Behind the Numbers: How the Rise of the AI Shopping Agents Is Impacting the Customer Journey

Summary

Behind the Numbers: How the Rise of AI Shopping Agents Is Impacting the Customer Journey

Podcast: Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast
Host: Marcus
Guests:

• Jacob Bourne: Technology Analyst
• Susie David Kenyon: Vice President and Principal Analyst, Retail Desk
• Todd Hassenfeldt: Global Director of Commerce, Colgate-Palmolive

Release Date: February 28, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Behind the Numbers, EMARKETER delves into the transformative role of Generative AI (Gen AI) in shaping the customer shopping journey. Hosts Marcus and his guests—Jacob Bourne, Susie David Kenyon, and Todd Hassenfeldt—explore how AI shopping agents are revolutionizing the way consumers interact with brands and retailers, enhancing efficiency, personalization, and overall shopping experiences.

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The Evolution of AI in Shopping

Todd Hassenfeldt initiates the discussion by highlighting the timeline of AI's influence on consumer behavior:

"From reviews, research, and recommendations, Gen AI has streamlined the shopping process, making it more convenient for consumers." (06:27)

He points out significant advancements, such as Amazon's implementation of AI to summarize reviews, allowing consumers to bypass extensive scrolling and receive concise, relevant feedback instantly. This evolution not only enhances consumer convenience but also influences brand strategies around content creation and optimization.

Susie David Kenyon expands on this by emphasizing the efficiency gains for consumers:

"AI is making the customer journey more efficient, helping them reach desired products faster." (07:29)

However, she cautions about potential downsides, such as the loss of the "treasure hunt" experience and reduced impulse purchases, suggesting a trade-off between efficiency and discovery.

Jacob Bourne introduces the concept of increased shopping activity driven by AI:

"Google's AI shopping features led to a 13% jump in digital shopping activity, indicating a surge in consumer engagement." (07:59)

He also forecasts the advent of fully automated online shopping journeys, foreseeing a future where AI agents handle complex tasks from product discovery to purchase completion.

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AI Shopping Agents: Enhancing and Automating Consumer Interactions

The conversation shifts towards AI shopping agents' capabilities and their impact on both online and in-store experiences.

Todd Hassenfeldt shares insights from testing Perplexity's AI-powered shopping assistant, "Shop Like a Pro":

"There's still some hesitation from consumers to use these agents due to trust and accuracy concerns. Ensuring high data quality is paramount." (10:08)

He discusses the importance of reliable data and seamless integration between AI recommendations and actual product availability, underscoring the necessity for brands to maintain robust data management practices.

Susie David Kenyon adds that AI agents need to transcend individual apps to provide universal assistance:

"If an AI assistant can understand the purpose of a shopping trip from the outset, it can effectively differentiate between impulse buys and essential purchases." (16:43)

She underscores the potential for AI to balance personalized assistance with efficient task completion, enhancing both user satisfaction and retailer benefits.

Jacob Bourne echoes the sentiment, highlighting the dual role of AI agents as both assistants and productivity tools:

"If AI maintains the human voice in content and connects authentically with consumers, it can enhance rather than detract from the shopping experience." (24:30)

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Challenges and Considerations

The panel addresses several challenges associated with AI shopping agents:

1. Trust and Accuracy:

   • Marcus references a survey indicating that 70% of consumers feel emotionally manipulated by AI shopping assistance, raising concerns about transparency and authenticity.
   • Jacob Bourne emphasizes the need for mature technology that safeguards digital privacy and cybersecurity to build consumer trust.

2. Brand Messaging Amid AI Integration:

   • Todd Hassenfeldt discusses the shift from traditional search ads to AI-driven recommendations:

     "Brands must adapt by focusing on top-of-funnel strategies and leveraging in-store retail media to maintain visibility." (20:45)

   • Susie David Kenyon suggests that authentic, non-intrusive advertising can mitigate feelings of manipulation:

     "When AI ads are helpful and reduce friction in the shopping process, consumers are more likely to perceive them positively." (21:38)

3. Multiple AI Agents and Brand Representation:

   • Jacob Bourne speculates on a future with integrated multi-agent systems, potentially resembling a "hive mind" that can handle complex tasks collaboratively.
   • Susie David Kenyon questions the feasibility of consumers managing numerous brand-specific agents, advocating for universal or brand-agnostic solutions to streamline interactions.

