How People Shop in AI (in 5 Charts)
Q4 is the busiest shopping stretch of the year, and this year a growing share of it is taking place in AI conversations.
We analyzed hundreds of thousands of shopping prompts across our network over the last three months to better understand how consumers shop in AI conversations. We define a shopping prompt as one in which someone is discovering a product, comparing options, or signaling they’re ready to buy.
For context:
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It shows AI shopping outside the biggest AI platforms. Most public data on AI shopping comes from the largest frontier labs. Our network is made up of the long tail of AI products outside of them, so this is a look at how people shop with AI across the rest of the ecosystem.
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It’s a snapshot of today. Our network changes as we add new AI consumer products as publishing partners, and these patterns will shift with it.
Shoppers use AI to discover new products
The majority of shopping prompts in our network land in the discovery stage of the user funnel. Which is to say, AI is increasingly where people go to figure out what they want. This is useful information for brands looking to get in front of shoppers while they’re still open to discovering what to buy.
Here’s what each stage sounds like based on anonymized prompts from our network.
| Discovery | Comparing | Buying |
|---|---|---|
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|
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- Discovery
- “What are some fine jewelry brands out there”
- “recommend a good espresso machine for home”
- “Thinking about getting a gaming chair, thoughts?”
- Comparing
- “Is it worth it to get that 256 GB over the 128 GB”
- “Is it worth getting a fitness tracker with GPS for trail running?”
- “I’ve had a samsung galaxy s23 for 3 years almost 4 should i upgrade?”
- Buying
- “Resident Evil is on promotion(-75%)!!! And I can buy it now 😍”
- “ok i found what i wanted on temu i’m gonna buy it now”
- “Xteink started shipping X3/X4 units with different internal hardware (cost-driven change), tell me more cause I just bought the XTEINK X4 Classic (X4 V2)”
More than half of AI shopping happens on desktop
- 51.2%
- Desktop
- 46.9%
- Mobile
- 1.8%
- Other
Slightly more than half of shopping prompts in our network happen on desktop. That’s notable, because across all prompts in our network, mobile outpaces desktop 4 to 1. Yet, when people shop in AI, desktop takes the lead: nearly 8% of desktop prompts are shopping-related, compared with under 2% on mobile.
One read on this is that people use AI on their phones more for entertainment and casual conversation, then turn to desktop when they need to get something done, including shopping-related tasks. Shoppers may also still be learning to trust AI with a purchase decision, and a desktop session may give them room to dig in, with a bigger screen and multiple tabs to double-check AI’s suggestions.
AI shopping conversations run 1.5x longer
A typical AI conversation in our network runs 5.4 turns and lasts about 8.3 minutes. A conversation where someone shows buying intent runs 50% more turns and lasts 45% longer.
People shopping in AI stick around longer and ask more questions along the way. Every extra prompt is another turn in the conversation, and another chance for a brand to show up in it.
AI shopping prompts have 2.5x more words than traditional search
The median shopping prompt in our network is 10 words. Public studies show the median traditional Google Search prompt, before AI Overviews and AI Mode, is about 4 words.
AI prompts are longer than traditional search prompts. People tell AI what they’re interested in, what they’re willing to spend, and when they need it by. Brands have never had this much visibility into how shoppers think, and it presents a new opportunity to show up with an even more relevant offer.
Shoppers peak Friday mornings
Shopping prompts make up a bigger share of AI conversations on Friday than on any other day of the week, running 22% above the weekly average. Saturday is close behind at 18% above the weekly average.
Within the day, late morning leads: between 8 AM and noon local time, the share of shopping prompts runs 30% above average, with early afternoon right behind it.
Friday morning is when people start looking ahead to the weekend, and it’s when they turn to AI to research what they want to buy. Some of this could be people planning for weekend shopping in person, and building a short list before they head to the store. For brands, that’s the window when shoppers are most actively looking.
Highlights
- AI is a discovery channel. 52% of shopping prompts in our network come from people still figuring out what they want.
- Half of AI shopping happens on desktop. Desktop drives 51% of shopping prompts despite making up only about 19% of all queries we analyzed.
- Shopping conversations run longer. They include 50% more prompts and last 45% longer than a typical AI conversation.
- Shoppers give AI more to work with. The median shopping prompt is 10 words, 2.5x the length of a traditional Search prompt.
- Friday morning is peak shopping time. Friday runs 22% above the weekly average, and 8 AM to noon runs 30% above the daily average.
