US consumers would let AI agents buy clothes, but not without a say

Consumers are more and more open to the idea of letting an AI agent buy clothing and footwear on their behalf, provided spending remains low and they retain a final say, according to the 2026 Agentic Commerce Report from payments company Global Payments.

Shoppers expect AI commerce agents to conduct 15 percent of their purchases within five years, up from 9 percent a year ago, according to the new research from Global Payments. Clothing and footwear in particular were among the retail categories where shoppers would be the most willing to hand over spending power, next to groceries.

69 percent of respondents surveyed said they would let an AI agent spend up to 100 US dollars on clothing and footwear, the same share as for groceries and everyday essentials, with the percent dropping slightly to 64 percent for luxury apparel and footwear.

In the US, 45 percent of consumers surveyed said they already used or would consider using an AI shopping agent to make a purchase, with 69 percent citing finding better deals and 63 percent citing saving time as leading reasons to use AI agents.

Clothing and footwear rank alongside groceries as shoppers warm to AI agents buying for them

“Just a year ago, the idea of letting AI actually buy something for you still felt futuristic,” said Cindy Turner, chief product officer at Global Payments, in a press release. “Today, consumers are increasingly willing to hand over everyday purchases if it saves time, finds better value and keeps them in control.”

The 2026 report, which surveyed over 16,000 consumers across seven markets including the US, UK and Brazil about a single category, found that retaining control was still a major factor when it comes to using AI agents. Half of the US consumers surveyed highlighted concerns regarding the security of their payment details, with a third wanting to approve every transaction before payment is made.

Across all seven markets, 46 percent cited privacy and the use of personal data as other concerns when using AI agents for shopping. 42 percent worried that an AI agent could purchase the wrong item, a particularly high risk within the clothing and footwear category, as fit and sizing vary from brand to brand.

Overall, the US was found to be one of the more cautious markets of the seven, with 45 percent of respondents being open to AI agent involvement when shopping, ranking sixth, only ahead of Australia at 41 percent. 17 percent of US consumers surveyed said they had already used an AI Agent while shopping, less than the market average of 20 percent.

Accountability was the fourth most important aspect when building trust to use AI agents for shopping among US shoppers, with 24 percent saying that nothing would make them comfortable giving an AI agent full autonomy.

The report findings echo earlier research from Commerce and PayPal, released this year, which saw global shoppers remaining wary of AI completing purchases without their approval. “American shoppers aren't holding back from agentic commerce so much as testing it in low-stakes places first: a dinner reservation, a subscription renewal, the kind of purchase where getting it wrong costs little,” said Jason Pavona, enterprise general manager for North America at Global Payments, in the report.

Retail was among the more difficult sectors to crack when it comes to AI agents, the report found. 78 percent of the retail respondents were found to be at least somewhat open to an AI agent being involved in their shopping, compared with 91 percent for travel. 32 percent said they enjoy browsing and shopping for themselves, especially in categories like clothing and footwear that reflect personal style.

Overall, the report found consumers to be the most comfortable using AI agents during the early stages of shopping. Across the seven markets, 74 percent of those open to using AI would let an AI agent compare prices. Only 21 percent would let one complete a purchase alone, and 59 percent would require approval with every purchase.

Wider industry developments point the same way. In March, OpenAI scaled back Instant Checkout, its feature for buying products inside ChatGPT, after users researched products there but rarely completed a purchase, while the 2026 BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion found that 23 percent of consumers primarily use generative AI to discover products and not buy them.