UK Shoppers Rank AI Agents Equal to Brand Websites for Luxury Product Information

TL;DR:

  • 68% of UK consumers prefer luxury brand websites for product information
  • 67% trust AI tools (ChatGPT, Amazon Rufus) nearly equally
  • 40% use AI search tools daily for brand discovery
  • Poor product information drives severe consequences: 70% would switch brands, 65% abandon purchases, 68% stop buying entirely

UK consumers have elevated artificial intelligence agents to near-parity with luxury brand websites as trusted sources for product information, according to research from product experience company Akeneo. This shift signals fundamental changes in how shoppers discover, evaluate, and purchase high-end goods.

AI Tools Achieve Trust Parity

The research reveals brand websites command 68% preference amongst UK luxury shoppers, whilst AI tools including ChatGPT and Amazon’s Rufus follow closely at 67%. This negligible gap demonstrates that consumers view AI-powered search and recommendation systems as comparably authoritative to manufacturer-controlled channels.

Notably, 40% of respondents use AI search tools daily for brand discovery and product evaluation. This frequency suggests AI has transitioned from experimental curiosity to routine shopping behaviour for a substantial segment of luxury consumers.

Digital Channels Dominate

Traditional retail experiences lag significantly behind digital alternatives. Online marketplaces and mobile applications rank third at 52%, followed by rental platforms (46%), physical luxury stores (45%), and general retail (43%).

The data indicates that physical luxury retail—once the dominant channel for high-end purchases—now commands similar preference to general retail environments. This represents a substantial shift in consumer behaviour, with digital-first experiences outperforming in-person shopping even in categories traditionally dependent on sensory evaluation and personal service.

Consequences of Poor Information

The research identifies severe commercial penalties for inadequate product content. When consumers encounter poor product information:

  • 70% would switch to competitors
  • 65% would abandon purchases entirely
  • 68% would cease buying from brands altogether if trust is damaged

These figures suggest that product information quality functions as a fundamental trust indicator. For luxury brands where reputation and perceived value prove central to positioning, information deficiencies risk permanent customer loss rather than merely delayed purchases.

Strategic Implications

Akeneo CEO Romain Fouache frames the challenge directly: “If your product information isn’t accurate, structured, enriched, and optimised for AI, you simply won’t be found.”

This statement highlights an emerging requirement: luxury brands must now ensure product information satisfies both human evaluation and AI interpretation. As consumers increasingly delegate initial research to AI tools, brands face dual audiences—the end customer and the algorithmic systems mediating access to that customer.

Optimisation for Discovery

The rise of AI-mediated discovery creates new requirements for product content. Information must be:

Structured: Formatted consistently to enable algorithmic parsing and comparison across products and brands.

Enriched: Containing sufficient detail and context for AI systems to accurately represent products in response to consumer queries.

Optimised: Presented in formats AI tools can reliably extract and synthesise, ensuring accurate representation in AI-generated recommendations.

Brands that optimise exclusively for human comprehension risk becoming invisible in AI-assisted shopping journeys, regardless of product quality or brand heritage.

Looking Forward

The near-parity between brand websites and AI tools as information sources suggests we’re witnessing permanent behaviour change rather than temporary experimentation. As AI capabilities improve and adoption expands, brands face strategic pressure to treat AI discoverability as seriously as traditional search engine optimisation.

For luxury brands specifically, this presents particular challenges. The sector has historically relied on carefully controlled narratives, exclusive distribution, and curated experiences. AI-mediated discovery introduces intermediaries that reinterpret brand messaging and potentially commoditise differentiation through algorithmic comparison.

Successfully navigating this environment will require brands to maintain their positioning whilst ensuring AI systems represent their products accurately and favourably—a balance requiring both technical competence and strategic clarity.

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