American trust in AI for retail: Consumer sentiment in 2025

Key findings

• One in four (26%) of Americans say they trust AI in retail, while 33% say they don’t.
• Trust is highest among Gen Z (29%) and millennials (30%).
• Women are more skeptical than men: 35% of women say they distrust AI in retail compared to 31% of men.
• About 65% trust AI to compare prices, but only 14% trust it to place orders on their behalf.
• Trust is higher among more educated and higher-income consumers, but not by much.

According to YouGov’s research, 26% of Americans say they trust AI in retail settings (either “a lot” or “somewhat”), while about a third (32%) say they don’t trust it. The rest are neutral (32%) or unsure (8%).

This signals significant consumer hesitation. Among sectors tested, finance remains the least trusted for AI use, but trust in retail still has room to grow.

Generational trust in AI: Millennials trust AI shopping tools more

Generational differences are noticeable, though not extreme. Millennials (30%)  and Gen Z (29%) are most likely to say they trust AI in retail. Baby Boomers trail at 20%.

Gender divides are also present. Women are more likely to express outright distrust, with 35% saying they either “don’t trust much” or “don’t trust at all,” compared to 31% of men.

Demographic trust in AI tools by income 

Consumers with higher incomes tend to trust retail AI more, though distrust remains present at all levels. Americans earning over $80,000 a year are most trusting (34%), while those earning under $40,000 show lower trust (26%) and higher levels of outright distrust (39%). Even with these differences, neutrality and uncertainty remain common across all income groups.

What retail tasks do Americans trust AI with?

Americans distinguish sharply between what they do and don’t want AI to handle in retail. The most widely trusted function is comparing prices across stores, which 65% of Americans say they are comfortable with. A slightly smaller majority, 59%, say they trust AI to help them find items either in-store or online. When it comes to more personalized interactions, 44% trust AI to suggest deals tailored to them, and an equal share are comfortable receiving product recommendations.

Fewer, just 35%, are willing to trust AI to handle customer service issues such as order problems or delivery updates. And when it comes to letting AI act on their behalf, trust drops significantly: only 14% are comfortable with AI placing orders for them.

In short, Americans welcome AI when it supports their shopping decisions, but are reluctant to let it act on their behalf.

Generational differences in trust of AI for shopping tasks

Interestingly, older consumers are more trusting of AI for some traditional retail functions. For example, 75% of Gen X and 66% of Boomers trust AI to compare prices, compared to just 51% of Gen Z. Similarly, Boomers and Gen X are more likely to trust AI to help locate items in-store. But when it comes to more advanced tasks like placing orders, the trend flips. About 20% of Gen Z trust AI to place an order for them, the highest of any generation, while only 12% of Boomers say the same.

Retail AI faces limits in trust despite promising use cases

AI earns more consumer confidence in retail than some other sectors, especially for supportive, non-decisional tasks like comparing prices and finding items. But trust falters for tasks that involve acting on the consumer’s behalf, and skepticism remains high across generations and genders.

Methodology

YouGov polled 1,287 US adults online on December 4, 2025. The survey was carried out through YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. Data is weighted by age, gender, race, political affiliation, education level, and region to be representative of all US adults. The margin of error is approximately ±3 percentage points for the overall sample.