UK shoppers shun full-price buys as AI chases deals

Research published by Invent.ai suggests full-price shopping is becoming less common among UK consumers, with discounting events and AI tools increasingly shaping how shoppers look for deals.

The survey of more than 1,000 UK shoppers found that 60% believe full-price shopping will decline in future, while 48% said they now rarely buy goods at full price. It also found that 62% are more driven by promotions than they were a year ago, and 61% expect to become even more reliant on discounts over the next 12 months.

The figures suggest a shift in buying habits as households remain under financial pressure. Rather than responding to occasional offers, many consumers now appear to base their shopping around promotions and markdown periods.

More than half of respondents, 55%, said high-profile discounting events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday have trained them to seek out deals. Nearly half, 48%, said they actively plan their shopping around those promotional periods, rising to 62% among Millennials.

Outside major sales events, the pattern continues. The survey found that 59% of shoppers wait for offers before making purchases, rising to 64% among Gen Z, while 51% said they always wait for a discount before buying. Among both Gen Z and Millennials, that figure rose to 61%.

AI effect

The research also suggests AI is becoming part of that behaviour. More than a third of respondents, 36%, said they already use AI tools to hunt for discounts, rising to 53% among Millennials.

Nearly half of those surveyed, 46%, said AI will make full-price shopping less common in future. Another 47% said finding discounts has become easier because AI can compare products for them, rising to 62% among Gen Z.

The results indicate that digital tools are reinforcing a shopping culture centred on comparison and price checking. For retailers, that could add to pressure on margins at a time when many are already dealing with cautious consumer spending and the operational strain of peak trading periods.

Commenting on the findings, Lukas Fischer, Sales director at Invent.ai, said: "With consumers becoming more sophisticated in how they seek out value, retailers face growing pressure to balance increasingly promotional shopping behaviours with the need to protect profitability, particularly during peak trading when demand volatility, stock availability and markdown exposure can put further pressure on margins."

The findings highlight a central issue for retailers: promotions can stimulate demand, but repeated discounting can also condition customers to delay purchases until prices fall. That can make full-price selling harder to sustain, especially in categories where consumers can easily compare offers across multiple sellers.

The survey suggests those expectations are becoming entrenched. Once shoppers are used to waiting for price reductions, retailers may find it harder to restore normal pricing without risking weaker sales volumes.

Fischer added: "On top of embedded discount expectations driven by promotional events, AI's ability to make deal hunting fast and accurate is only adding further pressure on retailers, who are already struggling to balance increasingly price-sensitive consumers with mounting margin pressures."

The findings come as retailers continue to weigh the trade-off between driving volume through promotional campaigns and preserving profitability. Discount-led strategies can help clear stock and attract traffic, but they can also erode margins if used too often or too broadly.

Invent.ai argues that better forecasting and stock planning can reduce the need for reactive markdowns. Tighter control of inventory can help retailers avoid excess stock that later has to be discounted to clear.

Fischer said: "But while full-price selling may be under threat, profitability doesn't have to be.

"Retailers may not be able to reverse discount dependency, but they can forecast their way out of the margin pressures it creates. By leveraging AI for demand forecasting and inventory optimisation, retailers can better anticipate demand, optimise stock allocation and reduce the excess inventory that leads to reactive markdowns, protecting profitability without relying on blanket discounting to drive sales."