Festive shoppers are increasingly turning to AI to research products, compare alternatives and narrow their choices before deciding where to buy. For brands, this creates a new challenge: earning a place in the recommendations that influence which products enter consideration.
The shift is already visible in India’s 2026 festive shopping outlook. Integral Ad Science (IAS) found that 38% of consumers plan to use AI tools for festive product and gift research, up from 32% in 2025.
For brands, this raises a strategic question: what makes a brand relevant, credible and worth recommending when AI becomes part of the consumer’s decision-making process? The answer increasingly extends beyond campaign visibility to the quality of product information, the strength of brand signals and the evidence consumers can use to evaluate a purchase.
How Is AI Changing Festive Shopping Decisions?
Consumers are using AI to find deals, compare products, evaluate reviews and discover brands. During festive shopping, these tools can help narrow choices based on specific needs, budgets and purchase deadlines.
NielsenIQ’s September 2026 Agentic Commerce India research identifies deal discovery, product comparisons, review evaluation and new-brand discovery as emerging applications of AI in shopping. These behaviours show how AI can support different stages of product evaluation, from exploring unfamiliar options to assessing value and purchase suitability.
AI is also becoming a recurring part of the shopping journey. Google’s 2026 festive research found that Indian shoppers consulted generative AI chatbots an average of 7.5 times during their shopping journeys, while 51% of those using AI platforms or features said AI helped them make decisions.
These findings suggest that AI is becoming an additional source of guidance as consumers evaluate purchases, rather than necessarily replacing search, social media, marketplaces or other discovery channels.
The Festive Shortlist Is Becoming a New Competitive Battleground
India’s 2026 festive outlook provides another signal. Datum Intelligence’s June survey of online shoppers found that 51% had used AI chatbots to research an online purchase in the preceding three months, while 49% had used marketplace AI assistants.
General-purpose chatbots and marketplace assistants may draw on different information sources, but both can influence which products consumers consider.
For advertisers, being visible and being recommended are increasingly distinct challenges.
When a shopper asks AI to recommend a smartphone within a specific budget or a festive gift that can arrive before Diwali, products are being evaluated against particular needs. Specifications, comparative strengths, credible reviews, pricing and availability can all influence that evaluation. Brand awareness may create familiarity, but a product must also demonstrate its relevance to the shopper’s requirements.
This gives product information a more strategic role in marketing. Brands need to communicate their differentiators clearly, substantiate product claims and maintain accurate information across the sources consumers and AI systems may consult. No single approach guarantees an AI recommendation, but the quality and credibility of available information increasingly matter to how brands are understood and considered.
Why Does Product Credibility Matter More When AI Recommends?
AI may be gaining influence over which products consumers consider, but that does not mean shoppers are ready to delegate the final purchase. The distinction matters for brands: AI can help narrow the shortlist, while consumers still need enough credible information to validate a recommendation and make their own decision.
Deloitte’s 2026 APAC commerce research found that two-thirds of surveyed retail leaders did not expect consumers to fully embrace AI agents purchasing on their behalf before 2028. AI-assisted search, comparison and recommendations are gaining traction ahead of autonomous purchasing.
Consumers need to assess whether a product meets their requirements, whether its claims are credible and whether an offer represents genuine value. Accurate specifications, authentic reviews, transparent pricing and dependable fulfilment help provide that confidence.
This is particularly relevant during festive shopping, when promotional offers and delivery timelines can influence the final decision. A recommendation may bring a product into consideration, but inconsistencies between the brand promise and the information available at the point of purchase can weaken consumer confidence.
The stronger the connection between the brand promise and verifiable product information, the easier it becomes for consumers to evaluate that promise – whether they encounter it through AI, search or a marketplace.
APAC’s Festive Discovery Opportunity Is Not One Market
Festive shopping across APAC follows different calendars, consumer expectations and discovery behaviours. India’s Diwali season, Southeast Asia’s 10.10 and 11.11 sales and Australia’s year-end shopping period create distinct moments of demand. As AI becomes part of product research and comparison, understanding these differences becomes increasingly important.
In India, AI-assisted research is developing alongside an already diverse discovery ecosystem spanning search, social media, video and marketplaces. During its 2026 Ganesh Chaturthi shopping programme, Amazon India highlighted tools including Rufus, Lens AI and Review Highlights to help consumers explore products and evaluate purchases. The example illustrates how AI is being integrated into established retail experiences rather than replacing them.
Across Southeast Asia, the immediate opportunity is closely connected to value-conscious shopping. Milieu’s September 2026 study of 3,008 consumers across six markets found that 55% buy only what they need during mega-sales, while 56% prepare a shopping list or have a rough idea of their intended purchases.
These findings reveal the purchase priorities that AI-assisted recommendations will need to address in different Southeast Asian markets. Recommendations that help consumers compare genuine value and relevant products may carry more weight than promotional urgency alone.
In Australia, AI-assisted festive discovery is gaining momentum. IAS’s October 2026 Holiday Shopping Report found that 22% of consumers planned to use AI for product and gift research, up from 12% in 2025. At the same time, 62% identified mobile as their primary shopping device. This reinforces the importance of making product information, reviews and offers accessible across the mobile-first environments where consumers research and compare purchases.
The implication for regional advertisers is to build consistent product information and measurement foundations while adapting discovery strategies to local consumer needs. The same product may need to demonstrate gifting relevance in India, promotional value during Southeast Asia’s mega-sales and credible product comparisons during Australia’s year-end shopping season.
AI may introduce a common layer of discovery across APAC, but the reasons consumers seek recommendations, and the evidence they need to act on them, will remain market-specific.
The Festive Readiness Test: Seven Questions for Advertisers
As AI becomes part of festive discovery, brands need to assess how well they translate visibility into consideration and purchase. Seven questions provide a practical starting point:
- Found: Is accurate, up-to-date product information available across the sources and shopping environments consumers use?
- Understood: Are product benefits, differentiators and relevant use cases clear enough to be interpreted in the right shopping context?
- Verified: Are product claims supported by credible reviews, specifications and consistent information across trusted sources?
- Recommended: Can the brand demonstrate why its products are relevant to the specific needs and comparisons shoppers are likely to explore?
- Trusted: Can consumers confidently assess product quality, value, authenticity and the reliability of the offer?
- Fulfilled: Can the business deliver on the recommended product, price, promotion and delivery promise during peak festive demand?
- Measured: Can the brand evaluate AI-assisted discovery alongside consideration, qualified traffic, conversion and incremental business outcomes?
The real test of festive readiness is whether a brand can move from being discoverable to being considered, trusted and chosen.
