of AI. Generally, age is a key differentiating parameter in this context.


"The line between a `search engine` and an `assistant` is blurring quite quickly. Today, SEO is no longer just a fight for positions in Google - it is strategic management of the entire Search Experience. The fact that 20% of users consciously use ChatGPT or Gemini is just the tip of the iceberg. Additionally, 19% of people are not sure if their result was generated by AI (e.g., via AI Overviews). This means that most likely nearly 40% of consumers are already encountering this type of content before purchasing", comments Katarzyna Chmielewska-Walas, Revenue & Clients Relations Head at Altavia Kamikaze + K2. "This means that marketing content must be optimized not only for ranking algorithms but also for LLM engines. Generative Engine Optimization strategy - GEO - is ceasing to be a niche curiosity and is becoming an essential element of the marketing mix. The focus of 55% of respondents on the product comparison stage and 23% on searching for the cheapest offer using AI shows that user intent is becoming more precise. After all, AI is best at aggregating hard parameters. For marketers, this means the need to provide flawless structured data and create expert content that AI can easily process and cite as a reliable source. We must also remember that the user no longer asks `which phone should I buy?` but `which phone under 3,000 PLN has the best zoom and a battery that lasts 2 days?`"

Industry contrasts: Finance as the leader, Culture and Entertainment as the victim, Health with surprising trust

The report presents a picture of an extremely diverse market. While in finance and health AI is becoming an "oracle" and a substantive partner (in the health category, as many as 36% of respondents consider AI more reliable than opinions and rankings), in cosmetics it is merely a tool for cutting costs, and in culture and entertainment - an assistant that causes the user not to reach the store`s website at all (zero-click).

Several key industry findings:

• Financial Industry (Insurance and Loans): Here, consumers are the most digitally aware and the most polarized. This is the most "technologized" group - as many as 34% of customers reach for AI with full awareness, which is 14 p.p. (percentage points) higher than the market average. Only 44% of people in this group declare no contact with AI (the market average is as high as 61%). Paradoxically, in this "hard" industry, AI is most often used to seek inspiration (28%, which is 10 p.p. more than the average). Poles ask AI how to secure their future, not just about the lowest installment.
• Culture and Entertainment: This industry is the biggest "victim" of the zero-click phenomenon - as many as 55% of users are satisfied with the AI summary alone and do not click on any source links (this is a record deviation of +22 p.p. compared to the general population). AI serves here mainly as an idea generator - as many as 35% of respondents look for inspiration here (+13 p.p. relative to the average).
• Health Industry (Supplements and Medicines): Here, in turn, we observe the highest trust in the "machine" - as many as 12% of respondents consider AI "significantly more reliable" than other people`s opinions (double the market average), and 24% "slightly more reliable". Patients perceive LLM algorithms as an objective source of medical knowledge, free from "whisper marketing" on forums.
• Cosmetics and Beauty: Here, "bargain hunters" dominate - in cosmetics, unlike other industries, AI is not used to look for inspiration, but to find the cheapest offer (31%, which is +5 p.p. above average). Beauty customers rarely trust the text alone (only 29%, which is 4 p.p. less than the average) - after talking to a bot, they almost always check "real-life" reviews.
• Automotive: These are the most inquisitive and "clicking" consumers. It is the industry with the highest CTR from AI summaries - as many as 42% of users click on links to learn technical details (+9 p.p. relative to the average). Only 1% of respondents in this category did not know why they were using AI (the average is 7%) - automotive customers are exceptionally task-oriented.
• Home and Garden: As many as 62% of respondents here use AI for hard comparisons of specific models (e.g., lawn mowers) - that is 7 p.p. more than the average. As many as 40% of respondents believe that a text summary from a bot is sufficient and there is no need to enter the store`s website.
• Electronics and Household Appliances: Despite high familiarity with technology, this is where customers are most skeptical - as many as 37% of them return to a traditional search engine after talking to AI to verify technical data.
• Fashion (Clothing and Footwear): In this category, AI acts as an image advisor, and consumers use it more often than others to understand parameters and fit a product (23%, +4 p.p.) rather than to look for savings.

Age as the main dividing line

Age is absolutely the most important factor determining how a consumer searches for product information and whether they include artificial intelligence. Among Polish consumers, there is a linear decline in AI adaptation in the shopping process as age increases.

• 20% of respondents consciously declare using tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude when making purchasing decisions.
• Among them, the largest group - as many as 33% - consists of respondents aged 18-24.
• Another 19% of respondents are not sure if what they used was artificial intelligence (e.g., AI Overviews in Google). This means that a total of nearly 40% of consumers may encounter AI-generated results before adding a product to the cart.
• On the other hand, 61% of consumers still do not use AI tools while making online purchases. Among them, 75% of respondents are consumers aged 55 and over, 66% are consumers aged 45-54, and 59% are aged 35-44.

Content optimization for AI is a necessary condition today to effectively reach Gen Z and Millennials - from 53% to 63% of consumers under 34 rely on AI suggestions while shopping online. Only in the third age group, i.e., from 35 years old, does traditional research regain the advantage over the share of AI tools.

In the 35-44 age group, the proportions flip - traditional searching without AI again becomes dominant during shopping. The situation looks even different for Polish consumers over 55. This age group uses new technologies least often. As many as 75% of respondents aged 55 and over do not use an AI tool for online shopping, 17% use new technologies unconsciously, and only 8% of users over 55 consciously use AI. The age-related differences are clearly visible when checking for what purposes they use AI in the shopping process.

"All of this shows that knowing your target audience is crucial in the process of creating an SEO strategy, and the activities themselves should be adapted to the purchasing habits of customers and how and where they search for information about the brand and products", concludes Katarzyna Chmielewska-Walas. "If a marketer targets products mainly to the 35+ age group, they should focus primarily on traditional SEO, reserving part of the budget for activities directed toward LLMs".

Methodology:

The study used to create the report was quantitative and was carried out using the CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview) technique. It was conducted on a representative sample of N=1,085 Polish internet users aged 18 and over. Respondents were recruited from a reliable source, the national Ariadna research panel. Non-random purposive-quota sampling was used in the study, strictly matching the sample structure to the actual demographic distribution of the population. Quota control was set on three key variables: gender, age, and size of the place of residence. Thanks to this, the sample provides a high level of confidence and a low statistical error, allowing for safe extrapolation of results. Data were collected in a condensed time from February 13 to 16, 2026. Such a short research window was chosen deliberately to avoid the influence of sudden market events on consumer responses. The main goal of this methodology was to diagnose to what extent artificial intelligence is changing product information search habits. A detailed analysis covered the behavior of e-consumers in 13 industry categories.

Link to the full report: https://ainawigator.k2precise.pl/#formularz-raportu