Shoppers trust AI to track parcels, not payments: Sinch

Confidence rises when the task is narrow

Source: Sinch AB, Stockholm, 15 September 2026.

Shoppers are most comfortable handing AI a specific, low-stakes job. In the Sinch AB survey of 2,501 consumers across eight markets, published on 15 September 2026, 81 percent said they were confident an AI assistant could handle order tracking and shipping updates. That figure is the highest in the study and makes parcel progress the clearest area of acceptance. Confidence stays high, though slightly lower, for pre-purchase questions at 74 percent, where shoppers appear willing to let a chatbot answer basic queries about stock, sizing or delivery times before they commit to a purchase.

The numbers fall away as the task moves closer to money and account control. Just 66 percent were confident about account changes, and 62 percent about payment or billing changes. The pattern suggests that trust is not a single switch that shoppers flip for AI in retail. It is closer to a sliding scale tied to what is at stake if something goes wrong. A delayed tracking update is an inconvenience. A payment change or a billing error touches a shopper's bank balance, and the survey shows that distinction clearly. Even so, outright refusal is rare: only 1 of the 2,501 respondents said they would never interact with an AI chatbot at all.

Overall optimism has slipped

Against that willingness to use AI for narrow tasks, the broader mood has cooled. In 2026, 43 percent of respondents said they thought AI would make holiday shopping easier, down from 48 percent in 2025. The five-point drop points to a gap between what shoppers will let AI do and what they expect AI to deliver overall. Privacy or data use was the top concern for the second year running, named by 43 percent of respondents, and only 7 percent said they had no concerns at all. That leaves a large majority carrying at least one reservation into the busiest shopping period of the year.

The most popular uses named in the survey line up with the tasks where confidence is highest. Order tracking was cited by 48 percent, researching a product by 47 percent and customer service by 36 percent. Those three activities are also the ones most likely to sit inside a retailer's existing app or website, where the shopper has already chosen to engage with the brand. The survey does not show shoppers seeking out AI for its own sake. It shows them accepting it where it removes a small piece of friction from a job they already wanted done.

Humans still win on advice and voice

When the question shifts from logistics to judgement, shoppers side with people. Some 53 percent said they trusted a real person's product recommendation over AI, while 47 percent said they trusted AI equally or more. That is close to an even split, but the edge sits with human advice. The same pattern appears on the phone: 48 percent said they trusted a human phone agent over an AI voice agent, 37 percent said they trusted AI equally or more, and 15 percent said they wanted the option to transfer to a human. That last figure matters for retailers designing automated call handling, because it describes a group of shoppers who will accept an AI agent only if a person is reachable.

Robert Gerstmann, Chief Evangelist and Co-Founder of Sinch, said: "AI for AI's sake doesn't land with shoppers, but AI attached to a job they actually want done does. Order tracking and pre-purchase questions are the easy wins, where confidence is already high. Payment, billing and account changes are different: shoppers still want a human close by, and brands need to make that handoff easy and obvious." The quote captures the split in the data. Shoppers are not rejecting automation outright. They are drawing a line around the tasks where a mistake carries a cost, and they want the route to a person to be clear before they need it.

Markets split sharply

Attitudes vary widely by country. The United States was the most sceptical market in the survey, with 26 percent saying AI would help and 43 percent saying it would not. Brazil was the most optimistic, at 78 percent. The gap between those two figures is larger than any difference recorded on the task-level questions, which suggests that national mood shapes how shoppers read the same technology. The US sample was the largest at 698 respondents, followed by Australia at 351, Brazil at 350, the UK at 252, France at 225, Germany at 225, Mexico at 200 and Spain at 200.

For UK shoppers, the sample of 252 sits in the middle of the pack in size, and the survey does not break out UK-only figures for each question. What the eight-market picture does show is that the task-level pattern, high confidence on tracking and lower confidence on payments, holds across a study that spans very different retail cultures. A shopper in Brazil and a shopper in the US are working from the same set of tasks, but they arrive at different conclusions about whether AI improves the experience overall. That distinction is worth holding on to when reading headline numbers about AI adoption in retail.

What it means for UK shoppers this Black Friday

Black Friday 2026 falls on 27 November, and much of the customer contact around that period will run through chatbots, automated tracking and, in some cases, AI voice agents. The survey suggests UK shoppers will use those tools for parcel updates and basic product questions, and will be more hesitant about payment and billing changes. Whatever handled the sale, the same consumer protections apply. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a 14-day cancellation right on most online purchases, starting from the day the goods are received. That right sits with the shopper regardless of whether a chatbot or a human processed the order.

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 covers credit card purchases between 100 and 30,000 pounds, making the card issuer jointly liable with the retailer if something goes wrong. For purchases outside that range, or paid by debit card, chargeback through the bank may be an option. If a problem cannot be resolved with the retailer, escalation routes include the retailer's formal complaints process, an alternative dispute resolution scheme where the retailer is signed up to one, and the Citizens Advice consumer service. The survey's central finding is that shoppers want a human close by for the tasks that carry financial risk. The legal routes above are the backstop when that handoff does not happen.

Related coverage on Kael Tripton: Lv Black Friday: UK Car Insurance Guide, BNPL Regulation Starts 15 July 2026: Your Complete Guide to New Buy Now Pay Later Consumer Rights, FCA Insurance Consumer Rights UK: What ICOBS Means for Policyholders, Section 75 and Insurance UK: When Your Credit Card Covers You, Section 75 Consumer Credit Act: How to Claim Against Your Credit Card Lender.

Frequently asked questions

How confident are shoppers in AI for order tracking?

81 percent said they were confident an AI assistant could handle order tracking and shipping updates, the highest figure in the Sinch AB survey of 2,501 consumers across eight markets.

Where does confidence in AI drop?

Confidence falls to 74 percent for pre-purchase questions, 66 percent for account changes and 62 percent for payment or billing changes.

Has optimism about AI holiday shopping changed?

Yes. 43 percent think AI will make holiday shopping easier in 2026, down from 48 percent in 2025.

What is the top concern about AI shopping?

Privacy or data use, named by 43 percent of respondents for the second year running. Only 7 percent said they had no concerns.

Do shoppers prefer humans for product advice?

53 percent trust a real person's product recommendation over AI, while 47 percent trust AI equally or more.