Three recent studies measured how much shoppers will let AI agents buy on their behalf. The findings consistently show that consumers are more willing to cede purchasing decisions for low-risk, everyday items, while financial services and luxury goods remain the least likely categories to be entrusted to AI.
Key figures and findings
- In the Nuvei study, 28% of respondents said they would let AI buy groceries for them. The same survey found 21% would allow AI to purchase household essentials, 9% would permit AI to handle travel bookings, and just 6% would let AI buy luxury goods or financial products. Overall, 51% said they would not let AI buy anything for them.
- A separate report found that 49% of people most want to offload household essentials to automated solutions.
- Another study reported that 64% are open to AI recommending brands they had not previously considered.
What the ranking indicates about trust
The observed ordering is less a direct measure of trust and more a reflection of which decisions consumers consider expendable. Grocery and household-item purchases typically involve lower monetary value and simpler consequences, so people are more willing to experiment with AI in those categories. By contrast, purchases involving significant money or stronger personal preferences — such as financial products or luxury items — are ones consumers are much less likely to hand over to an algorithm. When "real money" is at stake, a large majority of respondents refuse to delegate the decision to AI.
Conclusion
Trust in AI appears to be built from the bottom of the receipt upward: consumers start by letting automation manage low-cost, low-risk items and may only gradually extend that trust to higher-value decisions. Current data suggest AI has not yet earned widespread confidence for transactions with larger financial or personal consequences.
