Holiday Shopping Gets Smarter With Innovative AI Tools

(RTTNews) - Big retail and tech companies are rolling out new AI tools for the holiday shopping season. They hope the technology will make gift buying easier for customers and help boost their online sales.

These tools add to the AI features already offered by platforms like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini. One of the most talked-about updates this season is Google's new AI agent, which can call stores on your behalf to check whether an item is in stock.

OpenAI added a new shopping tool in ChatGPT that compares prices, reviews and availability to create personalized buying guides. Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) are among the first big retailers to use ChatGPT as a shopping platform.

Additionally, Target introduced AI features like Gift Finder, List-to-Cart Scanning, improved in-store navigation and even a "Find Bullseye" game. Walmart released new AI tools to help shoppers discover deals, locate items and move through stores more easily.

Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN) launched Help Me Decide, an AI tool that recommends the best product based on your browsing and purchase history and tells you why it's a good fit.

Google added new AI upgrades across Search and Shopping, including virtual try-ons and automatic price tracking. Meta (META) is using its AI assistant in Instagram and Facebook ads to match people with products instantly. All these tools are designed to make holiday shopping faster, smarter and more personalized.

However, experts say AI's overall impact on holiday shopping will still be limited this year, mainly because many retailers don't yet offer advanced tools and many shoppers aren't ready to use them.