With 76% of Canadians Cutting Back on Holiday Spending, Four-in-Five Are Turning to AI for Efficiency

An Omnisend survey of more than 1,000 Canadians shows that in a holiday season where most shoppers (76%) plan to cut back on spending, nearly four-in-five (78%) are turning to AI to save time, money, and headspace. They’re handing over a wide range of tasks to AI tools, including:

• Finding the best deals (25%) 
• Coming up with gift ideas (20%) 
• Writing gift messages (12%) 
• Creating personalized gifts (10%)
• Planning and budgeting (10%).

The numbers aren’t surprising given how stressful the season is for both retailers and consumers alike; in fact, 28% admit that AI tools help make online shopping less overwhelming for them.

“Combine holiday expectations, tighter budgets, and global trade pressures, and you get a perfect storm of financial anxiety,” says Marty Bauer, Ecommerce Expert at Omnisend. “While AI won’t eliminate the stress, it can help people compare options faster and stay on budget, making a chaotic process much more manageable.”

From brainstorming to checkout, shoppers are warming up to AI, marking a new era for retailers

Convenience isn’t the only factor at play – data shows that shoppers’ trust in AI tools is growing fast, too. For example, only 32% of Canadians would refuse to let AI make purchases on their behalf. Furthermore:

• 19% trust AI more than influencers for product recommendations
• 13% trust AI more than their friends for gift ideas
• 11% are more likely to complete a purchase when AI supports the decision.

For retailers, this means AI is no longer a separate step in the journey. Bauer explains: “Shoppers don’t think, ‘Now I’m using AI, now I’m shopping.’ They might ask an AI for ideas, click through to a store, compare options, then come back for help writing a gift message. If your brand doesn’t show up in those AI-assisted steps, you’re invisible during key decision-making moments.”

Many brands are well aware of this. OpenAI, for example, has announced partnerships with companies like Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, Walmart, and Etsy, allowing people to browse, compare, and buy directly from these retailers without ever leaving ChatGPT.

Nevertheless, many still have their reservations: 40% doubt AI can recommend relevant items, whereas 37% think it might misinterpret their preferences altogether.

How retailers can use AI to their advantage this holiday season

For retailers preparing for holiday sales, Bauer advises the following:

1. Make your brand easy for AI to recommend. Optimize product pages, FAQs, and on-site content so AI tools can easily surface your products. Clear benefits, strong differentiators, and concise answers to common questions are more likely to be included into AI-generated summaries and comparisons.
2. Support AI-assisted decision-making. Since shoppers tend to bounce between AI suggestions and retailer sites, make sure that shipping times, return policies, and reviews are trustworthy and easy to scan.
3. Accuracy over volume. With many doubting whether AI can recommend the right products, focus on making suggestions relevant and useful – and give shoppers easy ways to correct or refine them.