Consumers have growing interest, lagging trust in retail price
Shoppers are paying close attention to the prices retailers charge, but with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Six-in-10 (59%) surveyed consumers say pricing matters more in their purchase decisions than it did six months ago, according to a PX Pulse survey from product information management platform provider Akeneo. However, only one-third (32%) of respondents completely or mostly trust retailers to offer a fair or competitive price.
This lack of trust is reflected in the fact eight-in-10 (79%) respondents say they have delayed a purchase because they believed the price would be lower later. Nearly half (46%) compare prices across multiple retailers when shopping online, while only 9% say they typically purchase without comparing prices.
[READ MORE: Survey: Comparing prices, switching brands among top cost-saving]
Four-in-10 respondents expect to compare prices across retailer websites to determine whether they are getting a good deal, while 37% plan to use search engines and 24% expect to turn to next-gen artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini.
In addition, 24% of respondents already use next-gen AI tools such as or Google Gemini to compare prices or deals, while more than half (56%) trust AI tools to provide accurate pricing information when comparing products across retailers.
Other findings
•Seventy-seven percent of respondents say they have noticed the same product listed at different prices across retailers or shopping platforms in the past year.
•Sixty-eight percent of respondents say they at least sometimes check a retailer's website or app while shopping in-store to see whether the same product is available at a lower price online.
•Fifty-seven percent of respondents say they would trust a retailer less if they learned that the price of a product had changed based on their personal information or shopping behavior.
"Consumers are paying closer attention to price, and that raises the stakes for retailers," said Romain Fouache, CEO of Akeneo. "Pricing can no longer sit in a silo from the rest of the product experience. Consumers, and increasingly AI-powered shopping tools, are constantly comparing products, prices and offers across channels. Brands need trusted product and pricing information working together so shoppers see a consistent, credible experience wherever discovery happens."
The survey was commissioned by Akeneo and conducted by Dynata in August 2026 of 1,000 U.S. consumers age 18 years and older .
