Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/ --- description: Can AI shopping assistants redeem gift cards you already own? Statista charts, platform comparisons and the $80 gift card plus $20 payment problem. title: AI Can Shop for You. Can It Spend Your Gift Cards? image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/ai-can-shop-you-spend-your-gift-cards-4a769774cfa0e006db82be9fb3edf585.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) # AI Can Shop for You. Can It Spend Your Gift Cards? Buying a new gift card is one thing. Using the balance you already own is a different checkout problem. By [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 17, 2026 17 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=AI%20Can%20Shop%20for%20You.%20Can%20It%20Spend%20Your%20Gift%20Cards%3F "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=AI%20Can%20Shop%20for%20You.%20Can%20It%20Spend%20Your%20Gift%20Cards%3F%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![A woman at a sunlit kitchen table holds a coral gift card while considering products on her laptop.](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand-w1280.webp) The gift card is already in your hand. Will the shopping assistant take its balance into account? Editorial illustration. Photo: Gift Card News **In this report** 1. [A shopping habit is emerging; a redemption habit has not been measured](#article-section-a-shopping-habit-is-emerging-a-redemption-habit-has-not-been-measured) 2. [The unused-balance problem is older than the chatbot](#article-section-the-unused-balance-problem-is-older-than-the-chatbot) 3. [Buying, delivering and redeeming are three separate jobs](#article-section-buying-delivering-and-redeeming-are-three-separate-jobs) 4. [The $80 card and the $100 order](#article-section-the-80-card-and-the-100-order) 5. [What the named shopping channels actually document](#article-section-what-the-named-shopping-channels-actually-document) 6. [The protocols already see the problem](#article-section-the-protocols-already-see-the-problem) 7. [A successful checkout is only half the job](#article-section-a-successful-checkout-is-only-half-the-job) 8. [The commercial opportunity is using value well](#article-section-the-commercial-opportunity-is-using-value-well) 9. [How we assembled the evidence](#article-section-how-we-assembled-the-evidence) 3 figures * [F01\. AI product research already has an audience](#article-figure-f01) * [F02\. Why existing value goes unused](#article-figure-f02) * [F03\. Consumers want visible, usable balances](#article-figure-f03) 4 tables * [Table 1\. The product can be identical while the funding differs](#article-table-1) * [Table 2\. Consumer routes, rather than blanket platform scores](#article-table-2) * [Table 3\. Technical capability and deployment are different evidence](#article-table-3) * [Table 4\. What a useful stored-value assistant should make visible](#article-table-4) [Download data (CSV)](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/data.csv) Chart values, table cells, source references and the report revision date. The gift card is in a kitchen drawer. The shopping assistant is on your phone. Somewhere between the two sits $80 that you have already paid for, received as a present or earned as a reward. Now imagine asking an AI assistant to buy something with a final checkout total of $100\. A useful assistant would notice the eligible $80 balance, ask permission to apply it and show you the remaining $20 before placing the order. An assistant that overlooks the card could complete the same purchase with $100 of fresh money. The product would arrive either way. Your wallet would tell a different story. That is the question behind this investigation: when shopping moves into a conversation, does the money you already have at a merchant move with it? The timing is unusually good. On September 16, 2026, [PayPal](https://giftcard.news/company/paypal/) described an internal comparison in which an AI assistant bought a gift card using its WebMCP approach. Buying the card was the task. Spending a card that somebody already owned was not demonstrated. That distinction runs through much of the industry's current story. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Our review of platform documentation, payment specifications and gift-card APIs finds a more interesting answer than a simple yes or no. Ordinary merchant checkouts already handle stored value. Developers have tools for applying it. One commerce protocol explicitly describes gift-card split payments; another has a gift-card proposal that leaves that particular combination outside its scope. What those building blocks do not establish is a universal assistant that finds your existing cards and reliably spends them across merchants and shopping channels. [\[S06\]](#article-source-6) [\[S13\]](#article-source-13) [\[S14\]](#article-source-14) [\[S25\]](#article-source-25) **The finding in one minute** AI-assisted gift-card purchasing is documented. Existing-balance redemption depends on the merchant, checkout route and integration. A protocol example is not proof that a particular assistant offers the feature. The useful question is whether the checkout can identify the existing value, apply it with permission, collect only the remainder and preserve the payment record through a return. ## A shopping habit is emerging; a redemption habit has not been measured There is a real audience for the question. [Statista](https://giftcard.news/company/statista/) Consumer Insights found that 24% of U.S. respondents aged 18–39 had used AI platforms to research products in the previous 12 months, compared with 18% of those aged 40–64\. Enjoyment of AI shopping was reported by 23% and 15%, respectively. The underlying questions were fielded between June and September 2025\. [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) The data behind the story ### F01\. AI product research already has an audience Selected U.S. AI-shopping measures by age, June–September 2025. Ages 18–39Ages 40–64 % Tap or hover for details. Select a series above to show or hide it. **Source:** [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) Statista Consumer Insights Statista Consumer Insights. 