More shoppers are turning to AI for holiday gift ideas

Current landscape: AI-powered gift shopping is gaining momentum during the 2024 holiday season, with British consumers expected to spend £28.6bn on Christmas gifts.

• Consumer sentiment shows strong interest, with 95% believing AI could help find better gifts
• The average spending per person in Britain is projected to reach £596
• Traditional AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini are being joined by specialized AI gift recommendation services

AI shopping tools and platforms: A new generation of dedicated AI gift generators are emerging to help holiday shoppers streamline their gift-buying process.

• GiftList, a US-based platform, offers an AI chatbot that provides interactive gift suggestions linked to 50,000 retailers
• Competing services like Cool Gift Ideas and MyMap.AI are also entering the market
• These platforms aim to recreate the personalized shopping experience traditionally found in brick-and-mortar stores

Real-world experiences: Early adopters report mixed results when using AI for gift suggestions, highlighting both the potential and limitations of current AI shopping assistants.

• Josie Hughes successfully used ChatGPT to find outdoor activity gifts for her young brother
• Some users found AI recommendations too generic, particularly for older recipients
• The effectiveness of AI suggestions appears to depend heavily on the specificity of the user’s input

Expert insights: Industry professionals emphasize the importance of detailed prompts and recognize AI’s potential to transform retail searching and shopping patterns.

• Linda Ellett of KPMG suggests AI could fundamentally change how consumers discover products online
• Perplexity’s Dimitry Shevelenko advises users to be as specific as possible when describing gift recipients and preferences
• The technology shows promise in replicating the personalized assistance traditionally provided by in-store retail staff

Future implications: While AI gift shopping tools show promise, their current implementation suggests both opportunities and challenges for retailers and consumers alike.

• The technology could disrupt traditional online advertising and sponsored search models
• Success rates vary significantly based on user input quality and AI platform sophistication
• The personal touch remains important, with AI serving best as a supplementary tool rather than a complete replacement for human gift selection judgment