By Jay Bemis | Advertising Systems Inc.
Using artificial intelligence has become so commonplace that parents now are using the technology to tend to their back-to-school shopping lists, according to a survey released last week by management consulting and accounting firm PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).
One in five back-to-school shoppers told PwC that they planned to use AI when seeking out the best possible deals in the weeks ahead.
Kelly Pedersen, PwC global retail leader, said that using AI “makes sense for school.”
“Using an AI agent to go find the best deal is possible, and I think consumers are turning to that more and more,” he told Forbes.
Parents typically get lists of things needed for school, “and you can now just upload that list right into AI or an AI agent and it will go find those things for you, at the lowest price,” Pedersen said.
“It’s such an easy shopping mechanism.”
“Back-to-school shoppers are deal-driven and open to using AI as a shopping assistant,” the experts at eMarketer noted when analyzing the PwC survey results. “Retailers should ensure their deals are discoverable for AI, optimize for early-bird shoppers, and consider incorporating AI-driven product discovery into their platforms.”
Clothes, Computers High on Shopping Lists
Technology and clothing are among their major spending priorities, parents said in the polling, with 25% of them planning to spend more than $500 on technology and 16% saying they would spend more than $500 on clothing and shoes.
However, if they need trim their budget, they also cited those two categories as ones where they might cut back.
“We’re finding such a value-oriented consumer right now, given inflation, given the uncertainty of the economy,” Pedersen said. “So that’s frankly no surprise that looking for value is super important right now.”
Other Insights From the PwC Survey:
The survey also found:
- Gen Z parents (aged between 18 and 29 years) are more likely than millennials (born in the 1980s or 1990s) or Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) to shop exclusively in-store.
- While hybrid shopping (a mix of in-store and online) is the most popular approach across generations, millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to shop online, while Gen Zers and baby boomers are more likely to shop in person.
- Households earning $75,000 or more are nearly twice (14%) as likely to shop exclusively online than those earning less (8%). Households earning less than $75,000, meanwhile, are twice as likely to shop in-store only (30% vs. 17% of higher earners).
“Retailers must ensure consistent experiences across digital and physical channels,” eMarketer says of the generational differences.
With those generational differences in mind, eMarketer gives these tips to retailers and their marketing strategists:
“To appeal to shoppers who prefer physical stores, retailers can highlight in-store exclusives or experiences.”
“For digital shoppers, retailers can showcase convenience, delivery perks and digital personalization.”
“To connect the online and in-store experience, retailers can use services like click-and-collect or in-app shopping lists to help consumers move seamlessly between channels.”