2,048–8,197 adults aged 18–64 per question; subgroup counts not shown. Product research covers the previous 12 months. These are self-reported research and attitudes, not completed purchases or gift-card redemption. Explore the data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __F01\. AI product research already has an audience (%)__ | Category | Ages 18–39 | Ages 40–64 | | ---------------------------- | ---------- | ---------- | | Used AI to research products | 24% | 18% | | Enjoy using AI for shopping | 23% | 15% | These figures describe discovery and attitudes. They do not count orders placed by agents, gift cards purchased through an assistant or old balances redeemed at checkout. The distinction matters because a recommendation can be helpful long before the assistant is authorized—or technically equipped—to move money. A shopper can use AI to compare a jacket's size, delivery date and reviews, then complete the transaction personally. Another can let an assistant prepare a basket but still approve the final payment. A third might delegate more of the task under a spending limit. Treating all three as the same behavior makes the market look easier to measure than it is. The statistical evidence reviewed here does not supply a U.S. adoption rate for using AI to redeem existing gift-card balances. It supports the relevance of investigating that capability, rather than a claim that the capability is already commonplace. ## The unused-balance problem is older than the chatbot Gift cards were getting forgotten long before conversational shopping arrived. In [Accenture](https://giftcard.news/company/accenture/)'s 2024 research, presented by Statista, 34% of respondents with an unused balance said they had forgotten the card. The same proportion cited a limited choice of merchants. A quarter considered the amount too small to bother using; 23% cited a restricted redemption channel, and another 23% reported technical difficulty redeeming it. Respondents could select several reasons. [\[S03\]](#article-source-3) The data behind the story ### F02\. Why existing value goes unused Six selected reasons from Accenture’s 2024 U.S. gift-card question, presented by Statista. Respondents % Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. **Source:** [\[S03\]](#article-source-3) Accenture Holiday Shopping 2024, via Statista Base: 483 respondents with unused gift-card balances. Online survey; multiple answers possible, so percentages must not be added. Exact fieldwork dates are not supplied. Labels shortened; selected responses are not the full questionnaire. Explore the data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __F02\. Why existing value goes unused (%)__ | Category | Respondents | | ----------------------------- | ----------- | | Limited merchant choice | 34% | | Forgotten card | 34% | | Amount too small to use | 25% | | Restricted redemption channel | 23% | | Technical redemption problems | 23% | | Card lost | 17% | A reminder could help with forgetting. It cannot, by itself, make a merchant accept somebody else's gift card, make an unavailable item appear or remove a restriction on where a balance can be used. The findings therefore suggest different jobs for an assistant, with very different integration requirements. There is also a difference between remembering that a card exists and knowing its current value. An old email may contain the original denomination. A receipt may show the balance after a previous purchase. Neither necessarily proves what is available now. An assistant that proposes a payment needs a current answer from the merchant or the service authorized to maintain that balance. Another Accenture question asked what would improve the gift-card experience. Easier balance checks led at 36%, followed by reminders at 35%. Easier redemption online and in stores, and more versatile usage options, each received 32%. [\[S04\]](#article-source-4) The data behind the story ### F03\. Consumers want visible, usable balances Gift-card improvements requested by U.S. respondents in 2024. Respondents % Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. **Source:** [\[S04\]](#article-source-4) Accenture Holiday Shopping 2024, via Statista Accenture Holiday Shopping 2024, presented by Statista. Base: 1,501 respondents, online survey, multiple answers possible. Exact fieldwork dates are not supplied. Labels shortened. This measures preferences, not the effectiveness of AI. Explore the data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __F03\. Consumers want visible, usable balances (%)__ | Category | Respondents | | ------------------------------------- | ----------- | | Easier balance checks | 36% | | Unused-balance reminders | 35% | | Easier online and in-store redemption | 32% | | More ways to use cards | 32% | | More personalization | 30% | | Option to upgrade the gift card | 26% | | Clearer usage instructions | 23% | | Better technical support | 23% | The consumer request is remarkably practical: make the value visible, remind me about it and make it easier to use. AI could be a useful interface for those jobs. The survey does not tell us whether any particular AI product performs them, or how much additional redemption it would cause. For a sense of scale, [Bankrate](https://giftcard.news/company/bankrate/)'s September 2024 release, based on a [YouGov](https://giftcard.news/company/yougov/) survey, estimated approximately $27 billion in unused U.S. gift cards, vouchers and store credits. Forty-three percent of adults held at least one, and holders reported an average of $244\. Those are a dated measure of outstanding value and a holder average—not annual losses, not an accounting breakage total and not a pot of money that AI can automatically recover. The online survey covered 2,373 adults, including 