Visa: 72% of UAE Shoppers Used AI During Their Latest Shopping Journey
Visa has revealed a significant acceleration in the adoption of artificial intelligence across the UAE's retail landscape, with 72% of surveyed consumers saying they used AI during their most recent shopping journey.
The findings, part of the 2026 Global Digital Shopping Index, indicate that consumer adoption is advancing faster than merchant readiness, highlighting the need for businesses to strengthen product data, payment acceptance capabilities and digital infrastructure as AI agents become increasingly involved in commerce.
UAE shoppers recorded significantly higher AI usage than consumers in the other markets covered by the study. The corresponding figure stood at 53% in Brazil and 46% in the United States.
Consumers in the UAE also reported the highest level of digital shopping activity across the three markets, averaging 2.3 digital shopping activities per day.
71% of UAE Shoppers Expect to Use AI Shopping Agents
The role of artificial intelligence in shopping is expected to expand further over the coming years.
According to the study, 71% of surveyed UAE consumers expect to use an AI-powered shopping agent within the next two years.
The findings point to a shift in which AI could move beyond product discovery and comparison to play a more active role in purchasing decisions and transaction completion.
AI Agents Could Account for a Growing Share of Merchant Sales
UAE merchants are also anticipating significant commercial opportunities from agentic commerce.
The study found that 74% of surveyed merchants expect AI agents to generate at least 5% of their total sales within the next two years, while 42% believe these systems could account for at least 16% of sales.
However, current merchant capabilities remain behind these expectations.
Only 19% of surveyed merchants currently have structured product data that can be read by AI agents, while just 31% can clearly identify whether a transaction originated through an AI platform.
Closing this gap will require businesses to improve the way product information is structured while developing payment acceptance capabilities supported by identity verification and tokenization.
82% Would Let AI Complete Purchases Within Set Limits
Consumer trust and control will be critical to the wider adoption of autonomous AI shopping.
The research showed that 82% of UAE shoppers would allow an AI agent to independently complete a purchase if they were able to establish a maximum spending limit.
Consumers also favored permission-based access to personal information, with case-by-case consent emerging as the preferred approach for both shopping and payment data.
These preferences underline the importance of giving users clear control over the information available to AI agents and the financial limits within which those systems can operate.
Preferred Payment Methods Remain Critical for 86% of Shoppers
Even as AI reshapes the shopping experience, payment choice continues to influence where consumers decide to buy.
The study found that 86% of UAE shoppers consider whether a merchant accepts their preferred payment method when deciding where to shop, representing the highest proportion among the three markets included in the research.
For merchants, preparing for agentic commerce will therefore require a combination of AI-readable product data, secure payment acceptance, identity verification, tokenization and consumer-defined controls.
Visa Highlights the Need to Close the Readiness Gap
Mario Makary, Visa's General Manager for the UAE, said consumers in the country are clearly prepared for the next phase of AI-powered commerce, while merchants increasingly recognize the growth opportunities created by this transformation.
He noted that closing the gap between commercial ambition and actual readiness is now a key priority.
This requires structured product data, appropriate payment acceptance capabilities and trusted infrastructure capable of allowing AI agents to move securely from product discovery to transaction completion.
Visa is working to support merchants in this transition through secure payments based on identity verification and tokenization, while maintaining consumer control over how and when their money moves and the parties receiving it.
2026 Global Digital Shopping Index
The 2026 Global Digital Shopping Index was developed by Visa Acceptance Solutions in collaboration with PYMNTS Intelligence to examine how consumer behavior, mobile technology and artificial intelligence are influencing retail across physical and digital channels.
The research covered 5,241 consumers and 1,185 merchants across the UAE, Brazil and the United States, with data collected in March 2026.
The UAE portion of the study included completed responses from 1,270 consumers and 100 merchants, providing insights into current AI adoption and expectations surrounding the future role of AI agents in commerce.