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Future Outlook and Strategic Implications

Looking ahead, the guests contemplate the long-term implications of AI in commerce:

• Enhanced Personalization: AI’s ability to understand consumer preferences can lead to highly personalized shopping experiences, driving higher conversion rates and customer loyalty.

• Content Optimization: Brands will need to invest in high-quality, authentic content that resonates with both AI algorithms and human consumers, ensuring relevance and engagement.

• In-Store Innovations: The integration of AI in physical retail spaces, through smart carts and navigation apps, represents a convergence of online efficiency and offline shopping dynamics.

Susie David Kenyon envisions AI transforming retail media:

"As AI understands consumer needs better, ads become more helpful rather than intrusive, fostering a seamless shopping experience." (21:38)

Jacob Bourne notes that despite current hesitations, consumer adoption is likely to increase as trust in AI systems grows, much like the gradual acceptance of online banking and digital services.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with a consensus that while AI shopping agents present both opportunities and challenges, their integration into the customer journey is inevitable. Success will hinge on brands' ability to maintain data integrity, foster authentic connections, and strategically adapt to the evolving digital commerce landscape. As AI continues to refine the shopping experience, marketers, retailers, and advertisers must stay informed and agile to harness its full potential.

"AI is not just a productivity tool; it has the potential to enhance the human element in crafting content and connecting with consumers authentically." — Jacob Bourne (24:30)

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Final Thoughts:

Behind the Numbers emphasizes the critical role of Gen AI in reshaping the customer shopping journey. By leveraging AI shopping agents thoughtfully, brands can achieve greater efficiency, personalization, and engagement, ultimately driving growth in the competitive digital marketplace.

Transcript

[Marcus]

Closing the intelligence gap between data and insights is the key to transforming marketing from a cost center into an engine for growth. But where do you start? Great question. Find the answers in Zeta Global's latest playbook driving growth in the AI era. It's very free and you can download today. Link in the show notes. Hey, gang. It's Friday, February 28th. Jacob, Susie, Todd and listeners, welcome to behind the Number, the marketer video podcast made possible by Zeta Global. I'm Marcus. Today we're discussing the combination of gen AI and shopping and what happens when those two things get together. But for the conversation, I'm joined by three people. We have with us our technology analyst based on the west coast is Jacob Bourne.

[Jacob Bourne]

Hello, Marcus. Thanks for having me today.

[Marcus]

Hey, Bella. Of course, of course. We also have with us our vice president and principal analyst who heads up our retail desk, living out life in New York City. It's Susie David Kenyon.

[Susie David Kenyon]

Thanks for having me.

[Marcus]

Of course. And finally we have the global director of commerce senior director strategy and execution based in Chicagoland at Colgate Palmolive. It's Todd Hassenfeldt.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Hello. Really appreciate to have the chance to be on the show.

[Marcus]

Yes, welcome, welcome. Thank you for the time. We start with the speed intro to get to know our guests a little better. And I informed Susie and Jacob that they're not exactly going to be part of this and they were very upset and nearly left the episode because you know those guys or most of the questions are for Todd. They'll get to participate on the last one. 60 seconds on the clock. Let's do it. So Todd, you are based in Chicagoland, but where are you from?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

From Milwaukee.

[Marcus]

Oh, very nice. So are you all the sports fan? Like a fan of all?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

A little bit odd. I have. I'm packers for NFL and then I'm Chicago for everything else. I'm Cubs, Blackhawks, Bulls. A line I so you know, depending what side of the family my wife is all from Chicago, depending on the season I'm upsetting someone or bonding.

[Marcus]

What do you do? In a sentence.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

I help, you know, find and you know, share and solicit solutions across the globe at Colgate Palmolive as part of our global digital organization. Really sharing best practice insights so we can outperform and accelerate our digital commerce growth.

