Research: What the consumer path to agentic commerce looks like.
A Nuvei survey of US consumers on how they shop with AI today, what they will let an agent do, and what they need before they will let it pay.
Executive summary
Delegated AI purchasing will run on trusted payment rails.
- Consumers are already using AI as a shopping layer. 58%find AI useful for researching products and comparing prices
- Consumers are ready to delegate purchasing tasks, but not purchasing authority. When asked about their ideal AI shopping experience: 40%WANT AI TO HELP BUT STILL COMPLETE PURCHASES THEMSELVES 19%WANT AI ASSISTANCE BUT WILL APPROVE EACH PURCHASE 6%WOULD ALLOW ROUTINE BUYS WITHIN LIMITS THEY SET 1%WANT FULLY AUTOMATED AI BUYING
- The hesitation is about governance, not capability. 56%would never allow an AI platform to spend without their approval, regardless of amount
- Concern concentrates on money moving and the ability to undo it. 76%cite fraud and unauthorized charges as a top concern 84%say being able to reverse or cancel an AI-initiated purchase after checkout is extremely or very important
- Consumers would be more comfortable with supervision they can see. 61%spending limits 58%human approval checkpoints
- Trust is expected to be shared across the payment ecosystem. 52%BELIEVE TRUST SHOULD BE SHARED EQUALLY ACROSS THE AI PLATFORM, MERCHANT, PAYMENT PROVIDER, AND BANK
How people use AI to shop today
AI has become a real shopping companion, but mostly upstream of the purchase. Consumers reach for it to think, not to transact.
I find AI platforms useful for researching products and comparing prices.
58% find AI useful for researching products and comparing prices.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Agree | 58% |
| Neutral | 23% |
| Disagree | 19% |
I am using AI more while shopping than I was three months ago.
39% say they are using AI while shopping or researching purchases more than they were three months ago.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Using more | 39% |
| Not more | 37% |
| Neutral | 24% |
Assistance, not authority (yet)
Across Nuvei's survey, the pattern is clear: consumers are comfortable delegating tasks. They are cautious about delegating authority to make purchases on their behalf.
How comfortable are you with AI handling parts of a purchase?
Consumers want to stay in control: 71% want to review purchases before checkout, while only around a quarter are comfortable storing payment details or letting AI complete a purchase automatically.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Want to review before checkout | 71% |
| Comfortable letting AI complete low cost or routine purchases | 31% |
| Comfortable letting AI complete a purchase automatically | 28% |
| Comfortable storing payment details on an AI platform | 27% |
What is your ideal AI shopping experience?
Most consumers want to keep approval in their own hands; only 7% are open to any form of unsupervised AI buying.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| AI helps me research, I buy | 40% |
| I do not want AI involved | 34% |
| AI helps but I approve each purchase | 19% |
| AI makes routine purchases within limits I set | 6% |
| AI fully automates shopping | 1% |
What is the maximum you would let AI spend without your approval?
56% would never let AI spend without approval, and among those who would, almost all cap it under $100.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Never without approval | 56% |
| $11 to $50 | 15% |
| $51 to $100 | 13% |
| Under $10 | 11% |
| $101 to $250 | 4% |
| Over $251 | 1% |
What makes people hesitate
Concern concentrates on money moving, not on whether AI can find products. Fraud and unauthorized charges sit far above every other worry.
What are your biggest concerns about letting AI buy on your behalf?
Fraud and unauthorized charges (76%) is the single biggest concern, ahead of buying the wrong item, exposing payment information, or losing control over spending.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Fraud or unauthorized charges | 76% |
| Buying the wrong item | 33% |
| Exposing payment information | 22% |
| Losing control over spending | 22% |
| How personal data is used or shared | 16% |
| Hidden fees or unexpected charges | 13% |
| Difficulty disputing AI purchases | 7% |
| Wrong size or version | 7% |
What is your overall view of AI-powered commerce?
Opinion is still forming: the most common response is uncertainty (28%), followed by the view that AI will increase fraud (23%).
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Unsure | 28% |
| Will increase fraud and scams | 23% |
| Will make shopping more efficient | 15% |
| Will reduce control over spending | 12% |
| Will simplify routine purchases but not major ones | 12% |
| Will improve personalization | 11% |
What would build trust
What people want is supervision they can see. Limits, checkpoints, and the ability to undo a purchase matter more than any single technical fix on its own.
