As 2026 began, consumers across the EU-5—France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom—reported a familiar mood: cautious and somewhat restrained in their spending plans, largely unchanged from the end of last year. What may be changing more quickly, however, is how they shop.
For the first time in our ConsumerWise survey, we explored how consumers are using AI (specifically, gen AI) tools for shopping to research, compare, and plan purchases. We found that adoption varies across markets: Italy had the largest share of consumers reporting AI usage (nearly 74 percent of consumers reported using AI in the last three months), followed by the United Kingdom (67), Germany (66 percent), France (63 percent), and Spain (59 percent). In the United States, meanwhile, 68 percent of consumers said they used at least one AI tool in the last three months.
The following charts highlight findings from our latest ConsumerWise research, conducted in the first quarter of the year.
This quarter’s research examined how consumers are starting to use gen AI, reflecting the technology’s growing role in shaping how shoppers research and plan purchases. Adoption levels varied across the EU-5.
A greater share of consumers in Italy (39.6 percent) reported using AI to research and understand general topics than in any other European market in our survey. Consumers in Spain, however, were more likely to say they used AI to write and improve content, access real-time or trending information, and discover or decide on brands, products, or services. We also asked about AI use in our US ConsumerWise survey. Across a range of activities—including financial research, task planning, general research, brand discovery, and writing or improving content—EU-5 respondents were less likely than US consumers to report using AI. The notable exception was travel planning: EU-5 consumers were more likely than US consumers to use gen AI to plan trips or special occasions.
Among EU-5 consumers who used gen AI to inform their purchasing decisions, usage concentrated on learning and inspiration. Across markets, roughly half of consumers reported using gen AI to learn about a product or category or to discover brands and get inspiration, while around four in ten used it to compare options. By contrast, fewer than one-quarter reported using gen AI for checkout, repurchase, basket building, or postpurchase support.
This pattern suggests that consumers in Europe primarily use gen AI to augment decision-making rather than delegate transactions.
While shopping tools may be evolving, the broader economic backdrop remains steady. In the first few weeks of 2026, overall sentiment across Europe was largely unchanged from the previous quarter. France had the highest share of respondents reporting pessimism and the lowest share reporting optimism among the markets in our survey, though fewer reported pessimism compared with the end of last year (down six percentage points to 34 percent). The opposite was true in Spain: More consumers reported feeling pessimistic about the economy (up five percentage points to 28 percent) versus last quarter.
By contrast, US consumers were more than twice as likely to report optimism than consumers across Europe. This cross-market difference suggests that while consumer confidence has not deteriorated materially in the last few quarters, many consumers in Europe continue to feel generally worse or uncertain about the economy than consumers in the United States.
For companies operating across regions, this divergence reinforces the need to calibrate growth expectations and messaging to local conditions.
Inflation remained the top concern across the EU-5. However, the intensity of concern varied by country. Consumers in Spain and the United Kingdom were more likely than those in Germany to rank inflation as their primary issue. Mixed and pessimistic respondents were significantly more likely than optimistic respondents to cite inflation as a source of concern, underscoring the close link between cost pressures and negative economic outlooks.
Beyond inflation, more consumers in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom reported concerns about international conflicts than in the previous year. Concerns about job security declined in Spain. Taken together, these patterns suggest that while inflation continued to anchor consumer anxiety, geopolitical developments were becoming more salient in core EU markets.
EU consumers planned to maintain their spending on essentials over the next three months, with some variability across countries. For instance, in the United Kingdom, more consumers reported plans to spend less on essentials compared with the previous quarter.
By contrast, net spending intent (or the difference between consumers who said they plan to spend more and those who plan to spend less) across semi-discretionary categories ticked down. Some of this—like reported plans to spend less on toys—represents seasonal spending shifts.
Net spending intent on travel-related categories was somewhat mixed compared with the previous quarter. When asked about their spending plans over the next three months, fewer consumers across Europe said they plan to spend on cruises. However, there was more country-by-country variability in spending plans for domestic and international flights and hotel stays. In Germany, for instance, more consumers reported plans to spend on domestic flights and hotel stays, though fewer said they planned to spend on international flights compared with the end of 2025.
In each country except for Italy, more consumers reported plans to spend on home improvement and gardening supplies, in line with seasonal patterns.
On average, about a third of EU consumers reported that they planned to treat themselves this quarter, a decline of about five percentage points across all EU-5 countries compared with the end of 2025. Consumers in Italy and Spain led the pullback, while consumers in Germany were least likely to rein in splurging. Overall, fewer consumers in Europe planned to splurge this quarter compared with last quarter and compared with consumers in the United States.
As has been the case in previous quarters, generational differences emerged in splurge intent. Gen Z remained the most splurge-inclined generation (56 percent of Gen Z reported plans to splurge versus 39 percent of millennials, 28 percent of Gen Xers, and 21 percent of boomers). Even so, the overall decline in splurge intent indicates that discretionary headroom narrowed in early 2026.
EU consumers entered 2026 with a cautious outlook—largely unchanged from the previous quarter. Confidence remained mixed across markets and cost pressures continued to shape spending decisions. Value, affordability, and trust stayed front and center in a region where optimism has yet to fully recover. At the same time, gen AI is becoming more embedded in the early stages of the purchase journey, particularly in research and comparison, though adoption and depth of use vary meaningfully by market. Looking ahead, companies should meet consumers where they are: careful in their spending, selective in their splurges, and increasingly digital in how they discover and evaluate brands.
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To see previous ConsumerWise insights, visit our page of 2025 research.