[Marcus]

Very good. What's your morning drink?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Not a coffee person only had a half a sip of my life so I do optimutritions amino energy one of their ready to drink. So used to work there. It's a great product Not a drop. No half. Half sip. That's it. That was enough sample size for me.

[Marcus]

It's probably because. Did you have it black? Is that what it was?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah, it was at an old country buffet, probably. I don't know if I put a whole bunch of cream and sugar if it was black.

[Marcus]

That's your problem. That's the problem. Last question. First. Record that you own. Cd, Cassette. A track, maybe.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Oh, I was a cassette. Beastie Boys, License to Ill. So the fight for your right to party and many other songs that are somewhat well known.

[Marcus]

Good choices, Susie.

[Susie David Kenyon]

I mean, of all the questions, this is not one that I have a really good answer for. Because when I don't remember that far back. It's like 35, 40 years ago. I think it was Madonna. It might have been Cyndi Lauper, might have been Tiffany. I don't know. One of these.

[Marcus]

You're just naming artists who were popular back then.

[Susie David Kenyon]

In the 80s. Yeah.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Okay, good.

[Susie David Kenyon]

When I was a kid with, obviously, cassettes, because.

[Marcus]

Okay, Jacob.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, I mean, similar issue to Susie. It was definitely a cassette. Definitely some sort of rock album. I think it maybe might have been Def Leppard, but I'm not 100% sure. Just because a long time ago.

[Marcus]

Very good. Well, they are the three guests we have for you today. Welcome to the show, folks. We start, though, before the actual content with the fact of the day, cows have regional accents. Okay, let's do it. So language specialists from the University of London studied cows and they found that cows from different herds have different moos.

[Susie David Kenyon]

Is this true or false?

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, it's true.

[Marcus]

What do you mean, is it true or false? You question the fact.

[Jacob Bourne]

Well, it's true in birds. We know this about birds, so why would it be true in cows too? Yeah, the same access, different dialects, different languages.

[Susie David Kenyon]

Wait, the same species or different types of birds?

[Jacob Bourne]

I think different species, different species, depending.

[Susie David Kenyon]

That makes sense, though.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah. So a newcomer needs to learn the new. The new local accent and dialect.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

I mean, being from Wisconsin, I probably should be more well versed, but I am not.

[Marcus]

The other day we learned that cows have best friends, according to the University of Northampton, which is near my hometown. How are these university professors spending their time? You'd be like the Dean's, like, oh, Professor Williams, how's your research going this semester? Cows have best friends.

[Jacob Bourne]

So.

[Marcus]

This is insane. Cows. So here's a better fact for you. Cows have nearly 360 degree vision because their eyes are on the side of their head. Humans have about 180, you know, where that fact came from, Cabot Creamery, who are apparently doing more serious research than English universities.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

How does that impact the phenomenon of cow tipping then? How do they not. I know this.

[Marcus]

You have to come up apparently from directly, directly behind them.

[Jacob Bourne]

Well, you do it at night. You do it at night. That's all that.

[Marcus]

Yeah. What do you mean you do it at night? Jacob, something to say?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

I have no experience. I've only heard about others.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, this is definitely secondhand what you want to do.

[Marcus]

Anyway, today's real topic, how Gen AI is changing the customer shopping journey. All right, folks, let's talk about it. And Todd, I'll start with you and we'll start broad. We'll start with, you know, kind of the theme of, of the whole episode, which is how Gen AI is influencing. Is shaping. Is changing the customer shopping journey the most. There's lots of ways, I'm sure it's impacting it. But. But Todd, what comes to mind when you think of how it's influencing this space the most?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah, I think the, you know, kind of the timeline to summarize would be, you know, from a consumer impact. It's been reviews, research and recommendations. So you think about almost probably over a year ago now, Amazon and some others followed, summarized all the reviews. So now you didn't have to look at like the first page of six or seven or go scrolling through it gave you a Gen AI summary which is, you know, more convenient than the recommendations. You don't have to ask anyone. You can ask whatever questions you want and depending on the accuracy, you know, you got a lot of ideas that may have been different than a search term. You searched and you got some more information and now, you know, it's the, the rec, you know, the recommendations and the, you know, from that, you know, from Rufus, let's say, you know, do people like them or not? You know, based on the research, now that they've done that, everything has been easier. So I think, you know, those are the three biggest ways, I think from a brand perspective, quickly, it's the content which does impact the consumer. You know, all, all the reports that you guys have done and others suggest that marketers are really using Geni Gen AI the most for content creation or optimization.

