More than half of Americans said in a new survey they'd let AI help them with their holiday shopping. But a large chunk of them wouldn't tell the recipient they used AI.
Sixty-five percent of respondents in the Visa 2026 Holiday Spending Shift Survey said they'd let AI assist their holiday shopping, with 24% saying they're more comfortable with the technology than last year. The survey, commissioned by Morning Consult, asked more than 1,000 U.S. adults about their sentiments for the upcoming holiday season.
But 41% of respondents said they wouldn't tell someone that AI helped them choose their gift.
"From a perception standpoint, it could come across as less personal if they were leveraging AI to kind of help them in the process," Michael Brown,
Visa's principal U.S. economist, told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview.
"I think consumers would rather leverage AI behind the scenes, but not necessarily disclose that that's their primary means of doing research on the person."
What will people be using AI for during holiday shopping?
Shoppers in the survey said they were most comfortable letting AI do some practical tasks, such as comparing prices (61%), checking availability (59%), finding discounts (57%) and suggesting gift ideas (54%).
Gen Z shoppers are the most open to AI-shopping assistance, with more than eight in 10 open to the aid and 73% saying they would let AI suggest gift ideas. That's 19 points higher than adults overall.
While there is a growing percentage of people willing to use AI to shop for gifts, not as many want to use AI to finish the purchase.
Only 23% of shoppers said they would trust GenAI to handle the payment transaction, according to Visa's Trust Index.
Brown said previous changes to technology, such as online shopping and mobile banking, also took time for consumers to trust.
"Consumers were very hesitant to bank online and... now it's just part of our every day lives," he said.
What are spending forecasts for this holiday season?
The National Retail Federation is forecasting growth in holiday sales of 4.2% from last year while two separate consulting firms are forecasting a drop in holiday spending.
According to PwC's Holiday Outlook 2026 survey, holiday gift spending is projected to dip 2% from last year. On average, consumers expect to spend $708 on gifts this year with households with children spending $875 compared to households without children spending $635.
According to Simon Kucher's 8th Annual Holiday Shopping Study, Americans plan to spend 5.5% less this holiday season, bringing the decline down to 2024 levels. But the pullback isn't uniform, the study said, as lower and middle-income households are showing greater signs of pressure while higher-income households remain a stronger spending anchor.
The average household holiday spend, according to the Simon Kucher study, is expected to be $1,018.
In the Visa study, costs are top of mind with 84% percent of respondents saying they've taken at least one action to manage higher everyday costs in the past year. The most common were hunting for discounts (47%), cutting discretionary spending (35%) and trading down to lower-cost brands (33%).
Government and Visa's own data show that in the aggregate, consumer spending is robust, said Brown. "However, when you start looking under the surface, you can definitely tell across the income spectrum that inflation is biting at certain aspects of the middle and lower income households," he said.
Discretionary spending, especially in travel plans, has "been throttled back this fall," according to Visa data, Brown said.
Shoppers try to protect against fraud
Holiday shoppers are also leery of scammers, with nearly three in 10 respondents to the Visa survey saying they were targeted by fraud during last year's holiday season. That number rises to 39% among Gen Z shoppers.
As a result, three-quarters of shoppers have changed how they shop, adding in extra protections, including enabling two-factor authentication (34%), changing passwords more often (34%), declining to save payment details (25%), switching from debit to credit cards (24%) and using digital wallets (21%)
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which breaks down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is AI this holiday shopping season's Secret Santa?
