Is AI Santa’s newest little helper? 🎅 Our latest research suggests yes, especially for younger shoppers.
🎁 Nearly a quarter of under‑35s used AI to search for gifts this year, and those who try it tend to rank it among their most useful ways to search.
📈 Trust is building too: 78% of AI users say they can rely on brand and retailer recommendations AI makes, with confidence higher for summaries in search (80%) than for chatbots or assistants (69%).
But this is a shift in the consumer journey – not a wholesale replacement. Ipsos iris data indicates that 21 million people in the UK used LLM platforms in September 2025, up 78% YoY… yet only 8% of visits to ChatGPT go straight to a retail site. Many continue via search, showing AI is often just one step on a longer path to purchase.
💡What does this mean? Brands should design for discovery across AI and search, make content easy to surface in AI summaries, and keep retail and social touchpoints strong. Above all, measure the real journeys your customers take – and prioritise the moments that matter.
Read the full report: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/santas-newest-little-helper-ais-role-christmas-gifting-0