1,010 holders, on August 19–21, 2024\. [\[S05\]](#article-source-5) For the accounting distinction, see our investigation into [gift-card breakage and the money left behind](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/gift-card-breakage-the-money-left-behind/). A balance still waiting to be spent is not proof that it will never be redeemed. ## Buying, delivering and redeeming are three separate jobs An announcement that an AI agent can buy gift cards sounds close to an announcement that it can spend them. The verbs conceal different transactions. Buying a card exchanges new money for a prepaid product. Delivering it gets a code, link or other credential to the recipient. Redeeming it applies existing value to a purchase from an accepting merchant. The buyer of the card and the person redeeming it may not even be the same person. [Google](https://giftcard.news/company/google/)'s Gemini documentation provides a clear purchase example: its Google Play connected app can help users find and buy digital gift cards, with the purchase taking place in Google Play. The documented route requires, among other conditions, an adult user, a personal account and the Android Gemini app; availability varies. Google Play separately documents sending gift cards and distinguishes its own cards from specialty retailer cards. Neither document establishes a general Gemini service for spending a customer's existing retailer balances. [\[S10\]](#article-source-10) [\[S11\]](#article-source-11) [finperks](https://giftcard.news/company/finperks/) supplies another concrete example. Its August 13 article pitches a gift-card API to AI-agent developers. The API documentation describes creating orders for gift-card products and presenting the resulting codes, emails or links. Those are purchase and delivery functions. The balance endpoint in the documentation concerns a client's funding account; it should not be mistaken for a lookup of whatever retailer card a consumer happens to own. [\[S20\]](#article-source-20) [\[S21\]](#article-source-21) [\[S22\]](#article-source-22) [\[S23\]](#article-source-23) [Paymentology](https://giftcard.news/company/paymentology/)'s August 3 discussion approaches the opportunity through issuing infrastructure: controlled virtual credentials, spending limits and related controls. That is relevant to delegated payment. It is not evidence that an assistant can discover and redeem an unrelated merchant's existing gift card. A network payment credential and a closed-loop retailer code can both represent prepaid value while following different acceptance rules. [\[S19\]](#article-source-19) PayPal's recent example makes the distinction particularly visible. The company reported three structured tool calls versus more than 30 interface steps in its small internal gift-card-purchase benchmark, with lower inference cost and faster median checkout. Those are supplier-reported sandbox results, not an independent measurement of real-world redemption. Its described flow also brings the buyer into PayPal to review and approve payment; it was an optional, limited Store Sync rollout. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The important question after any such announcement is what happened to the value. Was new value issued? Was an existing credential delivered? Or was a merchant's outstanding balance actually reduced to pay for goods? ## The $80 card and the $100 order Consider the same item, at the same merchant, with a final total of $100 including applicable charges. The shopper has a valid $80 gift card accepted for that order. The following is an illustration of payment allocation, not an observed transaction or a provider benchmark. ### Table 1\. The product can be identical while the funding differs Scroll left or right to see all columns __Table 1\. The product can be identical while the funding differs__ | Checkout outcome | Existing gift-card value used | New money charged | Gift-card value remaining | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------- | | Eligible card is applied in full | $80 | $20 | $0 | | Gift card is not used | $0 | $100 | $80 | | A second merchant sells the item for $90 but does not accept that card | $0 | $90 | $80 | The first route preserves $80 of fresh spending compared with the second. It does not create an $80 discount: the shopper has consumed an asset that already belonged to them. The third route introduces a real choice. A lower sticker price can coexist with a larger immediate cash outlay. That choice should belong to the shopper. Someone expecting to spend the gift card next week might prefer the $90 offer. Someone trying to keep this month's bank-account spending down might prefer to use the existing balance now. An assistant cannot infer those priorities from price alone. “Find the cheapest option” and “minimize what I need to pay today using balances I already own” are different instructions. A useful service would surface the trade-off, including delivery charges, eligibility and any restrictions, before asking for approval. It would not quietly substitute new money when the planned gift-card payment fails. ## What the named shopping channels actually document The clearest baseline comes from ordinary [Shopify](https://giftcard.news/company/shopify/) checkout. Shopify documents using multiple gift cards on one order and another payment method when the balance is insufficient. Customers can reach their remaining balance through the gift-card page linked from their email. These are merchant-checkout capabilities; their existence does not automatically establish the same behavior in an embedded AI interface. [\[S06\]](#article-source-6) Current Shopify documentation describes [ChatGPT](https://giftcard.news/company/openai/) purchases as completing in the merchant's checkout, opened in an in-app browser or a new tab, with the store's accepted payment methods preserved. The reasonable implication is that an enabled gift-card option can remain available there. That is a checkout handoff, not