For years, marketers have wondered whether consumers were truly ready to purchase with the help of AI. New data from Invoca indicates that this debate is largely settled. The more pressing concern now is whether brands are prepared to meet the expectations that AI-driven experiences have created. Invoca’s “B2C Buyers Experience Report” shows that consumers are increasingly at ease using genAI and virtual agents at every stage of the buying journey. At the same time, their patience for slow processes, fragmented experiences, and clunky automation has declined. This is widening the gap between what customers expect and what many companies can actually provide.
When AI is the better option
In the past, chatbots were often seen as barriers that got in the way of customers and the answers they needed. Today, there are clear situations where people actually prefer AI. Speed is the main reason: nearly 75% of respondents said they would choose to interact with an AI agent instead of a human if it can resolve questions or issues more quickly. However, brands should not try to disguise AI as a person. More than 80% of consumers say it’s important that a brand’s AI clearly identifies itself as such. They expect transparency, making disclosure a simple, low-cost way for brands to build trust right now.
This shift underscores how dramatically buyer expectations have evolved. Consumers are no longer judging AI as a novelty or experiment; they see it as a practical tool that saves time and streamlines decisions. For marketers, this means AI is becoming just another core customer touchpoint, not a standalone tech project. However,…