Just 23% of Americans trust artificial intelligence (AI), the second lowest trust level across the Americas

Over 35% percent of American families with children skipped a meal in the last month due to financial reasons according to the 11th Wave of the dunnhumby Consumer Trends Tracker (CTT) released today during Groceryshop. This is the highest rate of food insecurity since August 2023, when inflation for groceries hit 3.7%. Overall, 28.5% of consumers said they have reduced their meal size or skipped meals due to financial hardships.

The quarterly study, now in its third year, also found consumers perceive food-at-home inflation is 19.4%, 16.7 points higher than its actual percent in August of 2.7%, which is the fastest increase of grocery inflation in two years. Families with income under $25,000 perceive it to be higher at 24.8%.

Nearly 59% of consumers would struggle to pay an unexpected $400 expense; this rises to 70% among those aged 18–34, and 77% for individuals with incomes below $25,000. Again, these are the highest rates of financial insecurity in two years.

“Two years ago, during high inflation, we noted in Wave Four of the CTT, that many American families were struggling with food and financial pressures—particularly those with children and adults aged 18 to 44,” said Matt O’Grady, President of the Americas for dunnhumby. “Unfortunately, we're now seeing similar concerning trends emerge again, and families are having to adjust their shopping habits and spending priorities as a result.”

The CTT tracks where people shop and how much they spend, stated behaviors, stated importance of grocery needs, food security, and inflation perceptions, and complements dunnhumby’s Retailer Preference Index which is released every year in January. Additionally, each CTT wave includes timely ad hoc modules on current topics. Wave 11 addressed AI (previously covered two years ago) and introduced cryptocurrencies questions.

Key findings from the study:

• For U.S. shoppers, factors such as product availability, low prices, and attentive staff are increasingly relevant. Recent changes in consumer needs since Wave 10 include: 78% preferring an easy-to-shop website (up 2.1%), 67% seeking one-stop shopping (up 2%), and 71% prioritizing low base prices (up 1.8%).
• To increase their savings on purchasing food, consumers are changing some of their behaviors. Since the last wave, 62% of consumers are shopping at stores with low base prices (up 2.3%), 40% shop online before buying, and 40% shop around different stores to find the best value. There has also been a drop of 2.7% in consumers shopping for organic groceries (29%).
• In the past 12 months, dollar stores experienced a 4% increase in growth, the highest among all formats. Dollar stores now surpass discounters (-3%) and club (-1%), positioning the channel in third place in penetration, the same as in August 2023.

Wave-specific Findings on AI:

• Just 23% of Americans trust artificial intelligence (AI) -- the lowest trust levels across the Americas. Although the U.S. is a leader in AI development, levels of AI trust among consumers are highest in Latin American countries: 33% in Mexico, 34% in Colombia, 40% in Chile, and 46% in Brazil.
• The top five most appealing high touch AI use cases for U.S. consumers are personalized rewards and recommendations (51%), security (51%), forecasting, stock and waste management (45%), budgeting (45%) and health and diet goals (44%).
• The top five most appealing high-tech AI use cases for U.S. consumers are virtual shopping assistants (43%), smart shelves/shelf-stacking robots (39%), ordering (such as voice activated) (39%), self-driving shopping carts (38%), and customer service chatbots (37%).

“Although this wave underscores how many individuals are struggling now, it also shows that shoppers are increasingly receptive to retailers who can meet them where they are and provide them with AI tools for what they need such as personalized rewards, budgeting, savings, and meeting their health and diet goals,” said O’Grady.

Methodology

dunnhumby interviewed 8,500 grocery shoppers across Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and the U.S for Wave 11 of the CTT. The online interviews took place in August 2025. Approximately 1,000 to 2,000 individuals were interviewed in each of the six countries for the current wave of the study. The latest CTT study can be accessed here.

Further information about AI was presented in “AI, Trust, and the Modern Retail Customer: Trends and Strategies for Success.” The webinar is available on-demand.

dunnhumby at Groceryshop

dunnhumby will be exhibiting and demonstrating its full portfolio of retail and brand solutions for assortment, competitive insights, personalization and loyalty, price and promotions, and retail media at Groceryshop booth #533. For more information on dunnhumby at Groceryshop or to request a meeting, visit https://www.dunnhumby.com/nam-events-2025

About dunnhumby

dunnhumby is the global leader in Customer Data Science, empowering businesses everywhere to compete and thrive in the modern data-driven economy. We always put the Customer First. Our mission: to enable businesses to grow and reimagine themselves by becoming advocates and champions for their Customers.

With deep heritage and expertise in retail — one of the world's most competitive markets, with a deluge of multi-dimensional data — dunnhumby today enables businesses all over the world, across industries, to be Customer First.

The dunnhumby Customer Data Science Platform is our unique mix of technology, software and consulting enabling businesses to increase revenue and profits by delivering exceptional experiences for their Customers – in-store, offline and online. dunnhumby employs over 2,500 experts in offices throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas working for transformative, iconic brands such as Tesco, Coca-Cola, Meijer, Procter & Gamble, Raley's, and L'Oréal.

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