evidence that ChatGPT independently finds and applies the balance. [\[S07\]](#article-source-7) The current record also resists a sweeping claim about ChatGPT itself. OpenAI's March 2026 product update emphasized merchant checkout experiences after describing limits in the initial Instant Checkout approach. Its current shopping help page still allows Instant Checkout for eligible products and merchants. Support needs to be described by the actual route, rather than assumed from a launch announcement. [\[S15\]](#article-source-15) [\[S16\]](#article-source-16) ### Table 2\. Consumer routes, rather than blanket platform scores Scroll left or right to see all columns __Table 2\. Consumer routes, rather than blanket platform scores__ | Route reviewed | What the documentation establishes | Existing-card redemption and split payment | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Ordinary Shopify merchant checkout | Code redemption, customer balance page and multiple gift cards [\[S06\]](#article-source-6) | Another payment method can cover an insufficient balance | | Shopify products discovered through ChatGPT | Purchase completes at merchant checkout; accepted methods are preserved [\[S07\]](#article-source-7) | Depends on the merchant's enabled checkout; autonomous balance discovery is not established | | Shopify direct checkout in Google AI Mode or Gemini | U.S. rollout; channel guide describes credit/debit completion [\[S08\]](#article-source-8) | Gift-card redemption, multiple cards and mixed tender are not established by that channel guide | | Shopify direct checkout in [Microsoft](https://giftcard.news/company/microsoft/) Copilot | U.S. customer flow; channel guide describes credit/debit completion [\[S09\]](#article-source-9) | Gift-card redemption, multiple cards and mixed tender are not established by that channel guide | | Gemini with the Google Play connected app | Help finding and purchasing new digital gift cards [\[S10\]](#article-source-10) | Does not establish spending an existing retailer balance on merchandise | “Not established” is deliberate. A documentation gap is not proof that every implementation rejects the payment. It is also not a basis for telling readers that the payment will work. Rewards need the same care. Google documents merchant-account linking and certain loyalty or reward benefits in Gemini shopping. Separately, Shopify warns that some customized checkout blocks may not appear in its direct AI channels. Neither statement should be stretched into a universal rule about gift-card acceptance. A discount, a loyalty benefit and a prepaid balance may all lower the amount left to pay, but they are not interchangeable payment records. [\[S08\]](#article-source-8) [\[S09\]](#article-source-9) [\[S12\]](#article-source-12) ## The protocols already see the problem It would be inaccurate to write that the people designing agentic commerce have forgotten stored value. The Universal Commerce Protocol, or UCP, has a Split Payments extension with examples involving a gift card plus a bank card, and multiple gift cards plus a bank card. The merchant declares permitted combinations and the payment contributions are allocated in order. [\[S13\]](#article-source-13) There is an important boundary in that specification: the gift-card types in its examples depend on the payment handler; only the card type has a normative instrument schema in the base specification. A real merchant and channel still need a compatible handler and implementation. An example in a standard does not put a working gift-card field into every shopping assistant. [\[S13\]](#article-source-13) The Agentic Commerce Protocol, or ACP, associated with OpenAI and [Stripe](https://giftcard.news/company/stripe/), takes a different documentary position in its seller-backed payment-handler proposal. The document explicitly describes a gift-card redemption route involving a delegated token and merchant validation. It is marked Draft. It also leaves partial payments across multiple handlers outside its scope. That particular proposal therefore does not, on its own, solve the $80-plus-$20 case. [\[S14\]](#article-source-14) ### Table 3\. Technical capability and deployment are different evidence Scroll left or right to see all columns __Table 3\. Technical capability and deployment are different evidence__ | Building block | Documented capability | Boundary readers should keep in view | | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | UCP Split Payments extension | Multiple instruments; gift-card combinations in examples [\[S13\]](#article-source-13) | Requires compatible merchant/channel implementation and handler-defined gift-card details | | ACP seller-backed payment-handler proposal | Proposed merchant validation and gift-card redemption [\[S14\]](#article-source-14) | Draft; mixed-handler partial payments are outside this proposal | | Shopify Storefront API | Apply gift-card codes to a cart; retrieve applied amount and remaining balance [\[S25\]](#article-source-25) [\[S26\]](#article-source-26) | Integration components, not proof that a named assistant uses them | | Stripe Shared Payment Tokens | Controlled access to a selected supported payment method [\[S17\]](#article-source-17) | Merchant gift cards are not expressly listed in the reviewed supported-method table | Shopify's API is useful evidence of how part of this can work today. Its cart operation accepts gift-card codes, while the applied-card object exposes the amount used and the balance remaining. Those structured fields are much more useful for a payment decision than asking a model to guess a balance from an old email. They still require a valid card, the appropriate cart and a working integration. [\[S25\]](#article-source-25) [\[S26\]](#article-source-26) The gap is therefore not necessarily a missing language-model skill. It can be a missing permission, a payment handler, a merchant connection or a channel that never exposes the relevant operation. A fluent answer in chat does not resolve any of