When an order is delayed, or a card has been charged twice, do shoppers prefer typing their question to the AI agent on the website, or do they go looking for a phone number to ask a human?

For most shoppers, it depends on the question. Ahead of the busiest shopping period of the year, Sinch asked 2,501 consumers across eight countries what kind of digital communication they want from brands, and respondents shared their opinions on AI use. The findings show shoppers are cautious about AI in general, yet confident it can handle specific tasks.

As shopping moves online, deciding between an AI agent and a person for customer support is becoming part of the retail experience. Online sales made up 17.1% of all U.S. retail sales in the second quarter of 2026, and grew 12.2% over the past year, almost twice as fast as retail overall, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many online shoppers will meet an AI assistant at some point between browsing and delivery. Below, Sinch examines where they're ready for one.

AI optimism is down, and privacy is shoppers’ biggest reason for caution

Most shoppers aren’t sold on AI yet, and overall optimism has slipped since last year. According to the Sinch survey, just 43% think AI will make their shopping easier this year, down from 48% in 2025. Another 31% say it won't, and 26% aren't sure.

Data privacy is what worries them most. For the second year running, privacy or data use tops shoppers’ list of AI concerns, named by 43%. Just 7% have no concerns at all, down from 9% in 2025.

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Many shoppers also still trust people more than AI. For product advice, 53% would rather take a recommendation from a real person than from AI, up from 51% in 2025.

For phone support specifically, nearly half (48%) would rather speak to a human agent than an AI voice agent, while 52% are open to using one as long as they can be transferred to a person if needed.

But age changes the picture a lot. Over half of Millennials (55%) and Gen Z (51%) trust AI recommendations as much as or more than a human's, dropping to 47% of Gen X and 30% of Baby Boomers. Younger shoppers are also far more optimistic that AI will make shopping easier. Fifty-five percent of Gen Z say it will, compared with just 18% of Baby Boomers. The older the shopper, the more AI has to prove itself.

US shoppers are the most skeptical of AI

An AI agent can also get a very different welcome depending on the shopper’s country. AI skepticism is highest in the U.S.: Just 26% of North American consumers think AI will make their shopping easier, 17 percentage points below the global average.

Latin America sits at the other end, with the strongest AI confidence anywhere: 72% of shoppers in this region think AI will make shopping easier, and 61% trust AI recommendations as much as or more than a person's. This means a shopper in São Paulo may be happy to start with the AI agent, while one in Chicago may go straight to the "talk to a person" button.

Practical value is how AI wins over shoppers

Despite rising skepticism about AI overall, only one of the 2,501 people surveyed ruled out ever using an AI agent.

Checking on an order's status is the most popular use, chosen by 48%, closely followed by learning more about a product before buying (47%) and accessing customer service after normal business hours (36%).

The survey also asked how confident shoppers are that a brand's AI assistant can handle specific tasks, from tracking an order to changing payment details. Over 60% are confident AI can handle every task.

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Shoppers are most confident in AI for quick, informational tasks like tracking a parcel, and less so once their money or account details are involved. But even for payment or billing changes, the lowest-scoring task, 62% are confident AI can handle it.

This suggests that while shoppers aren't sold on using AI for its own sake, they still welcome it when it handles a task they want done.

What actually makes an AI assistant useful

The findings point to what good AI customer service looks like in practice, starting with the basics: quick, accurate answers to order and product questions, at any hour.

For payment or account changes, where confidence is lower, shoppers want an easy way to reach a person, without having to explain the problem again. Older shoppers are likely to need this most: 23% of Baby Boomers say they're "not confident at all" that AI can handle payment and billing tasks for them, against 11% of Gen Z shoppers.

Finally, transparency truly matters: Nearly 6 in 10 shoppers say their biggest worry about AI is either privacy (43%) or not knowing whether they're talking to a person or a machine (15%). They want to know when they're talking to AI, and what happens to their data.

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Confidence in AI comes down to the job it's given

Shoppers' wariness of AI is real, but it eases once they see the value AI brings to their experience, provided retailers use it openly, for the tasks that help them most, and with a real person close at hand.

Methodology

Sinch’s 2026 BFCM consumer survey polled 2,501 consumers across eight countries in July 2026. Respondents were aged 18 and over. Country samples: the United States (698), Australia (351), Brazil (350), the United Kingdom (252), France (225), Germany (225), Mexico (200) and Spain (200). Regional groupings in this report are North America (United States), Europe (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain), LATAM (Brazil, Mexico) and APAC (Australia). Year-over-year comparisons are against Sinch’s 2025 BFCM consumer survey, which also included India and Canada; those two markets were not surveyed in 2026.

This story was produced by Sinch and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.