With UK shoppers expecting around seven per cent of their total online purchases to be made via AI agents by 2030, the technology could be behind up to £29 billion of online spending, according to new research from Worldpay.

The research, which surveyed 2,000 UK consumers, demonstrates that many Brits are already open to using the technology.

31 per cent said that they would let an AI assistant browse for them, with this figure rising to 45 per cent among 18–34s.

However, most Brits are not ready to hand over full control of their purchases to AI, with 60 per cent saying that they want to review every transaction before it goes through.

A further 58 per cent said they’d like the option to cancel a purchase within 24 hours, with only six per cent trusting an AI to buy automatically without checking in first.

UK respondents also highlighted fraud protection as essential (54 per cent), with 46 per cent saying they want to be able to set spending limits.

44 per cent of consumers also want to be able to speak to a real person if something goes wrong.

“AI shopping assistants are more than a tech trend — they’re changing how we discover and buy the things we love," said Nabil Manji, head of FinTech growth and financial partnerships, Worldpay. "But shoppers still want to maintain control.

"As this shift accelerates, retailers need to be ready to meet shoppers where they are — with trusted, flexible experiences that feel simple, secure and tailored to what consumers actually want.”

Earlier this week, a study commissioned by Trustpilot suggested that negative AI experiences have put £8.6 billion of UK e-commerce sales at risk in the past 12 months.

An estimated £4.9 billion stems from immediate lost transactions, while an £3.7 billion reflects reputational damage as dissatisfied customers share their experiences with other potential customers, according to the report.

The analysis, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research and based on a survey of 1,000 UK participants, indicates that roughly six per cent of the total market of online spending may have been put at risk.

Last week, PayPal agreed a partnership with OpenAI to embed its digital wallet into ChatGPT and connect tens of millions of merchants to the platform, with launch targeted for 2026.

OpenAI recently introduced Instant Checkout and a “Buy Now” button in ChatGPT, initially supporting Etsy and Shopify and later expanding to Walmart.

Under the latest deal, PayPal will adopt OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol so ChatGPT users can pay using PayPal, while merchants using PayPal will have their product catalogues made discoverable within ChatGPT without individual integrations.

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