those dependencies. Stripe's broader agent-payment work illustrates the distinction. Shared Payment Tokens constrain access to supported funding methods; its Link announcement describes agents requesting permission to pay using wallet funding. Those developments address authorized payment with available credentials. They do not establish a service that inventories and spends arbitrary retailer gift cards. [\[S17\]](#article-source-17) [\[S18\]](#article-source-18) ## A successful checkout is only half the job Suppose the assistant does apply the $80 and charge the remaining $20 correctly. Two weeks later, the product is returned. Where should the money go, and what should the shopper see? The answer depends on the merchant's rules and the original payment allocation. Shopify documents refunds to gift cards, including how partial refunds on mixed-payment orders are allocated and adjusted. That is useful merchant functionality. It is not proof that an assistant can initiate the return or explain its outcome without retrieving the relevant order record. [\[S27\]](#article-source-27) Gift-card purchase refunds are a separate matter again. finperks' order lifecycle documentation distinguishes limited order invalidation from live refunds handled by the provider after support review. A refund of a newly purchased gift-card product is not the same transaction as a return of goods later bought with that card. [\[S24\]](#article-source-24) A system that only remembers “the shopper paid $100” has thrown away the most important detail. It needs the $80/$20 allocation, any later adjustments and the destination of each refund. Otherwise it may report success while leaving the customer searching for money that returned to a gift-card balance rather than their bank card. ### Table 4\. What a useful stored-value assistant should make visible Scroll left or right to see all columns __Table 4\. What a useful stored-value assistant should make visible__ | Stage | The shopper needs to know | Evidence the service needs | | ------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Find the card | Which merchant value is available to consider | A user-authorized connection or supplied credential | | Read the value | The available balance now | Current merchant or authorized balance record | | Check eligibility | Whether this basket and channel accept it | Applicable currency, product and redemption rules | | Propose the payment | Existing value used and new money required | Final basket total and permitted payment combination | | Obtain approval | Exactly which funds may be spent | The shopper's approval for the stated allocation and limit | | Confirm the order | What was actually charged and what remains | Completed order and payment contributions | | Handle a return | Where the returned value went | Refund allocation and updated balance records | This is an editorial framework, not a claim that every reviewed product implements these steps. It gives merchants and buyers a clearer way to evaluate an announcement than asking whether a provider is “AI-ready.” The same framework clarifies failure. If the balance changes before checkout, the order should be recalculated. If split payment is unavailable, the shopper should see that before approving fresh spending. If only a redirect works, the product can say so plainly and preserve the basket. The useful outcome is an accurate, authorized payment, not keeping every interaction inside the chat window. ## The commercial opportunity is using value well For a merchant, the question is whether an existing customer relationship survives the move into a new shopping interface. A customer who already holds value with the store has a reason to return. If the new interface exposes the product catalog but overlooks the customer's usable balance, it leaves part of that relationship out of the decision. For distributors and reward platforms, the distinction is sharper. Making a catalog available to agents can help sell and deliver new cards. Helping recipients redeem them requires connections further along the chain. Success at the first stage should not be described as proof of success at the last. For the shopper, more redemption is not automatically the right objective either. An assistant could encourage an unnecessary purchase simply to clear a small balance. A better result would use value toward something the person actually wants, on terms they understand. Sometimes that means spending the card. Sometimes it means keeping it for later. That is why a credible claim about reducing breakage would need outcome evidence: additional redemption attributable to the service, over an appropriate period, with the comparison and affected balances clearly defined. None of the consumer surveys, protocol examples or supplier announcements reviewed here establishes such a causal result. The useful promise is narrower and more immediate. An assistant should help a shopper make a good purchase decision with a complete view of the funds that can actually be used. In our $100 example, the decisive moment is not when it finds the product. It is when it shows the $80 already available, the $20 still needed and the approval that connects the two. ## How we assembled the evidence This is a documentary investigation with a research cutoff of September 17, 2026\. It reviews official platform support pages, public payment specifications, provider API documentation and original survey material. The compatibility tables describe the scope of those documents; no live purchases or controlled checkout trials were conducted, and the tables are not performance rankings. The Statista gift-card tables were read directly, including their Source and Details panels. Both reproduce Accenture's 2024 research and permit multiple answers: the unused-balance question has 483 respondents with such a balance; the improvement question has 1,501 respondents. Exact fieldwork dates are not provided in those displayed metadata. Chart labels are shortened for readability; the reasons