New consumer data shows shoppers are researching, comparing and evaluating value long before they reach a brand’s website

The marketing funnel as we know it assumes that a shopper arrives at your site somewhere in the middle of their decision-making process, open to being persuaded and ready to convert. But according to the data, shoppers now arrive at your site after much of the real decision-making has already taken place: in savings apps, deal aggregators, and AI tools. By the time they reach your product page, many shoppers have already narrowed their consideration set, established their expectations around value and compared options across multiple platforms.

New Minty national consumer research, reflective of U.S. adults with a 97% confidence level, shows this is already the reality for most shoppers, and visibility earlier in the purchase journey increasingly determines whether a brand gets considered at all.

Rethink where purchase decisions are happening

Planning is how shoppers are getting the most value, and 65% say that advance planning is instrumental to their ability to save. That number alone should prompt a hard look at where most marketing budgets sit, because if customers are planning purchases before they ever interact with a brand touchpoint you own, the top of your funnel is not where you think it is.

Shoppers are actively planning the categories they want to shop, how much they can get for their budget and which brands deserve their time before a single passive ad reaches them. That means the 85% of shoppers who use digital deals to stretch their budgets are not waiting to feel inspired at the point of sale. They arrive with a purchase plan.

For marketers, programs built around interactions with your website, paid search and retargeting were not designed for a shopper who has already narrowed their consideration set before arriving on site. The more valuable opportunity often happens earlier, when shoppers are still researching categories, comparing value and deciding which brands deserve consideration in the first place. Knowing who is exploring your category, browsing savings tools and comparing offers before they buy makes it possible to reach them while decisions are still being shaped.

You need to show value outside your owned channels

Nine in ten shoppers say they use digital savings tools, and 60% describe their shopping style as focused on finding the best value rather than staying loyal to a specific brand or buying out of convenience. Those two statistics alone show that shoppers are actively looking for reasons to choose one brand over another and are turning to tools outside your owned channels to find them.

Owned channels still matter enormously, but shoppers are arriving there more informed, more intentional and far more focused on value than they were even a few years ago. In many cases, your brand is already part of their consideration set, but so are your competitors.

Static offers and one-size-fits-all experiences are ineffective with shoppers who are actively comparing value in real time. Brands need strategies that can dynamically respond to hesitation, reinforce value before a shopper exits and re-engage consumers who leave without converting.

The 82% of shoppers who say they would engage with a pop-up offer from a browser extension are signaling something important: they are still open to influence when the value exchange is relevant and timely.

Cashback, rewards and savings integrations that extend beyond owned properties help brands influence consideration earlier in the journey, while more adaptive on-site experiences help convert shoppers once they arrive. Together, those capabilities create opportunities not just to drive transactions, but to build longer-term loyalty with consumers who expect personalized value throughout the buying journey.

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Show up where AI shopping is already happening

Shoppers are using AI tools to compare products, find cashback offers, validate purchase decisions and identify which brand offers the most value at any given moment. The research, comparison and deal-finding that once spread across multiple platforms and browser tabs are collapsing into a single conversational flow, and much of that conversation now happens before a shopper reaches your website.

For brands, this creates a visibility problem that traditional marketing infrastructure was not built to solve. If a shopper asks an AI tool which brand offers the best value in your category and your brand does not appear in that answer, you are not losing at conversion. You may be missing the opportunity to enter the consideration set early enough to shape the decision.

Getting into those AI-generated answers requires more than paid media. Brands need content structured so AI systems can retrieve and reference it cleanly, authoritative third-party presence across trade publications and editorial sources, and partnerships or integrations that help surface offers and value signals where shoppers are actively researching.

The metric that captures whether any of this is working is one most marketing teams do not yet track. Share of Model measures how often and how accurately your brand appears in AI-generated answers to the questions your customers are asking. It is the AI-era equivalent of share of voice, and the window to build that presence is open right now in a way it will not be forever.

The funnel has evolved

Shopper behavior is always changing, and marketers are always adapting to it. The tactics that worked over the last decade are not obsolete, but relying on them alone increasingly means reaching shoppers after key parts of the decision-making process have already taken place.

Today’s path to purchase is happening across savings tools, deal aggregators, AI conversations and brand experiences that extend well beyond a company’s owned channels. Many marketing teams are still measuring success at the end of the journey, even as more of the research, comparison and value assessment now happens earlier in the process.

For marketers, that shift creates both a visibility challenge and a conversion challenge. Brands need to understand how shoppers are evaluating options before they arrive, while also delivering on-site experiences capable of responding to more informed and value-conscious consumers in real time.

About Minty

Minty is an AI shopping companion that proactively unleashes savings that matter most for smart shoppers, creating more loyalty for the eCommerce brands they shop.

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