For years, FMCG shopping felt predictable. Consumers planned their grocery lists, made household replenishment decisions on autopilot, and indulged in the occasional impulse pickup at the shelf. But today, without any much song and dance, AI has quietly rewritten how people shop - not by changing what they buy, but by changing when, how, and why decisions form. The shift is so subtle most shoppers do not even realise it is happening.
The defining change is this: AI has moved the moment of influence upstream. Earlier, the store shelf - or later, the app screen - was the first real battleground for attention. Now, the real shaping of choice happens much earlier, across everyday digital interactions. A recipe reel recommending a specific tomato puree, an Instagram video featuring a new cereal, or a grocery app reminding you that you are “running low” on detergent - these cues are not random. They are outputs of machine learning systems predicting what will be relevant to you, and when. Learning systems predicting what will be relevant to you, and when.
This means shoppers rarely arrive at a platform or store neutral. They arrive predisposed. The very essence of impulse buying—unplanned, spontaneous decisions—is being turned on its head.
AI continuously learns from behaviour - past purchases, search patterns, time of day, location, meal habits, even weather. This enables it to surface the most relevant FMCG options long before a shopper perceives the need. As a result, decisions that once felt deliberate have become algorithmically assisted. The consumer still feels in control, but the journey leading up to that decision has been shaped by dozens of invisible signals.
In routine categories - milk, bread, breakfast staples, home care - AI has essentially automated planning. Replenishment reminders, predictive carts, and subscription nudges transform what was once conscious budgeted shopping into a frictionless “Yes, that’s fine” moment. In behavioural terms, planning becomes a machine generated shortcut. What shoppers interpret as convenience is, in fact, the outcome of AI generated shortcut.
In categories that rely on emotional appeal - snacks, beverages, indulgences - AI has redefined impulse itself. The classic instore trigger is now replaced by digitally seeded micro cravings: creator videos, targeted promotions, and highly curated product tiles. By the time a shopper adds the chocolate bar to the basket, the impulse has already occurred - hours earlier - during a casual scroll. Store trigger is now replaced by cravings.
Quick commerce has intensified this phenomenon. AI engines dynamically optimise assortments, prices, delivery promises, and cross sell suggestions. This collapses decision time dramatically. Shoppers feel fast and decisive - but they are responding to a curated set of options shaped by predictive algorithms trained on hyperlocal demand. Speed becomes the perfect camouflage for influence.
Even the physical store has changed roles. Instead of driving discovery, it increasingly functions as a confirmation zone. Shoppers move purposefully because AI has already shaped the shortlist. Distinctive assets, pack familiarity, and simple recognition matter more than ever - because the decision has largely been made before the shelf is even in sight.
What emerges is a new reality: AI has integrated itself into the buying brain. Not loudly. Instead, through an elegant sequencing of micro nudges that feel natural, helpful, and personalised. Consumers still believe they are deciding - but they are deciding inside a journey pre-structured by algorithm nudges.
For FMCG brands, this is the new competition arena. Winning now depends on understanding how AI shapes exposure, recognition, and relevance - and designing brand experiences that thrive within this invisible architecture. Because in today’s world, shoppers do not just shop differently.
They shop the way AI predicts they will.
Reach out to your local Kantar representative or sreyoshi.maitra@kantar.com to learn more.
Author: Sreyoshi Maitra, Executive Vice President, India, Kantar
Consumer shopper behaviour
Brands looking for growth need to find more shoppers. But how?