is ai taking the joy out of holiday shopping? halifax expert weighs in
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grinch-proof your holiday shopping plans with in-person and online shopping tips.
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the convenience of online ai shopping is taking some of the joy out of seeking holiday presents, says a retailing expert at saint mary’s university.
“to me personally, a lot of the joy in giving something to somebody is the process. you think about that individual, what they like, what they don’t like and you spend some time trying to find the right thing for them and so you kind of outsource it to the machine. it’s no longer very personal,” said ramesh venkat, director of the david sobey retailing centre and associate professor of marketing at saint mary’s.
a recent survey showed canadian consumers are using artificial intelligence tools to guide their holiday shopping more than ever, but they remain hesitant to hand over their entire shopping lists to ai-generated sources.
with black friday and cyber monday nearing, the kpmg survey found that 78 per cent of canadians are already using ai-powered tools like personalized recommendations, product reviews, price comparisons on retailer websites and apps, and conversational platforms like chatgpt or gemini to research deals. kpmg surveyed 1,200 canadians aged 18 to 85.
for many consumers, affordability and time restrictions send them to online ai searches, said venkat.
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“a lot of people are leaning on ai to help them find the lowest price,” he said. “previously, we would go on google and search or go to a particular website like amazon and search and we would have to spend a little bit of time trying to find the best product at the best price. but now that job can be outsourced to ai. it can go and search different sites and come back with the recommendations.
“the other benefit is today there are affordability issues with a lot of people, so saving is important. also people have very little time, working long hours, and they don’t want to spend a lot of time shopping. this makes it much easier for them; it’s convenient.”
on the flip side, almost as many (76 per cent) said going a step further by allowing agentic ai to help plan and prepare actions felt impersonal and took the sentimental touch away from gift giving. agentic ai helps consumers build a shopping cart or schedule delivery but still requires user confirmations at key steps.
“when it comes to agentic ai shopping agents, canadians remain hesitant, with most (86 per cent) wanting to remain in control,” said elliot marer, national leader of consumer and retail at kpmg canada. “for retailers, building trust will be critical through transparency, easy opt-ins and human-in-the-loop options so that technology enhances rather than replaces the personal touch at the heart of holiday shopping.”
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sixty per cent of respondents said they would feel uncomfortable allowing an autonomous end-to-end ai agent to make purchases on their behalf.
“overall, we are seeing a more tech-savvy yet cautious consumer, one who embraces digital convenience but demands transparency and choice. canadians are ready to use these tools but not to surrender control,” said marer.
using ai tools can be helpful, venkat said, but it is important to be wary of the risks.
“be very careful and cautious with browser extensions because you don’t know the company that is behind the technology,” said venkat. “if you click on those and put your credit card in and buy something, that could potentially lead to an outcome that you don’t want. you have to be very careful with those sorts of things.”
the next iteration will be autonomous agentic ai agents that can manage tasks end to end, from placing orders to arranging returns with minimal human intervention. u.s. retailers are piloting these solutions, but adoption in canada is in its early stages.
the survey showed there is interest in ai shopping agents with canadians aged 18 to 24 leading the way at 54 per cent. the interest declines with age, dropping to 22 per cent among those 55-64 and 19 per cent among adults 65-84.
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venkat said there is validity in how different generations view ai shopping tools.
“there might be sort of an age difference,” said venkat. “the slightly older consumer might prefer the personal touch and human interaction. the younger generation, the gen zs and the generation coming behind them were born with (cellphones) in their hands. for them, it is second nature. we had to learn to use these things. they don’t see the division between the digital and the physical.”
venkat said there is a risk to letting ai take over your shopping.
“gradually, over time, we become more and more reliant on technology to do things for us,” he said.
“we are going to lose the ability to do these things ourselves. shopping is overwhelming for some people with the limited time they have. but if you become too reliant on it, i think over time you lose the ability to do certain things yourself. that is the risk and, of course, the sentimentality and the personal touch kind of go away.”
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