The Boom in AI Shopping Assistant Startups and Market Size
AI shopping assistants are rapidly reshaping the global retail and e-commerce landscape. As consumers demand more personalized, seamless, and engaging online experiences, retailers are turning to AI-driven tools to meet these expectations. The result is a significant boom in AI shopping assistant startups, with new players emerging across product discovery, conversational commerce, virtual try-on, post-purchase support, and more.
What Are AI Shopping Assistants?
AI shopping assistants are digital tools powered by artificial intelligence that help customers throughout their buying journey. They can take the form of chatbots, voice assistants, recommendation engines, or in-app virtual agents. These tools engage with customers in a conversational or interactive manner to suggest products, answer questions, process orders, and provide post-sale support.
Key features typically include:
Personalized product recommendations
Contextual search and filtering
Guided product discovery
Conversational checkout
Virtual try-on and styling assistance
Proactive notifications (order tracking, restocks, promotions)
Post-purchase customer service
Drivers of Growth
Several trends are fueling the surge in AI shopping assistant startups:
Consumer Expectations: Shoppers now expect experiences similar to those provided by Amazon or TikTok Shop, with hyper-personalized recommendations and intuitive navigation.
E-Commerce Expansion: The growth of online retail across all sectors (fashion, beauty, grocery, electronics, home goods) provides a larger market for AI-driven solutions.
Advances in Generative AI: Large language models (LLMs) and multimodal AI make conversational and visual shopping assistants more powerful and realistic.
Mobile-First Shopping: Consumers increasingly shop on mobile, where AI chatbots and voice assistants are especially effective.
Brand Differentiation: Retailers seek ways to stand out in a crowded market and boost customer loyalty through personalized experiences.
Key Startup Players
The startup ecosystem is flourishing across different types of AI shopping assistants:
Conversational AI & Chatbots: Zowie, Certainly, Heyday (Hootsuite)
Virtual Try-On & Styling: Revery.ai, Vue.ai, Perfect Corp
AI-Driven Search & Discovery: Lily AI, Algolia AI, Constructor.io
Voice Shopping: Blutag
Shopper Data & Insights: Voyantis, Hypersonix
Big tech is also entering the space:
Amazon recently launched Rufus, a conversational AI assistant built into its app.
Shopify is rolling out Sidekick, an AI assistant for merchants and stores.
Klarna’s AI assistant handled over two-thirds of its customer service chats in 2024.
Market Size and Projections
According to various industry reports and forecasts:
The global market for AI in retail is projected to grow from $7.3 billion in 2023 to over $55 billion by 2032, at a CAGR of 25-30 percent (source: Precedence Research, MarketsandMarkets).
Conversational commerce alone is projected to surpass $290 billion by 2025, according to Juniper Research.
The market for AI-powered product recommendation engines is expected to reach $15-20 billion by 2030.
AI shopping assistants represent one of the most dynamic segments within this broader market. Driving forces include adoption by direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, enterprise retailers, and platforms like Shopify and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
Industry Adoption
Major retail categories adopting AI shopping assistants include:
Fashion & apparel (H&M, Levi's, Nike)
Beauty & cosmetics (Sephora, L'Oréal)
Electronics (Best Buy, Samsung)
Home & furniture (IKEA, Wayfair)
Grocery (Instacart, Walmart)
Enterprise retailers are also exploring voice assistants, personalized newsletters, AI-generated product bundles, and AI-powered loyalty programs.
The Road Ahead
As competition in e-commerce intensifies, retailers will increasingly rely on AI shopping assistants to differentiate their customer experiences. Startups providing best-in-class solutions for personalization, conversational commerce, and visual shopping will continue to attract investment and acquisition interest.
Future innovations will likely include:
Deeper integration of AI assistants with loyalty programs
Multimodal assistants (text, voice, video)
AI avatars as personal shopping concierges
Real-time emotional sentiment tracking during shopping
The AI shopping assistant boom is still in its early innings, with enormous potential to redefine how consumers engage with brands across all channels. For startups, brands, and investors, this space represents one of the most promising frontiers in retail tech.