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Retailers are betting on AI agents for holiday shopping, but consumers refuse to hand over their wallets

By GlobeNewswire

PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Talkdesk®, Inc., a leader in Customer Experience Automation (CXA), today released its “2026 AI Holiday Shopping Survey,” revealing that while shoppers eagerly use AI to hunt for deals and research gift ideas, they refuse to hand over the reins for execution — whether that means sending holiday messages, managing shipments, or spending their money.

To understand how AI will impact the upcoming shopping season, Talkdesk commissioned a survey of 1,048 U.S. holiday shoppers and 312 retail leaders at AI-deploying organizations. The findings highlight where AI is successfully influencing the customer journey and where it’s outpacing consumer comfort.

Consumers are embracing AI for product discovery, with 74% planning to use AI assistants for shopping this season and 49% willing to buy from unfamiliar brands based on AI recommendations. However, enthusiasm slows when AI lacks transparency or operates autonomously. The findings suggest retailers must bridge this trust gap before consumers will fully embrace the shift to agentic commerce.

“We are still a long way from most consumers letting an AI agent purchase on their behalf, especially for high-consideration goods,” said Michael Klein, head of retail, travel & hospitality product marketing at Talkdesk. “Retailers are eager to push the boundaries of agentic commerce, but consumers are making it clear that trust is the ultimate currency. Earning that trust requires clear guardrails, not just new technology.”

The push for agentic commerce is outpacing consumer trust

Despite a willingness to interact with AI, shoppers are wary when it comes to embracing autonomous AI agents for personal use, or trusting how retailers wield the technology.

  • Nearly 9 in 10 retailers (89%) are preparing for AI agents that shop on a customer’s behalf. But only 15% of shoppers would let an AI agent purchase products using their payment details, even if they reviewed the transaction beforehand. Without a review step, that number falls to 10%.
  • More than three-quarters of shoppers (77%) want to know when AI is part of their shopping experience, but 37% of retailers do not fully disclose it.
  • Among the 74% of shoppers demanding stronger AI rules, 55% worry about unauthorized personal data collection, 41% worry about paid product placement, and 41% worry about being charged a different price than another shopper.

Flawed AI interactions carry bottom-line costs

As 93% of retailers deploy AI agents in customer service this holiday season, AI is quickly becoming another face of the brand — and a source of potential issues when lacking proper pressure-testing and governance.

  • Nearly one in three retailers (31%) using AI report their AI tool took an incorrect action on a customer’s account in the past 12 months, such as issuing an improper refund.
  • The other top AI problems cited are customer complaints about AI interactions (33%), inaccurate product recommendations (25%), and biased or inappropriate outputs (22%).
  • Among the 58% of retailers that reported AI errors, 29% lost a customer as a result.

AI is changing seasonal work more than cutting it

Instead of replacing headcount, retailers are building a hybrid workforce of human and AI agents to handle peak holiday demand.

  • Of the retailers planning to use AI agents for customer service this holiday season, 51% intend to use them for returns, refunds, or exchanges.
  • Nearly half of retailers (47%) plan to hire approximately the same number of seasonal workers as last year, expecting AI to transform job responsibilities rather than eliminate roles. Only 19% plan to reduce seasonal hiring due to AI.
  • Most retailers (89%) plan to upskill or reskill workers, whether that’s training them to use AI tools or preparing them for roles AI is changing.

The holiday shopping rush will test retailers’ ability to scale automation without sacrificing consumer trust. The full 2026 AI Holiday Shopping Report includes data-backed recommendations for leaders preparing their operations for the holiday season and beyond.

Methodology: Talkdesk commissioned Centiment to survey 1,048 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who plan to make online purchases for themselves or others this holiday season. Centiment also surveyed 312 U.S. retail decision-makers at the director level or above at U.S. retail companies with 50 or more employees that use AI, all of whom were at least somewhat knowledgeable about their company’s AI strategy. The survey was fielded in September 2026.

About Talkdesk

Talkdesk® automates the world’s most complex customer journeys. By resolving customer requests from start to finish, AI agents enable a hybrid workforce where human expertise is reserved for the moments that matter most. Backed by deep industry expertise and trusted by global leaders like Canon, United Rentals, Sysco, and Kimberly-Clark, Talkdesk sets the standard for Customer Experience Automation (CXA).

Talkdesk is a registered trademark of Talkdesk, Inc. All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.

Media contact

Talkdesk Public Relations
pr@talkdesk.com


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