AI Can Fill the Cart, but Trust Gets Your Brand In It
Whether your brand is on a mission to save the world or trying to help people save time making dinner, it all comes down to trust. That's easy to overlook amid the blitz of AI-assisted shopping headlines we've seen recently.
This month, Meta's new Muse agent, which can search for products and handle checkout, hit the top of Apple's App Store, ahead of ChatGPT. But the consumer data tells us most people aren't handing over the cart just yet. Among shoppers who use AI, 50% compare prices, while only 26% let AI complete a purchase. (Menlo Ventures)
Our Brand Trust Inventory looks at trust through three drivers: Authenticity, Capability, and Empathy. AI agents are struggling on all three: Only 24% of shoppers in a Vogue Business survey trust recommendations from AI chatbots. Meanwhile, 54% of people who used AI for a recent purchase said they had to double-check everything it told them. And 64% think AI shopping agents will benefit brands more than consumers. (Gartner)
Loyal customers believe a brand is honest, will keep its promise, and cares about their success in return. Right now, most people don't believe any of that about AI. That's good news for brands, because a trusted brand already has what the agent doesn't.
What's critical for brands right now is understanding how their customers are using AI to shop. One shopper might ask AI to "reorder my detergent," setting off the predictable purchase journey your brand hopes for. Another might say "find me a detergent," which leaves the decision to the agent and sends the purchase down a new, unmapped path that may not include your brand at all.
This distinction is becoming central to modern marketing strategy. The decisions consumers hand off to AI get won on data, price, and availability. The decisions they continue to make themselves get won on brand experience, emotion, and discovery. Where is your brand competing?
Too many brands fall so in love with what they believe they could be that they fail to look outside their organization to ask whether their customers believe them. AI is making it more important than ever to find out what your customers really believe.
