Consumers to Use AI for 'Coupon Clipping' This Holiday Season
AI is increasingly becoming a go-to assistant during the holiday shopping season, according to new research from PwC.
The company just released its Holiday Outlook 2026 report, finding that while overall spending might be more reserved, gift spending looks resilient, projected to dip just 2% YoY despite historic lows in consumer confidence.
Methodology
PwC surveyed 4,093 consumers in the U.S. between June 15 and June 26, 2026. Respondents in the online survey were broadly representative of the U.S. population across gender, region or state and generational group, with approximately 1,000 respondents each from Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers.
On average, consumers expect to spend $708 on gifts this year.
Millennials, in particular, are feeling the pressure. The generational group, now in its parenting and mortgage-paying prime, is expected to drop gift budgets by 10%. Gen Z will likely see a similar pullback with its gift spending, which is expected to go down 9% YoY.
To stay on budget, 29% of those surveyed said they will use AI somewhere along their holiday shopping journey to do initial research and compare prices, essentially using it as a "coupon clipping" tool. This is up from last year when 22% reported doing the same.
But AI is still playing a supporting role rather than taking the main stage. Sixty-four percent of consumers using AI for ideas open a separate tab to visit a brand's website and complete their purchase, rather than using the link recommended by the tool.
Overall, 68% of consumers who use AI say they turn to it to explore gift ideas they wouldn’t otherwise have considered — and usage is high across generations (73% of Gen Z, 70% of Millennials, 65% of Gen X, 60% of Baby Boomers).
Seventy-five percent of consumers who use AI said they believe the technology will make their holiday shopping easier this year.
The challenge comes with usage proficiency. It's becoming increasingly apparent that AI prompting is a skill set that needs to be trained.
When PwC asked consumers to share an actual prompt they might use, more than half were still fairly basic, closer to a search engine query than a tailored request. The company rated 21% of users as novices and 32% as showing developed maturity, while only 40% showed proficiency and 8% qualified as advanced, according to a data maturity assessment that considered specificity, context and language.