chart selects six relevant responses from a longer question. [\[S03\]](#article-source-3) [\[S04\]](#article-source-4) The AI chart selects two measures from Statista Consumer Insights. Its source specifies 2,048–8,197 U.S. adults aged 18–64 per question, interviewed during June–September 2025; age-subgroup sample sizes are not shown. Bankrate's separate 2024 survey used an online, quota-weighted non-probability sample. These are different populations, questions and dates, so their percentages should not be combined into an estimate of AI-recoverable value. [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) [\[S05\]](#article-source-5) Specifications are identified as specifications, the ACP proposal as a draft and supplier benchmarks as supplier benchmarks. A feature absent from the reviewed documentation is not labeled impossible. Current support pages can change after publication, and actual availability depends on the merchant and integration. The figures include their underlying data tables. The article's CSV brings together chart values, comparison tables and source links. Inline references open the source list below. [Back to top ↑](#article-top) ## Sources and documents ExpandCollapse * [\[S01\] PayPal: WebMCP is here: PayPal is helping every merchant become agent-ready. September 16, 2026\. Supplier sandbox benchmark.](https://developer.paypal.com/community/blog/WebMCP%5FPayPal%5FAgent%5FReady/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — PayPal * [\[S02\] Statista: Consumer Insights: U.S. Consumers Warm Up to AI Shopping Tools. Original infographic; June–September 2025 fieldwork.](https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/35442.jpeg?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Statista * [\[S03\] Statista: Accenture Holiday Shopping 2024: leading reasons for unused gift-card balances in the U.S. n=483; multiple responses. Published November 12, 2024.](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1535498/unused-gift-card-balances/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Statista * [\[S04\] Statista: Accenture Holiday Shopping 2024: improving the U.S. gift-card experience. n=1,501; multiple responses. Published November 12, 2024.](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1535516/improving-the-gift-card-experience/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Statista * [\[S05\] Bankrate: Gift-card survey press release. YouGov fieldwork August 19–21, 2024; published September 23, 2024.](https://www.bankrate.com/f/102997/x/c53caa68d4/gift-card-survey-press-release.pdf?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Bankrate * [\[S06\] Shopify: Redeeming and using gift cards: ordinary merchant checkout.](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/gift-card-products/redeem-gift-card?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Shopify * [\[S07\] Shopify: Selling on ChatGPT: merchant-checkout handoff.](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/chatgpt?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Shopify * [\[S08\] Shopify: Selling on Google AI Mode and Gemini: channel eligibility and checkout.](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/google?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Shopify * [\[S09\] Shopify: Selling on Microsoft Copilot: channel eligibility and checkout.](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/microsoft?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Shopify * [\[S10\] Google: Gemini: find and purchase digital gift cards with the Google Play connected app.](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/17131257?hl=en&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Google * [\[S11\] Google: Google Play: buy, send and receive gifted gift cards.](https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/16585331?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Google * [\[S12\] Google: Gemini: get help with your shopping; merchant accounts, rewards and checkout.](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16730149?hl=en&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Google * [\[S13\] Universal Commerce Protocol: Split Payments extension. Specification; examples do not establish named-channel deployment.](https://ucp.dev/specification/payment/extensions/split-payments/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Universal Commerce Protocol * [\[S14\] OpenAI / Stripe: Agentic Commerce Protocol: seller-backed payment handler RFC. Draft, February 5, 2026; sections 3.2.2, 7.3, 9.3 and 10.1.](https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol/blob/main/rfcs/rfc.seller%5Fbacked%5Fpayment%5Fhandler.md?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — OpenAI / Stripe * [\[S15\] OpenAI: Powering Product Discovery in ChatGPT. March 24, 2026.](https://openai.com/index/powering-product-discovery-in-chatgpt/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — OpenAI * [\[S16\] OpenAI: Shopping with ChatGPT Search: current consumer help documentation.](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11128490-shopping-with-chatgpt-search?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — OpenAI * [\[S17\] Stripe: Shared Payment Tokens: agent documentation and supported payment methods.](https://docs.stripe.com/agentic-commerce/concepts/shared-payment-tokens?agent-seller=agent&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Stripe * [\[S18\] Stripe: Giving agents the ability to pay. April 29, 2026.](https://stripe.com/blog/giving-agents-the-ability-to-pay?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Stripe * [\[S19\] Paymentology: Digital Gift Cards: An Agentic AI Opportunity? August 3, 2026\. Supplier perspective.](https://www.paymentology.com/blog/digital-gift-cards-an-agentic-ai-opportunity?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Paymentology * [\[S20\] finperks: How to Give an AI Agent Access to Thousands of Brands to Buy From. August 13, 2026\. Supplier perspective.](https://finperks.com/post/how-to-give-an-ai-agent-access-to-thousands-of-brands-to-buy-from?