Bloomberg Businessweek AI's Impact on Retail and Consumer Behavior
Dec 30, 2025
Kimberly Shenk, CEO of Novi, discusses the revolutionary role of AI in retail. She highlights how AI assistants are transforming consumer shopping habits, particularly during the holiday season, by handling discount hunting and personalized gift recommendations. Kimberly compares Novi's approach to AI with that of traditional data firms and explains how they enhance trust through verified product data. She also predicts significant shifts in consumer behavior towards AI curation, shifting away from conventional retail management by 2026.
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Optimizing Product Data For AI Discovery
- Novi optimizes SKU-level product data so AI models can find and recommend products reliably.
- This positions brands to appear in AI-driven discovery across assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.
Consumers Outsource Shopping To AI Agents
- Consumers are outsourcing shopping research, discount hunting, and gift curation to AI agents.
- AI agents then find and recommend products based on user prompts instead of traditional browsing.
Feed Trustworthy SKU Data To AI Models
- Feed trustworthy, personalized product information directly to AI models and retailer partners.
- Ensure SKU-level data includes badges, reviews, and third-party verification to improve AI recommendations.