I Just Bought My First Product with AI Help. Could this be the Future of Shopping?

During a stressful and complex decision between two similarly priced kitchen faucet brands, ChatGPT came to the rescue.

I recently co-founded and launched a startup -- BrandRank.AI -- focused on AI's role in the shopping journey. Despite my deep involvement in the theoretical aspects of AI and commerce, I hadn't experienced AI's potential in a real shopping scenario—until this weekend.

While visiting 家得宝 I was caught between choosing two attractive faucets: one from Glacier Bay, which suited our style but was unfamiliar, and another from 美标 .

Unsure, I sought help from a store employee, but his advice was only marginally useful. I then video-conferenced my wife, but she didn’t have a strong position except that I not make the wrong choice.

So, I decided to consult the ChatGPT voice tool instead. I first queried general info about both, which was remarkably fast and simple, but honestly, they both sounded pretty good, and decision time was approaching, so I just got specific and asked, “If you had to make a decision based on reviews what would you decide,” and this is where it got really interesting.

While the answer wasn't 100% decisive, it immediately hit my most important criteria for consideration: durability and long-term use.

“Based on reviews, if durability and a potentially smoother long-term use are more important to you, the American Standard Fairbury 2S might be a better choice. However, if you are looking for a more budget-friendly option with easy installation, the Glacier Bay McKenna could be suitable despite some noted issues with durability.”

This advice aligned perfectly with my needs, highlighting the AI's ability to synthesize reviews and offer clear, practical advice without spam or SEO manipulation —a common issue in online searches.

For extra insurance, when I got home, I did a little research and found that the response and recommendation lined up nicely with quality reviews in e-commerce, or on 亚马逊 .

A Shifting Shopper Journey and the "Prompted Moment of Truth"

AI-driven search is transforming interactions with brands, moving from traditional SEO tactics toward concise, accurate answers. This marks the beginning of what we call the "Prompted Moment of Truth," where a single AI-generated response can significantly influence a consumer's purchasing decision.

This mirrors the historical shopper journey stages—Awareness, Research and Consideration (Zero Moment of Truth), Purchase (First Moment of Truth), Experience (Second Moment of Truth), and Advocacy.

The advent of the "Prompted Moment of Truth" carries profound implications for both consumers and brands. It promises to accelerate decision-making but also underscores the importance of ensuring accuracy and impartiality in AI recommendations. Third-party credentialing may be more important than ever. The AI "arms race" we're witnessing amidst the big tech players is partly a "credentialing" face-off. Trust always wins!

Stepping into My Consumer Shoes

But let's return to my once-stressful, now-happy faucet purchasing decision. Here's what stood out from the experience.

• Radical Simplicity & Convenience: The process was really simple. The ChatGPT4 mobile app interface -- which facilitated super easy voice commands -- was intuitive and user-friendly, reminiscent of Apple’s clean and straightforward design ethos.
• Quality of Response: The AI provided a thorough, confidence-inspiring overview that seemed to encompass a wide range of reviews, effectively simplifying the review search process. This high level of detail (as much as I wanted) and summarization was extremely helpful.
• Review Synthesis: Ratings and reviews are very helpful, but I like the notion of having a partner who not only reads them for me but helps me see the “Forest for the Trees.” One presumes a lot of this will be going on once Amazon shopping fully integrates Anthropic 's capability.
• Non-Distracting Interaction: Unlike interactions with other voice assistants like Alexa, which often start with the first link, ChatGPT delivered a seamlessly integrated response that felt both authoritative and comprehensive. This saved me from falling down the usual rabbit holes of endless research.
• No Spam: What I love about this experience is that it feels objective and uncorrupted by spam (often SEO players trying to game the system). I also didn’t feel like either brand was trying to “buy” my attention. Heck, I just wanted a quality faucet.

Yesterday, Fast Company published an article entitled "How Generative IA is Clouding the Future of Google Search."

Yes indeed!

AI has the potential to significantly streamline the shopper journey, making it more fluid and responsive, and providing immediate, reliable recommendations without the need for extensive research. As I continue to explore AI's potential both theoretically and practically, I am more convinced than ever that we are entering a new era of shopper behavior.

Trust your inner consumer!

Pete Blackshaw is Founder & CEO of BrandRank.AI. He's held digital leadership positions at Nestle, Nielsen, and P&G and recently served as CEO of Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati-based startup accelerator and venture fund. He’s an Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) “Great Minds” award recipient and a two-time Cannes Lions juror. He’s the author of “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000” (Doubleday).