[Susie David Kenyon]

It's interesting because I would have summarized one level higher, although I love the three Rs, which is AI is just making the customer journey more efficient for consumers so that they get to the product that they think they want or that they were actually looking for faster. And the summary of the three Rs is perfect because like that's the most tangible, the biggest wins. But I think it comes at a price in terms of the losing the treasure hunt and losing the impulse purchases. But I'm sure we'll talk about that more.

[Jacob Bourne]

I mean, I'm looking at this from two angles. One is just more shopping activity. Actually Google, when they implemented their AI shopping features, they saw a 13% jump in digital shopping activity from that. But then there's also the coming AI agents where we're going to see the whole online shopping journey automated. So I think those are the two areas, potentially more shopping activity and then the automation aspect, the Google one is.

[Susie David Kenyon]

Interesting because I think we, we would answer the question differently if you think about in app AI tools, so like the Rufus versus the Google. So like any gen AI that can tool that can transcend the apps and like surf, many different brands and many different retailers will certainly have a different value proposition than Rufus.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, that's, that's a good point.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah. Reducing the incredible amount of choice out there. Right. And I think even if going back to Amazon, you know, a couple weeks ago, you know, kind of put down and shut down Amazon Inspire, which was supposed to be their kind of social commerce piece, but in their pseudo announcement it says go to Rufus, use AI, you know, recommendations. So they're, they're really pushing that narrative and shut down Amazon Inspire.

[Marcus]

So, so in November, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis and Forbes contributor Jason Goldberg wrote that Perplexity's launch of Shop Like a Pro. Speaking of shopping agents. So it's his new AI powered shopping assistant. Maybe the tipping point, he said, for a new era of AI agent commerce. He presents a world where you ask Alexa to find the perfect winter coat and instead of just offering a list, it considers the current seasons of the current season's weather in your location, your past style preferences, your budget, customer reviews to present the ideal option or universe where you have Siri manage your grocery shopping by using your instacart history, your calendar, your family's preferences to ensure that you never going to run out of ingredients for school lunches. He says, responding to a simple command. Hey Siri, keep my pantry stocked. So Tola comes to you first. What do you think will be the impact of AI shopping agents?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah, and I've tried out the Perplexity one. I think just quickly on that one. It's interesting. Even when you do a search of like what's the best toothpaste for me? Or what's a different product? I search a lot of different products. Not all the results have that pro little tag that you can use. The Perplexity Pro. It's only certain retailers. So you know, how should you think about that and is that a blocker or not? But I think overall with all these, you know, they're, you know, there's still some hesitation from consumers to use these. It's, it's that balance of trust and accuracy and then the convenience, right if it's convenient but wrong or you know, giving recommendations that aren't good, not great. So how can Brian sky have ensure that AI approach? I mean ultimately, you know, it's going to come down to like data quality in the back end too for brands. How well did you set up that new item setup form? How well are you really updating, you know, whether it's keywords that are addressing questions now and then even how do you see it through the consumer's eyes so that you can see what are the follow up questions and does my content, you know, relate to this and am I getting recommended, let's say at my market share? And this may not be just an online thing, this could be an in store thing. When you think about smart carts or in store, you know, navigation apps where maybe you take a picture of your shopping list or upload it and then it gets that for you, you just go look for some new stuff or the shop cart, the smart cart just kind of guides you to certain products. So this isn't necessarily just an online thing. That's where everyone's looking now. This could be an in store thing as well.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah. I mean to Todd's point about the importance of data quality, I think with AI agents we're really looking at brands having to now optimize for an AI audience in addition to the traditional human audience. I think that's going to be, it's going to be a learning curve and a balancing act. But I think it's just really probably going to be the biggest shake up in digital commerce since social media.

