UK shoppers back AI price comparison over payments

By Milan Rojan

UK consumers are embracing AI to help discover products and compare prices, but remain cautious about allowing artificial intelligence to play a role in payments, according to the latest report from ecommerce technology provider ESW.

The report has found that 48% of UK consumers are open to AI-led price comparison, while 42% are comfortable with AI-powered deal finding. However, confidence has fallen sharply when AI moves closer to the payment process, with only 26% of respondents saying they are comfortable with AI-powered payments and 53% expressing discomfort.

The research has also highlighted changing shopping behaviours across generations and regions. Around 43% of UK consumers have discovered products through social media platforms, increasing to 72% among Gen Z shoppers. Despite this, only 29% trust completing purchases through social commerce checkout experiences, while 35% continue to prefer shopping directly through brand or retailer websites.

Generational differences have been particularly evident. The study has shown that 41% of both Gen Z and Millennial consumers are comfortable with AI-powered payments, compared with 15% of Gen X respondents and just 8% of Baby Boomers. Consumers in southern England have also demonstrated greater openness to AI-enabled payments than those in the Midlands and the North.

The findings have further shown that traditional payment methods continue to command the highest levels of consumer trust. Cards have remained the preferred payment option, followed by PayPal. Although almost one-third of UK consumers have used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services during the past year, BNPL has remained among the least trusted payment methods despite stronger adoption among younger shoppers.

Jonathan Sheard, Regional Vice President of Sales, UK and Nordics at ESW, said: “The findings show a UK market that is moving in different directions at once. Consumers in London and the South are generally more open to international shopping and newer digital behaviours, while shoppers in the Midlands and North are thinking much harder about value, delivery costs and reliability.

“Similarly, the broader ESW Signals findings show that global ecommerce growth is becoming increasingly uneven across regions and channels. Consumers are discovering products in more places and shopping internationally more frequently, but they still expect the purchase experience itself to feel trusted, transparent and reliable. For brands, that means growth increasingly depends on delivering localised customer experiences that reflect different consumer expectations market by market.”

The report has also pointed to diverging spending patterns across the UK. While 35% of consumers reported higher discretionary spending over the past year, 36% said they had reduced spending. Financial confidence has played a significant role, with consumers who feel financially secure more likely to report increased expenditure than those who are less confident.

Cross-border ecommerce has remained popular, although long delivery times, shipping costs and duties have continued to discourage many consumers from purchasing internationally. More than one in five UK consumers have also reported buying second-hand goods frequently, with the figure rising to 36% among Gen Z shoppers, reflecting growing interest in recommerce.

The UK findings have formed part of ESW’s global study covering 18 markets. Across the survey, 62% of consumers said social media influences purchasing decisions, although only 6% preferred completing purchases directly on social platforms. The report has also identified stronger discretionary spending growth across the Middle East and Asia than in Europe and North America, highlighting increasingly varied consumer behaviour across global ecommerce markets.