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — finperks * [\[S21\] finperks: API reference: create a new gift-card order.](https://docs.finperks.com/api/post-order/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — finperks * [\[S22\] finperks: Order presentation: gift-card codes, email and links.](https://docs.finperks.com/order%5Fpresentation/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — finperks * [\[S23\] finperks: API reference: client balance for a specific currency.](https://docs.finperks.com/api/get-balances/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — finperks * [\[S24\] finperks: Order lifecycle: invalidation and live refund handling.](https://docs.finperks.com/order%5Flifecycle/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — finperks * [\[S25\] Shopify: Storefront API: cartGiftCardCodesUpdate.](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/storefront/latest/mutations/cartGiftCardCodesUpdate?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Shopify * [\[S26\] Shopify: Storefront API: AppliedGiftCard and its balance/amount-used fields.](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/storefront/latest/objects/AppliedGiftCard?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Shopify * [\[S27\] Shopify: Managing created gift cards: refunds and mixed-payment orders.](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/gift-card-products/manage-purchased-gift-cards?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Shopify ## In this article ### Companies * [Accenture](https://giftcard.news/company/accenture/) * [Bankrate](https://giftcard.news/company/bankrate/) * [Google](https://giftcard.news/company/google/) * [Microsoft](https://giftcard.news/company/microsoft/) * [OpenAI](https://giftcard.news/company/openai/) * [PayPal](https://giftcard.news/company/paypal/) * [Paymentology](https://giftcard.news/company/paymentology/) * [Shopify](https://giftcard.news/company/shopify/) * [Statista](https://giftcard.news/company/statista/) * [Stripe](https://giftcard.news/company/stripe/) * [YouGov](https://giftcard.news/company/yougov/) * [finperks](https://giftcard.news/company/finperks/) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=AI%20Can%20Shop%20for%20You.%20Can%20It%20Spend%20Your%20Gift%20Cards%3F "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=AI%20Can%20Shop%20for%20You.%20Can%20It%20Spend%20Your%20Gift%20Cards%3F%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) Journalist — Industry Deals & Research Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News. ## Related articles [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [Gift Card Fraud in the United States](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/gift-card-fraud-in-the-united-states/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 17, 2026 66 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [Can You Cash Out Your Gift Card? A State-by-State Guide](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/can-you-cash-out-your-gift-card-state-by-state-guide/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 17, 2026 79 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [A Bank on the Card, a Licensing Question Before It](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/us-virtual-card-licensing-mtl-msb-50-states/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 16, 2026 86 min From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) **In this report** 1. [A shopping habit is emerging; a redemption habit has not been measured](#article-section-a-shopping-habit-is-emerging-a-redemption-habit-has-not-been-measured) 2. [The unused-balance problem is older than the chatbot](#article-section-the-unused-balance-problem-is-older-than-the-chatbot) 3. [Buying, delivering and redeeming are three separate jobs](#article-section-buying-delivering-and-redeeming-are-three-separate-jobs) 4. [The $80 card and the $100 order](#article-section-the-80-card-and-the-100-order) 5. [What the named shopping channels actually document](#article-section-what-the-named-shopping-channels-actually-document) 6. [The protocols already see the problem](#article-section-the-protocols-already-see-the-problem) 7. [A successful checkout is only half the job](#article-section-a-successful-checkout-is-only-half-the-job) 8. [The commercial opportunity is using value well](#article-section-the-commercial-opportunity-is-using-value-well) 9. [How we assembled the evidence](#article-section-how-we-assembled-the-evidence) [Download data (CSV)](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/data.csv) [Back to top ↑](#article-top) ## Related articles [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [Gift Card Fraud in the United States](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/gift-card-fraud-in-the-united-states/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 17, 2026 66 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [Can You Cash Out Your Gift Card? A State-by-State Guide](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/can-you-cash-out-your-gift-card-state-by-state-guide/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 17, 2026 79 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [A Bank on the Card, a Licensing Question Before It](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/us-virtual-card-licensing-mtl-msb-50-states/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 16, 2026 86 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/#person","name":"Oliver Reed","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/","description":"Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Industry Deals & Research","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Oliver Reed editorial profile."}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand.webp","width":1536,"height":1024,"caption":"The gift card is already in your hand. Will the shopping assistant take its balance into account? Editorial illustration.