New research from Locus, a leading AI-native logistics technology company, reveals that while AI is helping UK shoppers discover and consider more products online, retail delivery operations are struggling to meet the promises made at checkout.
Key findings from Locus’s survey of 2,000 UK shoppers reveal:
- Forty-three percent use AI to research or choose products alongside search engines or retailer websites.
- Thirty-seven percent say AI makes them more likely to try brands or products they had not previously considered.
- Thirty-six percent say AI tools offer better options and tailor products than usual searches.
- Only 7% say fast delivery promises are consistently met.
- Fifty-nine percent would be less likely to purchase under stricter returns policies.
- Sixty-seven percent say fast refunds would make them more likely to shop with a retailer again.
As AI directs shoppers towards products they may not have found through traditional search and with better options, it is rapidly improving confidence in purchasing decisions and expectations related to delivery and returns. Fulfilment is becoming a defining factor in whether retailers convert first-time buyers into loyal customers.
Logistics is emerging as a key competitive differentiator. The next stage of AI-enabled commerce will depend on delivering equally intelligent post-purchase experiences. Missed delivery promises and slow returns can then undermine the confidence AI helped create.
The findings come as the technology industry prepares for AI to take a more active role in online shopping. On 9 July, the International Telecommunication Union launched a global initiative on trust and identity for AI agents. The group will examine how autonomous agents identify themselves, receive authority and remain accountable as they begin to purchase and carry out financial transactions for users.
Pradyumna Chowdhary, CPO at Locus, said: “Agentic commerce needs to be met with agentic fulfilment. An AI agent may be able to choose a product and complete a purchase in seconds, but once that order enters the delivery network, a new set of decisions begins. The retailer must turn the commitment made at checkout into a delivery plan that will hold up in the real world.
“Fulfilment technology needs to keep assessing the order and adjust while there is still time to keep the delivery on track. That gives the operation a current view of what it can handle and allows it to respond before a change in the network becomes a missed promise for the customer.
“That reliability will matter even more as AI introduces shoppers to retailers they have never used before.”
