Information Overload Causing Frequent Basket Abandonment in Retail, Consumer Goods and Travel Purchases, Accenture Research Reveals

The research, based on a survey of 19,000 consumers across 12 countries highlights the issue of ‘information overload’, with 73% of consumers feeling inundated by too much choice and 75% saying they are bombarded by advertising, resulting in 74% abandoning purchases in the last three months of 2023.

Titled “The Empowered Consumer,” the research report offers fresh insights into consumers’ decision-making experiences across the retail, travel, and consumer goods industries. Amid competing claims, messages, advertising, choices, recommendations, algorithms, and apps, it emphasizes an urgent need for brands to tap into the transformative power of generative AI (gen AI) to reduce the “noise” around decision-making and increase engagement, loyalty, and sales.

The research also found that most people (71%) see no improvement or even see an increase in the time and effort required to make a purchase decision. This is comprised of the 41% who think it has got harder, and 30% who see no change. 29% think it takes less time and effort.

Looking across categories, the research also points to the challenges that consumers experience when trying to make purchase decisions. These are not confined to big ticket items. For example, consumers feel less confident about bookinga hotel than buying a car; booking a flight is nearly as nerve-wracking as getting a mortgage and choosing a moisturizer is on par with buying a washing machine.

Reinvention in the age of Gen AI

The report states that the empowerment of consumers through generative AI, other technologies and new ways of working will shift how people think about brands. Companies can make fundamental shifts across discovery, conversion and loyalty to reinvent decision making process and the relationships they have with consumers and the role they play in their lives. Early mover advantage will be especially important for consumer-facing companies intent on capturing value from gen AI across all parts of the business quickly, and at scale.

We expect that in the next three years, the adoption of these gen AI technologies by consumers will bring the most significant reconsideration of what and how they decide to purchase that we have seen in decades. Why? Because consumers are telling us they will use conversational gen AI solutions to help them research and buy products and experiences, and these tools will cut through the traditional sales and marketing messaging that, to date, has been the dominant shaper of consumption. This will likely be the biggest opportunity to gain or lose market share that consumer companies have seen in recent memory.Oliver Wright, senior managing director and global lead for Accenture’s Consumer Goods & Services industry practice

According to the report, consumers themselves are increasingly seeking ways to lighten the workload and are starting to see how gen AI might take on some of the leg work. Accenture’s observation, based on conversations with executives across industries, is that consumers are on track to adopt generative AI-powered advisors rapidly and at scale over the next two years. Indeed, half (51%) of survey respondents said they’re open to using conversational AI solutions.

“Gen AI has the potential to deliver the hyper-relevant recommendations to consumers in the moment, whether it is the sandwich that meets their dietary needs, the family meal that fits their weekly budget, or the personalized skincare that really meets their needs.” Wright added.

The report also emphasizes the importance of looking at the core operational processes holistically and using generative AI to unlock value at scale. For example, innovative travel companies are examining how reinventing the booking process can act as a catalyst for unlocking value across the entire travel experience.

Planning a trip can often feel siloed, disjointed and overwhelming as consumers grapple with the huge incoming volume of content and advertising from competing travel brands and influencers. Generative AI has the potential to simplify, accelerate and enrich the travel booking experience, providing the sights, sounds and information and act as a ‘travel influencer’ elevating personalized recommendations in real time to help consumers feel more confident, informed and engaged. It can act as a creative partner for travel marketers across design, research, and content creation, providing more targeted and intuitive marketing so that consumers can spend more time enjoying the experience. However, as adoption of gen AI technology grows, it is important for companies to consider their competitive differentiators, as experiences could start to blend across brands. Emily Weiss, senior managing director and global lead of Accenture’s Travel industry practice

Deepening relationships with consumers 

Getting the brilliant basics right remains table stakes when it comes to delivering shopping experiences that keep consumers coming back. The survey found that while six in 10 (62%) of consumers find some part of the shopping experience fun or exciting, a similar number (63%) felt frustrated and disappointed the product they want to buy is out of stock.

When it comes to inspiration and product discovery, consumers are hard-wired for more natural, conversational, human-to-human interactions. Gen AI offers a chance to capture the entire purchasing journey, from inspiration to ideation to transaction, as part of a single, seamless, natural conversation. For retailers, gen AI provides the opportunity to keep the consumer within their branded experience by linking product recommendations to inventory that’s in-stock and ready to be added to the shopping cart, not to mention the opportunity to get more insight into their existing customer base for loyalty programs and upselling opportunities. Jill Standish, senior managing director and global lead for Accenture’s Retail practice

About the research

Accenture’s Consumer Pulse Research 2024 explores how consumer sentiment, behaviours and expectations are driving change for consumer-facing industries. This year’s research offers insights into consumer decision making, with a particular focus on the implications this will have for the consumer goods and services, retail and travel industries. Online focus groups were held during the week of October 30, 2023 in the USA, UK and India to investigate our initial hypotheses. These were then tested by surveying a representative sample of 19,050 consumers from 12 countries: UK, USA, Greater China, Australia, Canada, India, Germany, France, Spain, UAE, Brazil and Japan. The survey was conducted online and was conducted between December 6 and December 12, 2023. Analysis allowed for comparisons across various demographic factors such as age, or income, as well as behavioural attributes like an individual’s typical decision-making style. It also included focused deep dives on the challenges faced by consumers along the consumer journey for eight categories: beauty products, OTC remedies, groceries, snacks, clothing, consumer electronics, flights, and hotels/resorts.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world's leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 733,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world's leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.