[Marcus]

Wow.

[Susie David Kenyon]

It's interesting because from my retailer perspective, I don't know, I think if you don't have an interface that's universal. So let's take perplexity versus the Rufus. You already have to start with a universal one. Right. That you as the consumer trust, like Todd was saying, enough to give it access to all kinds of apps so that it could answer the question of like buy a birthday present for my mom and make sure that she likes it in this price point and it reminds you like it makes her life better. And it's like, oh, your mom's birthday's in two weeks and she lives in Toronto. Haha. I answered where I'm from, you know, so she can get her present on time. Like that's all well and good, but does that not replace the idea of as Todd had the recommendation. So the personalization, are we just trading off personalization and then the dollars are going to start being spent in this sort of like have a perplexity or some other, you know, AI agent, start servicing ads, but in a different way. So it feels personalized but it's also not. I don't know, I think there's, there's a little bit of potential of mistrust that could happen that if a customer is not, if consumers are not 100% comfortable with the recommendation being organic, they will like have a bad experience and not come back.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah, yeah. And I wonder like it's gonna be. A lot of this is going to be based on your shopper history, your glance views, what you've searched. Right. And that's already baked in. But I wonder if it can, if consumers would feel better if they had the opportunity. Something they saw on TikTok, something they saw in a store wherever and they could almost like snap a picture of it and send it. Now instead of Google to look for it, you send it to your shopping assistant or your shopping agent and now it finds it. So that way you got skin in the game. Right. And they're finding it and does help. Or here's, here's what I like because you know, one that's a little bit more trust on it, but I think also from the brand speak part of it, like how do you get your innovation in front of consumers? Now if you're thinking like on a retailer site and with these shopping agents, it's kind of like subscribe and save or auto ship, you know, just accelerated. Now you know which, which you want if you're the product unsubscribe and save. But how do you get those new Items, those new SKUs in front of them? You have to get creative with the content probably. And you have to really think about maybe, you know, paid, you know, Rufus recommendations. Maybe that's where that comes in.

[Susie David Kenyon]

Or even like how do you get someone to even know that there's a shop.comcolgate shop colgate.com right. If you're only using the AI, you know, in your wholesale channels, then you're not going to get that direct to consumer sort of traffic. And so like if you could have Your own agent, then that would be the coolest. Right. That understood you. And I think Google tried to do that a few times in different iterations.

[Marcus]

So Jacob, I want to ask you about that real quick because I mean, what we're talking about is so interesting. Mr. Goldberg from Forbes contributor was also saying the rise of AI agents are challenging traditional retail websites. What you guys are talking about. They've been the primary digital interface for consumer engagement. But for routine purchases, AI agents kind of rendering them less relevant, kind of shifting their roles to moments of inspiration and trust building where those are going to be more and more paramount sites are also where you upsell and where you push impulse buyers as well and collect data about about your customers. So it doesn't seem like something that retailers, brands are going to want to give up easily. Are they going, are we going to live in a world of multiple agents? And Nicole Silverstein of Retail Touchpoints was noting that, you know, there are all kinds of companies who either have one or working on one, saying Walmart, Amazon, Target, Victoria's Secret, Ikea, Instacart, et cetera. Are we going to just live in a world where we have to, we have like I know, 50 different agents working for us at any moment.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah. I mean, I think it's important to point out here too that this technology is not at all mature. I mean it's still under development, but I think in the future this notion of one or more agents is going to be. The lines are going to be blurred. I mean you're going to have an agent that really is probably multiple agents in one or at least able to interact with other agents to complete some type of complex tasks. So I think it's going to be different than thinking about an individual consumer. I think it's going to be more of a hive mind working in the.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Background and from the consumer lens. Right. Without the tech aspect of it. But do they look at agents and assistants differently? Right. And depending on the product category, maybe even the length of research. Right. Agents maybe do more of the what you would do subscribe and save or more center store stuff where assistance, hey, I want to research it, I want to make the decision. Both are helpful but in different ways for different categories.