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand.webp#image"},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/#article","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/","headline":"AI Can Shop for You. Can It Spend Your Gift Cards?","description":"Can AI shopping assistants redeem gift cards you already own? Statista charts, platform comparisons and the $80 gift card plus $20 payment problem.","datePublished":"2026-09-17T19:48:26.942Z","dateModified":"2026-09-17T19:48:26.942Z","inLanguage":"en","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".reader-restricted"},"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand.webp","width":1536,"height":1024,"caption":"The gift card is already in your hand. Will the shopping assistant take its balance into account? Editorial illustration.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand.webp#image"}],"articleSection":"Research & Trends","keywords":["Accenture","Bankrate","Google","Microsoft","OpenAI","PayPal","Paymentology","Shopify","Statista","Stripe","YouGov","finperks"],"mentions":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/accenture/#entity","name":"Accenture","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/accenture/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/bankrate/#entity","name":"Bankrate","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/bankrate/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/google/#entity","name":"Google","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/google/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/microsoft/#entity","name":"Microsoft","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/microsoft/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/openai/#entity","name":"OpenAI","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/openai/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/paypal/#entity","name":"PayPal","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/paypal/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/paymentology/#entity","name":"Paymentology","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/paymentology/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/shopify/#entity","name":"Shopify","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/shopify/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/statista/#entity","name":"Statista","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/statista/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/stripe/#entity","name":"Stripe","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/stripe/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/yougov/#entity","name":"YouGov","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/yougov/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/finperks/#entity","name":"finperks","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/finperks/"}],"wordCount":3724,"citation":["https://developer.paypal.com/community/blog/WebMCP_PayPal_Agent_Ready/","https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/35442.jpeg","https://www.statista.com/statistics/1535498/unused-gift-card-balances/","https://www.statista.com/statistics/1535516/improving-the-gift-card-experience/","https://www.bankrate.com/f/102997/x/c53caa68d4/gift-card-survey-press-release.pdf","https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/gift-card-products/redeem-gift-card","https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/chatgpt","https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/google","https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/microsoft","https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/17131257?hl=en","https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/16585331","https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16730149?hl=en","https://ucp.dev/specification/payment/extensions/split-payments/","https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol/blob/main/rfcs/rfc.seller_backed_payment_handler.md","https://openai.com/index/powering-product-discovery-in-chatgpt/","https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11128490-shopping-with-chatgpt-search","https://docs.stripe.com/agentic-commerce/concepts/shared-payment-tokens?agent-seller=agent","https://stripe.com/blog/giving-agents-the-ability-to-pay","https://www.paymentology.com/blog/digital-gift-cards-an-agentic-ai-opportunity","https://finperks.com/post/how-to-give-an-ai-agent-access-to-thousands-of-brands-to-buy-from","https://docs.finperks.com/api/post-order/","https://docs.finperks.com/order_presentation/","https://docs.finperks.com/api/get-balances/","https://docs.finperks.com/order_lifecycle/","https://shopify.dev/docs/api/storefront/latest/mutations/cartGiftCardCodesUpdate","https://shopify.dev/docs/api/storefront/latest/objects/AppliedGiftCard","https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/gift-card-products/manage-purchased-gift-cards"],"author":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/#person"}],"publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/#webpage","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/","name":"AI Can Shop for You. Can It Spend Your Gift Cards?","description":"Can AI shopping assistants redeem gift cards you already own? Statista charts, platform comparisons and the $80 gift card plus $20 payment problem.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"mainEntity":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/#article"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/#breadcrumbs"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/ai-shopping-gift-card-already-your-hand.webp#image"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://giftcard.news/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research & Trends","item":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AI Can Shop for You. Can It Spend Your Gift Cards?","item":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/"}]}]} ```