BENGALURU: With too much choice around, consumers struggle with information overload when it comes to decision making across the retail, travel and consumer goods industries. However, generative AI and other technologies can help consumers choose the right ones.
Accenture’s recent research report titled ‘The Empowered Consumer’ says 76% of consumers in India feel inundated by too much choice and 74% say they are bombarded by advertising, resulting in 88% abandoning purchases in the last three months of 2023.
The report highlights an urgent need for brands to tap into the transformative power of GenAI to reduce the noise around decision-making and increase engagement, loyalty, and sales.
It says the empowerment of consumers through GenAI, other technologies, and new ways of working will shift how people think about brands. Companies can make fundamental shifts across discovery, conversion and loyalty to reinvent the decision making process and the relationships they have with consumers and the role they play in their lives. Early mover advantage will be especially important for consumer-facing companies intent on capturing value from GenAI across all parts of the business quickly, and at scale.
The research also found that 67% in India see no improvement or even see an increase in the time and effort required to make a purchase decision. This consists of the 40% who think it has got harder, and 28% who see no change and 33% think it takes less time and effort.
Accenture’s report points to the challenges that consumers experience when trying to make purchase decisions. Vineet R Ahuja, managing director and lead - strategy & consulting at Accenture in India said: “Our survey shows that Indian shoppers are experiencing greater ‘decision stress’ at every stage of the buying journey. Consumer-facing companies will need to rethink how products and services are branded and marketed, making it easier for shoppers to navigate through the noise and make confident purchase decisions.”
According to the report, consumers themselves are increasingly seeking ways to lighten the workload and are starting to see how GenAI might take on some of the leg work. The report adds that consumers are on track to adopting generative AI-powered advisors rapidly and at scale over the next two years. As much as 82% of people in India said they are open to using conversational generative AI solutions for advice, support, guidance, recommendations, and queries while shopping.