A new round of consumer behavior data is revealing just how important AI-powered tools are going to play in the 2026 holiday shopping season. The research, from Ryder System Inc., the logistics and truck rental company, shows that AI is transforming product discovery and decision-making.

The report, titled “Beyond Price: What’s Driving Consumer Shopping Behavior,” polled more than 1,100 consumers and also found that price influence drops among fashion apparel and beauty consumers while other factors gain more importance. The survey also revealed expectations around shipping and returns.

Ryder said the report, released Wednesday, “examines how consumers balance convenience, cost and experience, providing brands and retailers with actionable insights to refine their e-commerce and omnichannel fulfillment strategies in an increasingly complex retail landscape.” The survey showed that 64 percent of consumers are now using AI-powered shopping tools.

“Among these consumers, search and shopping assistants lead adoption (45 percent), followed by customer review summaries or key takeaways (37 percent), visual or image-based search (33 percent), voice assistants (31 percent) and virtual try-on or visualization tools (31 percent),” the report’s authors said.

Jeff Wolpov, senior vice president of e-commerce and Ryder Last Mile, said industry-wide data “echoes our findings, reinforcing that AI is fundamentally changing online shopping behaviors; another study found that nearly three in five consumers have begun replacing traditional search engines with generative AI search.”

“What it all amounts to is, if products are not optimized for AI-powered search results, brands may lose consideration in the consumer buying journey,” Wolpov said.

What about free shipping? Is that still a thing? Well, kind of.

The data showed that while free shipping remains the leading factor in purchase decisions at 62 percent, “its influence dropped 14 percent year over year, while fast delivery expectations nearly doubled.” The data showed that 39 percent of respondents said they now expect delivery within one to two days, which is a four-year high.

“Still, 71 percent of consumers surveyed abandoned items in their carts due to unanticipated shipping fees,” the report’s authors said, adding that 48 percent of those polled said they research which brands offer free and/or cheaper shipping, “and 73 percent added items to their carts to qualify for free shipping—the highest since 2023.”

When it comes to returns, the sentiment is divided on methods for online orders. The survey found that among all shoppers surveyed, 52 percent said they prefer in-store, while 48 percent said they prefer to return via mail/drop box. “And, among the 79 percent of respondents who had returns experiences that prevented them from shopping with a brand again, the absence of options to return online orders in-store and via mail were cited equally, highlighting the importance of returns management as part of a seamless omnichannel strategy,” the report stated.

Among those shoppers whose returns experience negatively impacted customer loyalty, the data showed that the most common complaint was return shipping fees, at 55 percent. And, of all consumers surveyed, 52 percent said they are “unwilling to purchase from a retailer without a free-return policy.”

In regard to price and its influence on purchase decisions, the researchers said its influence is waning.

For example, among apparel and beauty shoppers, price’s role in purchase decisions dropped 12 percent and 13 percent, respectively, year-over-year. For beauty, this marks a three-year low. “At the same time, product materials and ingredients, environmental impact and ethical practices proved to be purchase drivers, cumulatively gaining 13 percent for each group,” the report noted.

There were also some new trends revealed. The use of remote lockers and location pickup climbed 14 percent year over year and surpassed buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup as the leading alternative fulfillment method.

“The retail landscape is becoming increasingly complex, but also more opportunity-rich,” Wolpov said. “Brands that succeed will balance price with customer experience, deliver seamless omnichannel fulfillment, and leverage AI and data-driven insights to meet rising expectations for personalization, visibility, and ease.”