Nearly two in three Americans shopping online now turn to artificial intelligence to help them decide what to buy, according to a major new industry study. The finding marks a sharp acceleration in a behavioral shift that is already redrawing how US retailers compete for every sale.
What the study found
Ryder System published its 12th annual benchmark study of US consumer online shopping behaviors, preferences, and expectations on August 26. The report, titled Beyond Price: What’s Driving Consumer Shopping Behavior, is based on a consumer survey of 1,160 US online shoppers conducted in March 2026.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping how consumers evaluate and select products, with 64% now using AI-assisted shopping tools. Among these consumers, search and shopping assistants lead adoption at 45%, followed by customer review summaries or key takeaways at 37%.
Visual or image-based search accounts for 33% of AI tool use, while voice assistants and virtual try-on or visualization tools each stand at 31%.
Jeff Wolpov, Ryder Senior Vice President of E-commerce and Ryder Last Mile, noted that industry-wide data echoes the findings, with another study finding that nearly three in five consumers have begun replacing traditional search engines with generative AI search.
Speed now outranks free shipping
Fast delivery expectations nearly doubled year-over-year, even as free shipping’s influence on purchase decisions declined. That inversion matters: for years, the offer of free shipping was considered the single most reliable lever for converting browsers into buyers.
Still, 71% of consumers surveyed abandoned items in their carts due to unanticipated shipping fees. Additionally, 73% added items to their carts to qualify for free shipping, the highest since 2023.
Shoppers appear to resent surprise fees at checkout far more than they respond to the promise of free delivery upfront, a nuance retailers will need to navigate heading into the holiday season.
Americans who are stretching budgets on essentials, including the growing share cooking at home more often to cut costs, are bringing the same scrutiny to every online purchase.
Returns and pickup options reshape the store visit
A new trend emerged this year, with respondents’ use of remote locker and location pickup jumping 14%, surpassing Buy Online Pickup In-Store and curbside pickup as the leading alternative fulfillment option compared to ship-to-home.
Meanwhile, 86% of consumers have picked up or returned online purchases in-store, up 3% year-over-year. Of that group, 52%, up 17% year-over-year, now report they often make additional purchases while there.
That conversion in physical stores is giving omnichannel retailers a tangible revenue argument for maintaining robust in-store infrastructure even as digital transactions grow.
Among the 79% of respondents whose returns experiences had prevented them from shopping with a brand again, the absence of options to return online orders in-store and via mail were cited equally as leading complaints. Additionally, among those consumers whose returns experience negatively impacted customer loyalty, the most common complaint was return shipping fees, cited by 55%. Consumers are nearly split on return method preferences overall: 52% prefer in-store returns while 48% prefer to return via mail or drop box.
Why it matters for everyday shopping behavior
According to Ryder, the results show that consumers are not choosing between retail channels or buying motives, but are increasingly balancing them. That balancing act is becoming more sophisticated as AI tools give shoppers faster access to comparative data that was previously buried in review pages and search results.
Retailers tracking tightening consumer budgets across categories say the pattern shows little sign of reversing before year-end.
Ryder’s full report is available through the company’s official newsroom.