[Susie David Kenyon]

And I think it depends on how you're defining. Marcus, the 50 agents. Right. Because if you shop at three different stores and they each have their own agent, then already you have three. But will we have multiple individual, you know, brand agnostic agents? I'm not sure that anyone can handle that many. Right. You'll Just go to your preferred platform. What I think is more from my perspective, what I think is most important is if agent can identify, so agent or assistant, whichever can identify the purpose of your trip before you even start going down the search rabbit hole, then they can help direct you to impulse. Fun versus like get it done. I need new toothpaste, so give me the whitening one, Put it in my basket. Let's move on with my life, you know, and I think because AI is gen, AI particularly is supposed to be smarter and more human, like they might be able to understand some of those nuances and move you in that Right. Direct, which would be win win for a retailer.

[Jacob Bourne]

And I think that's kind of the dream of having an AI agent and also can kind of act like an assistant in that it understands the consumer it's working on behalf of, so it knows the person's interests, it knows its kind of consumer profile and can kind of act with that in mind.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah. And can you get, can you get increased conversion rates on the same traffic and reduce your returns, which are a constant issue all over the place? Right. So will it help with that? Potentially, I, I think there's an option. But also retailers and brands, how do you negotiate this? Like in a JVP joint business plan where, you know, could it be leveraged where the retailer could turn off your skus, you know, as a punitive thing, you know, for, for time being for a shopping agent or an assistant results maybe. But you know, I think it's, it's going to be interesting just how you negotiate for data, how you, you know, work with this and then who helps the consumer ask the right questions of their shopping agent? Right. We haven't done a good job as consumers with Alexa. We ask it to play music, set a timer and an alarm. How do we know what are the right questions? And, and do I want a lot of reviews or do I want a little reviews? Because that's a newer item, you know, what is the price, you know, what are the kind of the questions I could ask of my agent? Like how does that get disseminated throughout the, you know, the consumer community?

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marcus]

Jacob, how close are we to, to having agents that are ready to perform at a level that they need to? Because we already mentioned this about the data piece of it being paramount. But Maxwell Zeff of TechCrunch was saying real time information is key. Shopping agents, they're scraping retailers websites and giving you information about their products. But there's a disconnect between what perplexity tells you and what stores actually have in stock because of a time lag. How close are we to agents that actually act as though kind of humans who are shopping for themselves?

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, I mean, I think the technology is, is close. Part of the issue is that there's a lot of risk, there's heightened risk with these agents in terms of digital privacy and cybersecurity. And that's for instance why OpenAI really delayed the launch of its operator agent. And so I think that kind of getting part of getting the technology to where it's mature that we can say we really trust it to do all this online automation is really trusting that we're not going to have this is not going to result in more security breaches and privacy lapses. And I think that's a big thorny issue for this technology.

[Marcus]

Todd, let me start with you for this final question. So going back to that Forbes piece, Mr. Goldberg wrote, quote, today brands spend billions on search ads and retail media to capture shopper intent at the point of purchase. He says what happens when AI assistants eliminate, eliminate that step altogether. If a consumer asks an AI to reorder peanut butter, where does the brand place its ad? Close quote. So Todd, how do you maintain brand messaging in a more conversational universe?

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah, and I think, I mean I agree with the point. It can happen to a degree, but it's not going to go away completely. Right. I just stood in back of someone writing a paper check the other day at the grocery store. So this isn't going to disappear that quick. But as, as I think about it. Well then it's your more, you know, if you still believe in the funnel, it's more top of funnel. Then you get it out there to get your brand name out their remembrance, you know, kind of okay, get your name out whether it's social, connect to TV etc. But then also I think it's this is probably building a case for the in store retail media piece. Right. Because let's say there is a big loss of spend for on site retail media. Well, retailers and you know, and maybe Brian's are going to say, well, where do we reallocate this money? In store where they're still shopping. The point of purchase is there depending on where the smart card's doing for them. But I think this is a case for that and it'll be interesting how that shift happens.

[Marcus]

Yeah, Susan, you thought so.