What would make you more comfortable using AI platforms for shopping or payments?
Spending limits (61%) and human approval checkpoints (59%) would do the most to make people comfortable.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Spending limits | 61% |
| Human approval checkpoints | 59% |
| Fraud protection guarantees | 27% |
| Tokenized payment details | 24% |
| Easy refunds or reversal | 19% |
| Real time alerts | 14% |
| Merchant verification | 12% |
The single most important safeguard
Asked to choose one safeguard, consumers pick human approval requirements (19%) and real-time approval notifications (14%) ahead of other measures, but a third say none of the listed safeguards would fully convince them.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| None of these | 33% |
| Human approval requirements | 19% |
| Real time approval notifications | 14% |
| Instantly reverse purchases | 9% |
| Fraud protection guarantees | 9% |
| Biometric verification | 7% |
| Spending caps | 6% |
| Tokenized credentials | 3% |
How important is the ability to reverse or cancel an AI purchase?
84% say the ability to reverse or cancel an AI-initiated purchase after checkout is extremely or very important.
All US consumers
Extremely + very important: 84%
- Extremely important64%
- Very important20%
- Somewhat important10%
- Not very important2%
- Not important at all4%
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Extremely important | 64% |
| Very important | 20% |
| Somewhat important | 10% |
| Not very important | 2% |
| Not important at all | 4% |
Where people expect trust to come from
Trust does not fall on one player. Consumers expect the AI platform, the merchant, the payment provider, and the bank to share it.
Who should be financially responsible for a wrong AI purchase?
If an AI platform makes a wrong or unauthorized purchase, 52% say the AI platform should be financially responsible.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| The AI platform | 52% |
| Not sure | 16% |
| Shared across parties | 9% |
| The retailer or merchant | 8% |
| My bank or card company | 6% |
| The payment company | 5% |
| The user | 5% |
Who do you trust to handle AI-powered shopping or payment tools securely?
Consumers trust banks (around 49%) and payment providers (47%) to handle AI-powered shopping and payment tools securely more than retailers, Big Tech companies, or AI companies.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Banks and card issuers | 49% |
| Payment providers | 47% |
| Brands you already shop with | 44% |
| Retailers | 37% |
| Big Tech | 32% |
| AI companies | 30% |
What matters most when allowing AI-assisted purchases?
52% say trust depends equally on the AI platform, merchant, payment provider, and bank.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| All equally important | 52% |
| The AI platform | 21% |
| The merchant | 13% |
| The payment provider | 8% |
| The bank | 7% |
Where would you most likely want to complete an AI-assisted purchase?
58% would still prefer to complete the purchase on the retailer or brand's own site or app; 12% would complete it inside the AI platform.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| Retailer or brand site or app | 58% |
| No preference | 22% |
| In the AI platform | 12% |
| Through a marketplace | 8% |
Would you feel comfortable allowing AI to complete routine purchases without a traditional checkout page?
61–62% are not comfortable letting AI complete purchases without a traditional checkout page.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| No | 62% |
| Only for low cost or repeat purchases | 18% |
| Yes | 14% |
| Only with spending limits in place | 7% |
What people would let AI buy
Where AI is allowed to buy, it is small, routine, and low stakes. At the time of the survey, half of the sample would not hand over any category.
Which types of purchases would you be comfortable allowing AI to complete on your behalf?
Where people would let AI buy, it is mostly routine: groceries (28%), household essentials (21%), and subscription renewals (19%); luxury and financial products sit lowest, and 51% would allow none.
| Response | Percent |
|---|---|
| None of the above | 51% |
| Groceries | 28% |
| Household essentials | 21% |
| Subscription renewals | 19% |
| Clothing and apparel | 16% |
| Electronics | 11% |
| Entertainment and gaming | 10% |
| Healthcare products | 10% |
| Travel bookings | 9% |
| Financial products | 6% |
| Luxury goods | 6% |
Agentic commerce is here. Agentic payments are what the industry is racing to make safe, and the consumers who will use them are already clear about what they need before they will trust them.
Yuval Ziv
President, Nuvei
The Nuvei data shows that consumers want limits, approvals, reversibility, and clear accountability before they will trust AI to move money on their behalf. Next, what it takes to deliver them in the payment layer.