UK shoppers embrace AI for prices but balk at payments

TL;DR:

• 48% of UK consumers are open to AI-led price comparison and 42% to AI deal-finding, but only 26% are comfortable with AI-powered payments — 53% are uneasy.
• Comfort with AI payments splits sharply by age: 41% of Gen Z and Millennials versus 15% of Gen X and just 8% of Baby Boomers.
• The findings, from ecommerce provider ESW, show shoppers will let AI help them choose but not yet pay.

UK consumers are warming to AI as a shopping assistant while drawing a firm line at the checkout. A new report from ecommerce technology provider ESW finds appetite for AI cools the closer it gets to money: roughly half are happy for AI to compare prices, but only about a quarter want it handling payments.

Trust thins towards the till

The generational gap is stark. While 41% of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers are comfortable with AI-powered payments, that falls to 15% among Gen X and 8% among Baby Boomers. Regional attitudes diverge too, with consumers in southern England more open than those in the Midlands and the North. Traditional methods still command the most trust — cards lead, followed by PayPal — and Buy Now, Pay Later remains among the least trusted options despite stronger take-up among younger shoppers.

Discovery habits are shifting faster than payment ones: 43% of UK consumers have found products via social media (rising to 72% of Gen Z), yet only 29% trust completing a purchase through social checkout.

A consistent UK signal

The pattern reinforces earlier evidence that UK shoppers want AI buying help but distrust paid results — appetite for assistance, scepticism about handing over control or money. For UK retailers and fintechs, the message from ESW’s UK and Nordics sales lead Jonathan Sheard is that growth depends on “localised customer experiences” that feel “trusted, transparent and reliable”, with shoppers in London and the South more adventurous than value-focused buyers further north.

Looking forward

The UK results form part of an 18-market ESW study, which found stronger discretionary-spending growth in the Middle East and Asia than in Europe or North America. For British businesses deploying agentic commerce, the near-term opportunity sits in discovery and price comparison — while autonomous payments will need to earn trust one generation at a time.