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Majority of UAE shoppers willing to allow AI assistants to shop on their behalf, says report
A new survey finds that security concerns continue to interrupt the checkout journey, with 32 per cent of UAE consumers abandoning carts due to payment security concerns
- PUBLISHED: Wed 13 May 2026, 10:00 AM
More than half – 54 per cent – of UAE shoppers are comfortable allowing artificial intelligence assistants to shop on their behalf as the role of AI increasingly grows in people’s day-to-day lives, according to a new study released on Wednesday.
Consumers in the UAE are most willing to delegate tasks such as finding the best price for an item, comparing product options and reviews, and creating shopping lists based on habits. There is also growing openness to AI handling groceries and booking travel or transportation, said Checkout.com’s 2026 report, Mena Digital Commerce 2026: The New Era of AI in Payments.
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In a market where 56 per cent of shoppers already compare prices on mobile phones while in-store, AI agents are emerging as “super shoppers” capable of scanning and recommending the best options in real time.
Adoption is not uniform across the country, though, with men (57 per cent) and high-income earners (79 per cent) showing significantly higher levels of comfort with AI than women (48 per cent) and lower-income groups (50 per cent), indicating that agentic commerce will initially be driven by digitally confident and wealthier segments before broadening across the wider population.
Growing online shopping
Interestingly, over half – 52 per cent – of UAE consumers shop online at least once a week, and 67 per cent expect to increase their shopping in the next 12 months, it said.
Across the UAE, broader spending trends point to a rapidly evolving digital economy. Social commerce is gaining momentum, with 27 per cent of consumers now shopping through social media platforms. Meanwhile, mobile-first financial behaviour continues to expand, as digital wallets become central to both payments and money management.
The report identifies significant diversification in digital spending across the UAE, with food delivery emerging as the most frequent category for online purchases at 64 per cent of respondents. This is followed by clothing and fashion at 54 per cent, travel at 51 per cent, and both beauty and electronics at 37 per cent.
“What we are seeing in the UAE is a broader shift toward intelligent, digital-first commerce experiences that align closely with the country’s innovation agenda and cashless ambitions,” said Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, general manager for Mena at Checkout.com.
Abandoning carts
Importantly, privacy is a major concern for UAE shoppers, as over half of them – 54 per cent – cite privacy as the primary barrier to the adoption of AI for shopping.
Nearly 96 per cent of consumers in the UAE said they wanted invisible payments.
“Today’s shoppers expect payments to be fast, intuitive, and invisible, but they are equally clear that trust and security cannot be compromised. Our research shows that 63 per cent of consumers consider a safe and secure payment experience to be the most important factor when shopping online. For businesses operating in the UAE, the opportunity lies in delivering the convenience consumers expect while building the trust that drives long-term loyalty and growth,” said Abbondandolo.
“The UAE has built one of the world’s most advanced digital economies, and consumer expectations are evolving just as quickly,” he added.
The survey found that digital wallets are now deeply embedded in daily life, with 67 per cent of UAE consumers using them at least monthly to buy, budget, and manage finances, and 71 per cent doing so for money transfers.
While 96 per cent of consumers want payments to be invisible and disappear into the background, this demand depends on trust. When trust is broken, the consequences are immediate: 39 per cent of UAE consumers would switch directly to a competitor if they encountered a falsely declined payment.
Security concerns continue to interrupt the checkout journey, with 32 per cent of consumers abandoning carts due to payment security concerns, while 38 per cent say they would avoid purchasing from a website altogether if they were uncertain about payment safety. In fact, 63 per cent of consumers prioritise a safe and secure payment process over other aspects of the shopping experience, highlighting that while fast experiences are valued, they cannot come at the expense of confidence.
Furthermore, 57 per cent of UAE consumers say they are willing to save their card details to simplify the payment process, signalling a strong appetite for convenience and an expectation of robust fraud protection.