[Susie David Kenyon]

I mean for me the ads start to feel a little bit more like fake personalization. Right? Like bot personalization in a. I don't mean it in a ugly way. I just mean, you know, like retailers and brands start to share information, they know so much more about the people that are there. And the ads are there to help make my life as the consumer easier. And I as the consumer fully trust this process now. And so that's why there is a lot of data that shows that consumers don't actually mind the ads. And they find, when you think about this retail media world, that they actually find it helpful to get to what they need faster. And so when I think about gen AI and where the ads will sit, I think, you know, privacy is an issue, risk is an issue at the end of the day, whether it's in store or online. From a consumer perspective, if you can make my day go by faster, like take out some of the tasks, makes them easier with less friction. And to Todd's point, like, not everybody understands how to use it. Help me understand how to use it and I see value in it, then I'm more likely to adopt it. Right. I think maybe five, ten years ago people hated the ad sponsored stuff. Right. It just felt like clutter. But retailers have understood how to take that away and make it part of the authentic so that it feels more familiar and easier to navigate.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

And will there be a, you know, will it evolve to a point of, you know, we have sponsored brands and sponsored products now on traditional on site retail media. Will you get to a point of, I don't know, sponsored bots or sponsored choice, you know, AI choice, that somehow the bot, you know, the shopping agent is seeing something there and if they do well, should that be a different CPC, like a cost per click than a human looking at it? Now we have good bots versus bad bots and you know, because of invalid traffic concerns, we always say no, we don't want it. Now we'd be encouraging it. So you have like a new layer in acronyms but of measurement and potentially, potentially, you know, cost, you know, from a cpcs or CPM perspective.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, I mean, to kind of piggyback on what Suzy was saying, I mean, yeah, so, you know, consumers don't necessarily mind the ads, they don't necessarily mind the personalization and actually they expect it as long as the privacy is maintained. But I think in the AI era, the essential thing is that you have all this automation. I think the mistake is to think of it as just a productivity tool versus something that enhances the human element in crafting the content. And if you are able to really keep the human voice within the content and able to still connect with the human consumer in an authentic way. I think that AI is something that just adds value versus detracts from the experience.

[Marcus]

There's something here. There was a survey from AI powered SEO platform Chadix. 70% of consumers feel emotionally manipulated by AI shopping assistance. I didn't go into why, the reasons for that, but just the fact that so many feel emotionally manipulated, maybe not realizing or understanding where these, these suggestions are coming from. Are they paid for, are they not? Etc. It's going to be something that industry's gonna have to figure out.

[Susie David Kenyon]

But you know what? Once people understand that, oh, you're only showing me ads that you know there's inventory for because you have that computational capability of doing it so quickly that you're not showing me an ad for something that doesn't. Isn't available right now for me to purchase in my location and they start to see how it makes their life that much, you know, reducing the mundane tasks and making it faster, then I think you'll, you'll see that number go down significantly. I. People just don't understand yet the power of these, this helper.

[Jacob Bourne]

Yeah, I agree with that. And I think also, just because people feel manipulated by something also doesn't mean that they won't use it. They might continue to use it even while they feel negatively about it.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Yeah, it's similar to like 25, whatever, you know, two, three decades ago where we didn't trust online banking. Banking, we thought all our money was going to get stolen. Now people rarely go inside of a bank or online dating. It was terrible to meet someone online. Now it's the norm. So I think, yeah, it's a progression here.

[Marcus]

Yeah, yeah. All right, gang, that's what we've got time for, unfortunately for this episode. Thank you so, so much for hanging out for the conversation. Thank you. First to Todd.

[Todd Hassenfeldt]

Thank you so much. Really enjoyed the conversation.

[Marcus]

Yes, sir. Thank you to Susie.

[Susie David Kenyon]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Marcus]

Yes, indeed. And thank you of course to Jacob.

[Jacob Bourne]

Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.

[Marcus]

Yes, sir. Thank you to the whole editing crew, of course. Victoria, John Lance and Danny Stuart runs the team of Sophie, who does our social media. Thanks to everyone for listening in. We hope to see you on Monday. Fall behind the numbers. Any marketer video podcast made possible by Zeta Global. Happiest of weekends.