Good morning from Retail Media Age HQ!
This week feels like it’s brought a fair amount of buzz around the impact of AI tools – or just AI discovery – on shopping. Research from Publicis Commerce, for instance, that surveyed more than 2,000 UK shoppers reported that two thirds (67%) of those who use AI tools when grocery shopping will switch brands after they check their phone – compared with around one in three shoppers who do this overall.
By contrast, 69% of non-AI-using shoppers said they don’t switch brands while in the aisle.
A report by Criteo, taking in responses from more than 6,000 participants across six countries, also found that 47% of consumers are using AI for brand comparison, 39% for finding new products, and 38% for finding deals.
Now, you could argue that anyone checking their phone in the supermarket aisle is probably already considering a product switch regardless of how they conduct that research – but for brands, this is still a venue where they’ll want to make sure they have a presence.
Which might make the news that the initial returns from ads in ChatGPT have been underwhelming more of a concern – with reports of low engagement and “troubled” measurement capabilities. It’s early days, of course, and so it will be well worth watching this space to see how things develop.
Being present across the full shopping funnel was a significant theme in a recent conversation I had with Wickes’ Chief Marketing & Digital Officer Gary Kibble – it was a really excellent chat, and I do recommend giving it a read to see how Wickes’ retail media proposition is helping the home improvement retailer guide customers from initial inspiration through to eventual purchase.
And speaking of excellent chat (there’s a segue for you!), this Friday will see the triumphant return of the NDA Podcast, which I appeared on alongside New Digital Age Editor-in-Chief Justin Pearse to talk about everything that’s been happening on Retail Media Age so far and a few things that are coming up – including our next RMA Lunch in Manchester (tickets are on sale!).
Next week my editor’s column will be coming to you from the floor of Advertising Week Europe, so hopefully I’ll have some exciting tidbits to share. Until then, have a great week, and see you next time.
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