Research: Savvier Consumers Are Already Back-to-School Shopping and Using AI to Win on Value

New data from Minty reveals back-to-school shopping has moved from fall to spring and AI is steering how deal-hungry consumers discover, evaluate and buy

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New consumer research from Minty, the first cashback and rewards app on ChatGPT, shows that back-to-school (BTS) shopping is no longer a sprint before fall as consumers now plan ahead before the current school year has even ended. As digitally native, deal-seeking consumers transition from short-term spenders to increasingly sophisticated long-term budgeting strategists, data shows they are using AI tools to find the best value and even shop on their behalf.

Four in ten consumers are already BTS shopping and nearly two-thirds plan to have started before July, with the majority of purchases expected to be completed online and via mobile. “Back-to-school” has also expanded beyond the traditional school-supplies-for-kids narrative as 34% of consumers are shopping for themselves and 25% for non-children members of their family.

“This is the first major shopping event where AI will have a profound impact and serves as a watershed moment that is playing out in real time for brand marketers,” said Rodney Mason, chief marketing officer at Minty. “The shopping journey has compressed into conversations with AI that reason through consumers’ intent and goals, analyze their options and offer an optimized outcome. That new process is heavily influencing what people buy and changes where and how brands need to show up.”

Additional key findings from the March 2026 US national survey of adults with 97% confidence reveal how dramatically BTS shopping behavior will shift this year:

Confident deal-seeking is driving BTS spending. Despite economic factors impacting price increases, shoppers are confident in their ability to find the best value with nearly 90% of respondents planning to buy the same or more during BTS season this year compared to last. AI assistants ranked among the most trusted savings sources followed by cashback and saving apps, review sites and recommendations from friends and family.

AI is the default starting point for many BTS shoppers. More than three-quarters (77%) of BTS shoppers intend to use AI to shop. Nearly half will rely on AI for the majority of their online shopping and plan to use it daily. Respondents reported ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Meta AI as their top-preferred platforms to shop with AI. Three-quarters are open to AI driving discovery and making personalized recommendations based on their shopping behavior.

Value and price are the top reasons shoppers turn to AI. To maximize the value of their purchases, 77% of BTS shoppers will use AI to evaluate what to buy and how to get the best price. The top ways people use AI include comparing products for the better value (66%), optimizing product searches (65%), discovering deals (65%), educating themselves on smarter shopping strategies (61%), curating personal product options (60%), optimizing value for specific items (55%), optimizing their total budget (54%), validating deals in real-time (54%) and finding alternative options at a lower cost (53%). More than half (54%) have already used a cashback app as part of an AI-assisted search and 77% said they would in the future.

Agentic commerce is closer than brands may realize. AI tools are moving from assistants to decision-makers as habitual use is evolving into autonomy. Nearly half of respondents have had an AI tool like a bot, voice assistant or “buy again” automation make a purchase decision on their behalf and expect an AI agent to complete a purchase for them within the next six months. Two-thirds of respondents would also let a cashback or savings app make a purchase on their behalf.

“Back-to-school shopping season has always been one of the most competitive windows in retail, complete with fixed budgets and short timelines,” added Mason. “What used to be a few weeks of frenzied shopping activity driven by browser or window searches for the best prices on office supplies and children’s clothes has turned into a months-long digital spending marathon across all categories where AI is directing traffic. Customer discovery, acquisition and engagement are at a premium this back-to-school shopping season and what we see in the coming weeks will set the tone for coveted winter holiday sales and beyond.”

For deeper insights on study findings, including how AI is reshaping BTS shopping and the top ways consumers are using AI to shop, download Minty’s recent webinar recording and deck here.

About Minty

Minty is the fastest growing AI shopping companion that proactively unleashes savings that matter most for smart shoppers, creating more loyalty for the e-com brands they shop.

As the pioneer of Proactive Commerce, Minty has 100’s of millions of shoppers and is ranked by G2 as a top 5 e-commerce tool that generates incremental revenue for e-commerce brands from high intent shoppers without disrupting existing marketing channels.

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