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How AI Shopping Could Change Holiday Gift Discovery
Shopify says 65% of shoppers plan to use AI for at least one holiday shopping task, and 71% of regular AI users are more likely to choose an independent brand than last year. In conversational shopping, buyers can ask an AI to find and compare products, then purchase through the AI channel.
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Key takeaways
- Shopify says 65% of shoppers plan to use AI for at least one holiday shopping task, and 71% of regular AI users are more likely to choose an independent brand than last year.
- In conversational shopping, buyers can ask an AI to find and compare products, then purchase through the AI channel.
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: Why did Shopify declare on October 6, 2026, that the coming holiday season would be the first of the “agentic era,” how does conversational. Article summary: Shopify called the 2026 holidays the first season of the “agentic era” because it expects shoppers to use AI conversations not just for gift ideas, but to find and compare products and buy them without leaving the chat. . Topic tags: general, general web. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts with fake numbers, click
Shopify called the 2026 holidays the first season of the “agentic era,” saying shoppers can use AI conversations to find a product, compare options and buy without leaving the conversation. The company’s survey suggests independent brands could benefit from that discovery—but it measures reported plans and preferences, not how many shoppers will actually complete a purchase through AI. 
What “agentic shopping” means
Instead of starting with a search term or browsing a store category, a shopper can ask an AI agent for product suggestions, compare options in the conversation and proceed to buy. Shopify presents this as a new way to connect a shopper’s request with products, rather than simply directing people to a store to browse.
That distinction matters for gift shopping: the interaction can happen through questions and follow-ups, with the AI helping surface and compare potential choices. But the survey figures describe what shoppers say they plan to do, not verified purchases or sales resulting from AI recommendations.
What Shopify’s survey says about independent brands
Shopify’s 2026 Global Holiday Retail Report says 65% of shoppers plan to use AI for at least one shopping task this season. It also reports that 71% of regular AI users are more likely to choose an independent brand this year than last.
The findings point to a possible discovery opportunity: an AI recommendation may introduce shoppers to a smaller brand they did not already know. Still, greater openness to independent brands does not guarantee that a shopper will find a particular product, trust its details or buy it.
How Shopify is making products available in AI conversations
Shopify Catalog structures product information so AI systems can find and surface products. Agentic Storefronts connect merchants’ offerings to AI shopping channels. Shopify says shoppers can discover and purchase products through channels including ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Meta. 
For a recommendation to be relevant, an AI system needs usable information about the product—not just a brand name. Shopify describes its Catalog and storefront tools as a way to make product and brand information available to those systems, including details that help agents surface products in response to a shopper’s request.
The opportunity—and the limit of the evidence
The broader retail forecast helps explain why merchants are paying attention. Adobe forecasts record online holiday spending and estimates that e-commerce will account for $1 of every $4 spent on retail goods this season. That is a forecast for online retail overall, not a projection of sales specifically through AI shopping. 1
For merchants, the practical takeaway is to make product information clear and accurate wherever shoppers may encounter it, including AI channels. But being discoverable is only one step: a recommendation still has to match the shopper’s needs, and the shopper has to decide to buy. Shopify’s survey indicates potential interest in AI-assisted discovery; it does not establish how much that interest will translate into holiday revenue.
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Shopify says 65% of shoppers plan to use AI for at least one holiday shopping task, and 71% of regular AI users are more likely to choose an independent brand than last year.
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Shopify says 65% of shoppers plan to use AI for at least one holiday shopping task, and 71% of regular AI users are more likely to choose an independent brand than last year. In conversational shopping, buyers can ask an AI to find and compare products, then purchase through the AI channel.