In earnings calls from retail leaders, one of the biggest shared signals is that AI shopping assistants are becoming the new front door of the customer journey. Whether the retailer is in grocery, fashion, or general merchandise, conversational search is now the organizing principle for discovery.

• 52% of worldwide consumers prefer chatbots/virtual agents because of their easy access/convenience and their responsiveness and speed, according to December 2024 data from Capgemini.
• But there's still plenty of room to grow. Only 13% of US holiday shoppers say they'll start their buying on ChatGPT and 4% said they'll start with another AI chatbot or assistant, according to an October 2025 survey from Bain & Company and ROI Rocket.

Just as retailers are facing a search landscape revolutionized through AI, the same tech is also remaking how consumers expect to shop.

Brand-building bots

One of the most interesting themes emerging from Ralph Lauren’s earnings call is that AI assistants in luxury aren’t being deployed just as helpers, they’re also being integrated into brand storytelling.

“Ask Ralph builds on our history of innovating the consumer shopping experience and immersing our consumers in the world of Ralph Lauren,” said CEO Patrice Louvet during the call about their chatbot. He said the technology puts "Ralph's iconic styling right to your pocket."

This aligns with Shopify’s approach as well. Their assistant Sidekick is a productivity tool for merchants as well as a brand asset guiding small businesses in setting tone, writing copy, and shaping experiences.

"Sidekick is central to how so many merchants operate their businesses," said Shopify president Harley Finkelstein. "This is not just about automation; this is also about autonomy."

The next generation of AI assistants will carry brand voice, emotional tone, and differentiated UX. Retailers should be designing on-brand AI personalities, not just search utilities.

Laying out the loyalty

Retail leaders are linking AI-driven assistance to a deeper, more valuable customer relationship, which comes at a challenging time to build brand loyalty.

• Over half (55.2%) of US agencies and brand professionals said intense competition is a leading challenge to retain consumer loyalty, according to a January 2025 survey from BloomReach and EMARKETER.
• 81% of Gen Zers and millennials worldwide have switched brands in the last year, per December 2024 data from Salesforce.

“These platforms not only deepen relationships but also generate rich, actionable data that fuels… targeting capabilities and monetization strategies,” said Albertsons CEO Susan Morris on their earnings call. She also highlighted that AI-powered features are leading to consumers “transacting more frequently, redeeming rewards more easily [and] spending more."

Additionally, Louvet touted that Ask Ralph is designed to “drive conversion, and ultimately build lifetime value."

For retailers, the real ROI of shopping assistants lies in relevance, retention, and omnichannel pull-through.

Agents, not tools

Beyond brand story telling and building loyalty, retailers also have their eye on agentic shopping assistants.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy projected that multi-faceted AI assistants will benefit the company and consumers.

"I do think that the exciting part of this and the promise is that AI and agentic commerce solutions are going to expand the amount of shopping that happens online," he said on the call. "I think that's really good for customers. I think it's really good for Amazon because at the end of the day, you're going to buy from the outfit that allows you to have the broadest selection, great value, and continues to deliver for you very quickly and reliably."

Albertsons is quietly building similar capabilities inside its stack.

“We are actively deploying AI agents to enhance core business functions, including … personalization and customer care and experience, like Ask AI, unlocking new levels of speed, precision, and productivity," Morris said.

AI shopping assistants are becoming foundational customer interfaces and revenue levers. The shared message from recent earnings is clear: Retail consumer journeys are transitioning from pages and products to prompts and conversations. The retailers that win the next decade will be those that train AI not just to answer, but to anticipate, act, and embody their brands.

This article was prepared with the assistance of generative AI tools to support content organization, summarization, and drafting. All AI-generated contributions have been reviewed, fact-checked, and verified for accuracy and originality by EMARKETER editors. Any recommendations reflect EMARKETER’s research and human judgment.

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