61% of Shoppers Use AI for Back-to-School Deals: Amazon, Google Win
Key Points
- 61% of shoppers used generative AI and AI-powered shopping tools in 2026 to find prices, discounts, and recommendations according to the National Retail Federation survey.
- Shoppers spend 30% to 40% more per order when using AI assistance, according to Envive CEO Aniket Deosthali.
- Alexander Lee, an accounting professional in Brooklyn, used OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude to build his back-to-school shopping list for his two children.
How Amazon and Google Are Positioned to Win
The financial incentive is substantial. Shoppers spend 30% to 40% more per order when shopping with AI assistance, according to Aniket Deosthali, co-founder and CEO of agentic commerce company Envive, which previously led the creation of Walmart's generative AI-powered shopping experiences. This increase in order value has triggered what Deosthali described as "a big spike" in companies looking to expand their AI presence to become more discoverable to shoppers.
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Alphabet's Google enters this space with decades of expertise in understanding consumer intent through its Search business, now paired with its AI model Gemini. Amazon leverages its competitive moat: a massive product catalog combined with years of purchase history from Prime members, plus its Alexa for Shopping AI assistant. Both companies now sit at the most critical points of the shopping journey, where consumers are no longer just discovering products but actively delegating purchase decisions to AI systems.
The timing matters. New York State public schools return September 10, 2026, while most public schools across the nation started before Labor Day on September 7. Lee's experience—using AI to determine optimal purchase timing to save 20% to 30%—demonstrates how the technology is reshaping spending patterns beyond simple product selection.
Related coverage: Wall Street Raises AI Bar: S&P 500 Gains 0.1% as Tech Stocks Face Scrutiny
Why this matters: The shift from AI-assisted discovery to AI-delegated decision-making creates a compounding advantage for platforms that can combine product catalogs with transaction capability. As AI adoption accelerates and average order values increase 30% to 40%, the company that best integrates AI recommendations directly into the purchase flow controls both customer attention and conversion.
What This Means
Amazon and Google will likely capture the majority of AI-assisted shopping by 2027, as their integrated ecosystems combine product discovery, inventory data, and transaction processing. Expect increased investment from both companies in shopping-specific AI features, and watch for OpenAI and Anthropic's planned IPOs to create new competitive dynamics as these AI labs pursue direct commerce partnerships.
Sources: CNBC and other international news outlets.
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