Three out of four Indian shoppers are already letting artificial intelligence shape what they buy. A new McKinsey & Company study finds that 76% of Indian consumers used AI tools to search for products, compare options or make purchase decisions in the past three months, placing India second among 11 markets surveyed, just behind China at 80% and well above the global average of 53%.

The findings come from the McKinsey Agentic Commerce Consumer Survey, fielded in June 2026 among roughly 21,000 consumers in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States. For enterprise and retail technology leaders, the message is clear: AI is fast becoming the front door to commerce in India.

Millennials, not Gen Z, lead India’s AI shopping shift

Globally, Gen Z (62%) and millennials (63%) are the heaviest users of AI for shopping. India breaks the pattern. Here, 84% of millennials use AI-powered tools while shopping, ten percentage points ahead of Gen Z at 74%. Gen X matches Gen Z at 74%, while baby boomers stand at 56%, a figure McKinsey flags as indicative because it rests on fewer than 100 respondents.

McKinsey notes that countries with the highest AI adoption tend to see that trend carry across every age group, and India fits that profile: even its older shoppers use AI at rates close to the global average for all consumers.

Trust is unusually high

Adoption is matched by confidence. 87% of Indian AI users say they trust AI chat and search tools, against a global average of 73%. By contrast, Gen Z users worldwide are more sceptical, with only 67% expressing trust.

India also leads every surveyed market in the use of global AI shopping assistants. According to the report, 77% of Indian AI users say they have used Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping, compared with 46% on average outside China, where domestic offerings such as Alibaba’s Qwen and DeepSeek dominate.

Key numbers at a glance

• 76% of Indian consumers used AI for shopping in the last three months (China 80%, global average 53%)
• 84% adoption among Indian millennials, versus 74% for Gen Z and Gen X
• 87% of Indian AI users trust AI chat and search tools (global 73%)
• 77% of Indian AI users have used Alexa for Shopping (46% average outside China)
• About 21,000 consumers surveyed across 11 markets

What it means for CIOs and digital leaders

McKinsey frames the research around agentic commerce, where AI agents move from answering questions to discovering, comparing and eventually completing purchases on a customer’s behalf. With India’s consumers already this comfortable delegating decisions to AI, retailers, brands and payment players face a practical question: is their catalogue, pricing and product data structured well enough for an AI assistant to find and recommend it?

For technology leaders, that means investing in clean product data, machine-readable catalogues, API-ready checkout and robust guardrails around how AI agents represent their brands. As discovery shifts from search boxes and storefronts to conversations with AI assistants, the companies that are easiest for agents to understand stand to win the most.

Frequently asked questions

What share of Indian consumers use AI for shopping?
According to McKinsey’s Agentic Commerce Consumer Survey (June 2026), 76% of Indian consumers used AI tools for shopping in the previous three months.

Where does India rank globally?
India ranks second of 11 markets, behind China (80%) and well ahead of the 53% global average.

Which age group leads AI shopping in India?
Millennials, at 84%, ahead of Gen Z and Gen X at 74% each.

Agentic AI and the future of enterprise and commerce will be in focus at the Elets World AI Summit.

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