An ACI Survey Indicates Some Hesitation About Agentic Payments – Digital Transactions

As shopping and commerce gear up for an online horde of AI agents equipped to seek out and buy products, doubts are starting to emerge regarding how much discretion should be extended to those bits of code.

In the latest development, research emerged early Wednesday indicating consumers using AI agents may require considerable persuasion to hand over complete control over purchasing. With respect to fashion shoppers, it turns out just 7% of U.S. and U.K. consumers queried in a recent survey are willing to permit AI agents to buy without approval when shopping. Of these, 5% would allow the transaction only within set limits, and 2% specify the retailers.

The data are drawn from “The new rules for fashion and sportswear payments,” a report sponsored by the payments processor ACI Worldwide. YouGov conducted the online survey. Consumers contacted for the report were aged 18 to 65.

In general, some 53% of the surveyed shoppers were not comfortable with the idea of an AI assistant making purchases on their behalf, though 20% would take recommendations from the assistant without allowing autonomous purchases, according to the report. “Shoppers are telling us they want AI to inform the purchase, not make it,” says Marie Driscoll, president of the Retail Marketing Society, as quoted in the report.

The research canvassed more than 3,300 consumers in the United Kingdom and the United States, with the number of men and women evenly divided. The effort concentrated on fashion and sportswear shoppers.

Some 53% overall are unwilling to let AI purchase anything on their behalf, according to the research. Instead, shoppers value information relayed by AI, such as price-drop alerts, which 35% of the shoppers cited.

Overall, online payment failures prompted 39% of respondents to walk away, while 22% switched merchants and 53% resorted to an alternative payment method (multiple responses were permitted).