A Christmas Inspired by ChatGPT – Moneyweb

Previously, grabbing the best deals on Black Friday required spending hours waiting outside retailers like Best Buy or Walmart, only to rush in at the crack of dawn. Nowadays, savvy shoppers are increasingly leveraging ChatGPT and various AI tools to enhance their shopping convenience.

For the second year in a row, Jim Malervy, 46, from Philadelphia, is using ChatGPT alongside other AI solutions for his holiday purchases. With the help of an AI-driven pricing application, he managed to score a $50 discount on an iPad for his eldest daughter last year.

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This year, he’s on the hunt for a Margot Robbie rollerblading Barbie doll from the popular movie for his younger daughter. He plans to utilize several apps, including PayPal’s Honey, which helps find the best prices. His target: a 30% discount.

Eliminating the stress of in-store shopping, he notes that AI removes the anxiety associated with missing out on Black Friday sales. “There’s often a feeling of anxiety,” Malervy shared, who manages the site AI GPT Journal. “You want to make sure you’re getting the best price.”

Malervy belongs to the 44% of expected Black Friday shoppers aiming to use AI this year, according to a survey from research firm Attest, which surveyed 2,000 consumers. Many AI companies, like OpenAI and Perplexity AI, are expanding their shopping and search functionalities to cater to consumers during the festive season.

Retailers are gearing up for an unprecedented influx of shoppers over the Thanksgiving weekend. However, well-known chains like Kohl’s Corp. and Best Buy Co., traditionally sought-after Black Friday destinations, issued unsatisfactory sales forecasts on Tuesday, indicating that consumers are holding out for larger sales events.

A Glimpse into the Future

American shoppers are entering the holiday season burdened by various stressors, including inflation, the repercussions of a divisive presidential election, and ongoing conflicts. They are being selective with their spending, actively seeking ways to ease the burden of finding reasonably priced gifts.

This trend has led some consumers to rely on digital bots for their holiday shopping. Retail giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. are also adopting AI to simplify shopping and deal discovery.

“I genuinely believe this is a glimpse of what’s to come,” said John David Rainey, Walmart’s Chief Financial Officer, during a recent interview, highlighting that the retailer is developing AI tools to enhance product search capabilities.

Frédéric Bourgeois-LeBlanc, a 32-year-old from Montreal, revealed that his visits to Best Buy for the latest gadgets have become overwhelmingly stressful, requiring extensive research to identify the best products at competitive prices. Employed in public relations, he now uses Weever.AI, a new platform where shoppers can ask questions and receive product suggestions. This Black Friday, he is searching for gaming headphones for his Xbox, finding AI to be a practical solution for someone like him, who isn’t used to deep-dive research.

Weever is readying its systems for a surge of users. “We expect an influx,” shared Co-Founder and CEO Frédéric Marcoux. Perplexity AI, which recently unveiled a shopping bot, also reported a spike in search activity around “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday.”

The use of AI tools is also transforming the traditional way of organizing shopping trips. Instead of spending hours coordinating store hours and deals, ChatGPT can generate a detailed itinerary for even the most devoted Black Friday enthusiasts.

In a recent request for a Black Friday itinerary, ChatGPT proposed an ambitious 12-hour tour of New York City, beginning at 6:30 a.m. at Macy’s Inc. in Herald Square. The plan incorporated upscale shopping on Fifth Avenue, trendy finds in Soho, must-stops at Best Buy, the B&H electronics store, and the Strand bookstore, culminating with lunch at Chelsea Market. The itinerary also included a reminder to “stay hydrated and wear comfortable shoes,” addressing the challenges of walking and navigating crowds.

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However, generative AI like ChatGPT often needs adjustments. Its responses are not static; it functions based on likelihood to determine which answers to provide. At times, the information it delivers may be outdated or incorrect.

When asked, “Where should I go Black Friday shopping in NYC?” ChatGPT recommended lunch at the food hall at the Plaza Hotel, which has been closed for several years.

When prompted for alternatives, the bot suggested fast-food chain Shake Shack for lunch and the popular Carbone for dinner, which, unsurprisingly, has no reservations available on that day or for the entire following month. ChatGPT advises users about its possible inaccuracies and encourages them to verify any crucial information, according to an OpenAI representative. Paid versions of the service provide real-time search functionalities and may yield different — and more accurate — outcomes.

Unlocking Deals

In many instances, shoppers find that the best bargains aren’t situated in brick-and-mortar stores or easily visible on retailers’ websites. With the rise of dynamic pricing and rapidly changing deals, shoppers have had to enhance their strategies.

“Sometimes, when you search, it seems like you’re looking at deals from 2020,” noted Lisi, a 17-year-old student and online influencer known as Lisi Shops on YouTube and TikTok, who requested Bloomberg to withhold her last name. “I want the deals from this year.”

Lisi has been studying AI in her classes and has started to embrace the use of ChatGPT for finding deals after spending countless hours online searching.

Sana Akibu, a digital merchandising manager from Gaithersburg, Maryland, mentioned that she now starts every shopping search on ChatGPT.

This past year, she spotted a promotion for a bracelet on Instagram but later struggled to find it again. “I knew I’d seen their deals before. So I figured I’d ask ChatGPT and see what happened,” Akibu explained.

She prompted the bot for promotional codes from the brand, specifying the date to ensure it was a current offer. “This opened up a whole new shopping experience,” she said. She plans to leverage the bot for her family’s Black Friday shopping and likely more in the future.

© 2024 Bloomberg

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