Terry KS AUSTRALIA, 28 OCTOBER – Retailers heading into the crucial year-end shopping rush face mounting pressure as artificial intelligence fundamentally transforms consumer purchasing behaviour and challenges brand loyalty.
According to a study commissioned by supply chain and commerce solutions provider Manhattan Associates, 85 percent of Australian consumers would switch stores if an AI assistant found an identical product at a lower cost from an alternative merchant. The shift highlights growing price sensitivity following a milestone year in which Australian shoppers spent a record 23.8 billion Australian dollars, over the extended Black Friday window based on CommBank iQ data.
Consumer adoption of automated shopping assistants is rising sharply, with 83 percent of respondents anticipating AI will influence their retail choices in the months ahead. The leading planned applications include comparing products across multiple sellers at 36 percent and hunting for the lowest available prices at 35 percent.
Raghav Sibal, Vice President for Asia-Pacific at Manhattan Associates, noted that AI comparison engines make it risky for businesses to depend solely on historical customer loyalty. He explained that discovering an identical item at a discount encourages buyers to explore merchants they have never purchased from in the past, though pricing alone does not guarantee a completed order without dependable fulfilment and overall purchase satisfaction.
Consumer caution remains a defining factor. While deal discovery is surging, 78 percent of shoppers confirm they verify AI-suggested discounts directly on official merchant platforms before committing funds. Price discrepancy represents the main worry, with 52 percent double-checking price accuracy, while others scrutinise product reviews at 23 percent and freight timelines at 20 percent. Furthermore, 53 percent still choose to execute the final checkout on a merchant app or storefront rather than through an external AI assistant.
When multiple sellers offer matched pricing, fulfilment speed and immediate stock visibility dictate the final choice. Survey responses show that local inventory availability stands as the primary tiebreaker at 39 percent, surpassing free delivery at 28 percent and expedited shipping at 27 percent. To secure products nearby, 75 percent of buyers stated they are comfortable providing location data to digital assistants.
Sibal stressed that converting AI-assisted discovery into actual revenue requires accurate real-time inventory tracking across all channels. He observed that if advertised prices vary or stock is unavailable, shoppers will immediately turn to competitors, making operational backend readiness the decisive competitive advantage during peak sales.