Online shopping has been a part of internet life for a while now, but the way we shop online might be changing right before our eyes.
Do you ever feel like your phone knows you too well? Like the boots you mentioned once in a half-asleep mumble are now stalking you across Instagram and Google Shopping?
Welcome to the future of retail, where artificial intelligence doesn’t just guess what you want, it knows.
Google’s latest report on AI-powered personalisation in shopping isn’t just another shiny corporate pitch. It’s a clear sign: how we shop has fundamentally changed, and innovative brands are leaning into it.
From Window Browsing to Hyper-Personalisation
Remember the joy of aimlessly wandering through shops, discovering a jacket you didn’t know you needed? That moment of discovery still exists, but now it’s in your pocket.
Thanks to AI, platforms like Google Shopping now serve curated “For You” feeds based on your search history, preferences, and even your behaviour on YouTube. It’s like a personal stylist that also happens to know your budget, your size, and your guilty obsession with pink sneakers.
And let’s be real: when it works, it works. No more endless scrolling. No more decision fatigue. Just you and precisely what you didn’t know you were looking for.
Confidence is the New Currency
One of the most fascinating pieces of Google’s AI strategy is the focus on virtual try-ons. Not just your standard awkward AR selfie with sunglasses, but virtual clothing fit models based on real body diversity.
Why does this matter for online shopping? Because online shopping has always had a confidence problem. Will it fit? Will it look right? Will I feel good in it?
When AI helps answer those questions in advance, customers get bolder, and brands get fewer returns.
Loyalty Is No Longer Just About Points
Here’s a spicy opinion: brands that still rely on outdated online shopping loyalty programs, like punch cards or tired reward tiers, are missing the point.
Today, loyalty is emotional, especially when online shopping. It’s built when a customer feels seen. When their style, preferences, and quirks are acknowledged in the way a store talks to them. That’s the kind of connection AI can make scalable.
According to Google’s research, shoppers who feel “seen” by retailers score 20% higher in Net Promoter Scores. That’s a huge lift that can’t be faked with a generic discount code.
The Risk of Over-AI
But let’s pump the brakes for a second. Personalisation is powerful but creepy? It can be.
Brands that lean too hard into the algorithm without a human touch risk alienating the people they’re trying to woo. Nobody wants to feel like a spreadsheet is stalking them.
That’s why the future isn’t just AI. It’s AI with taste. With ethics. With nuance. With real humans checking the work and asking, “Does this feel like something I’d enjoy, or like a robot yelling in my face?”
Final Thoughts
At its best, AI isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the invisible engine of a better online shopping experience.
The retailers who win in this new era won’t just be the ones with the flashiest tech. They’ll be the ones who use AI to amplify what humans do best: connect, surprise, and delight.
So, pay attention whether you’re a business owner, a marketer, or someone who loves a good online shopping spree, because the future of retail isn’t coming.
It’s already in your cart.
