Walmart leads a new test of AI shopping recommendations. Amazon still gets nearly six in ten AI-assisted purchases reported in a separate consumer survey. Google is checking stock at local stores, while Westfield La Maquinista is testing an assistant that sends visitors to individual shops.
AI is changing which retailers get considered before it changes where customers pay. The same gap opens for malls between a store being recommended and a visit happening.
New on Malls.com: AI agents have reached the mall. Which jobs can they do?
UBS asked four chatbots where to shop.
The analysts put 12 shopping questions to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Muse in three US states. Walmart came up most often, followed by Costco. Amazon appeared less often than expected.
The surprise went beyond groceries. On questions about car batteries, Walmart and Costco beat specialists AutoZone and O'Reilly. Aldi stood out for low grocery prices, Dick's Sporting Goods for athletic gear and Costco for bulk buying.
The UBS analysis is small. Twelve prompts cannot establish a permanent ranking, and the results mix price, geography and brand familiarity.
But the commercial implication is clear enough. A retailer known for owning a category can become the default answer when shoppers ask AI where to buy it.
The next battle for customers starts before they reach a retailer's website.
Walmart brought its cart into ChatGPT.
Walmart offered about 200,000 products through Instant Checkout. Customers could buy directly inside ChatGPT, but only one item at a time.
The result disappointed. Walmart told WIRED that in-chat purchases converted at roughly one-third the rate of products requiring a click to Walmart.com. The comparison involved different product selections, not an identical-product A/B test.
Walmart changed course. Its own assistant, Sparky, now works inside ChatGPT with linked Walmart accounts and synchronized shopping carts. Customers can continue building an order without starting a separate checkout for every item.
The same split appears among consumers. In a PYMNTS survey, 59.7% of respondents reporting a recent AI-assisted purchase completed it on Amazon. Only 2.5% named a direct link from AI as their main reason for choosing where to buy. Price or discounts led at 27.5%.
AI can introduce the customer. The retailer still has to win the order.
Google checks the stock. Westfield draws the route.
Google AI Mode can call nearby US stores to ask whether a product is available, what it costs and whether promotions apply. Instead of sending a shopper to a possibly empty shelf, AI can check with the retailer first.
At Westfield La Maquinista in Barcelona, visitors can scan a QR code and ask an AI assistant where to find shops, restaurants and services. It recommends destinations and builds routes using the mall's indoor map.
One in three conversations produces directions to a store, according to figures released by the assistant's developer, Eleva AI. The pilot operates without a dedicated app or marketing campaign.
That is a meaningful navigation result, though the developer has not established how many suggested routes produced actual store visits or sales.
The next opportunity may be in the questions themselves. Which shops do people look for? What cannot be found? Which categories repeatedly send shoppers elsewhere?
For a leasing team, those unanswered requests could eventually become as useful as the routes that lead to existing tenants.
What we're watching
→ Coach and Kate Spade. Tapestry has enabled single-item purchases directly inside Gemini and Google AI Mode in the US. Customers approve each transaction and pay through Google Pay. Some AI journeys already end inside the assistant.
→ Shopify. Its October 6 holiday report says 65% of surveyed shoppers plan to use AI for at least one holiday shopping task, but only about one-third trust an agent to buy on their behalf. Retailers are preparing for a customer who wants help choosing without surrendering control of the purchase.
→ Fujitsu. The company opened a trial environment for four retail AI agents, covering sales analysis, loyalty, merchandise planning and store management. Tests with seven retail companies are planned in phases, with commercial launch targeted for June 2027. These agents work for the retailer, not the shopper.
A retailer can lead the AI answers and still lose the order. A mall can generate directions and still have no sales to show for it.
Winning the recommendation is not winning the customer.
Mati Brooks,
Editor, Malls Money
Malls.com tracks malls, brands, store openings, and retail expansion signals across 50+ countries.