Synthetic Users in More Industries
Synthetic Users in Retail and E-Commerce
by Sherry Jones (September 2025)
AI-generated customer simulations are revolutionizing how retailers test, personalize, and secure their platforms. These "virtual customers" allow companies to run large-scale experiments, train models, and anticipate market trends without involving real people.
UX Testing and Monitoring with Synthetic Shoppers
E-commerce platforms use synthetic monitoring to simulate user interactions at scale. Development teams script headless-browser bots to "click" through checkout flows, verifying performance and uptime. New Relic describes this as "synthetic user testing" – automated routines that behave like shoppers.
Walmart invests in digital twins and performance testing, while services like Catchpoint run 24/7 bots that mimic customer journeys to detect slow pages or broken features. These tools enable retailers to stress-test site traffic before promotions and continuously monitor UX metrics.
Performance Testing
24/7 bots simulate customer journeys to detect issues before they impact real users
Load Testing
Stress-test site traffic before major promotions and sales events
UX Validation
Reveal interface friction and conversion bottlenecks through diverse personas
Synthetic Customers as AI Agents
This video delves into the evolving landscape of retail, showcasing how artificial intelligence and automation are transforming the customer experience. From intelligent shopping assistants to streamlined supply chains, discover the innovations driving the next generation of commerce, where synthetic users play an increasingly vital role.
Personalization, Recommendations, and Marketing
Retailers use synthetic customers to train and validate personalization engines. By generating artificial profiles and transaction histories, companies experiment with marketing strategies and recommendation algorithms in a privacy-safe way.
This capability allows retailers to enhance customer journeys by delivering highly relevant product suggestions, targeted promotions, and bespoke content, ultimately leading to improved engagement and loyalty without compromising real user data.
01
Generate Synthetic Profiles
Create artificial customer profiles with varied preferences and shopping behaviors
02
Train Algorithms
Use synthetic data to fine-tune personalization engines and recommendation systems
03
Test Marketing Strategies
Experiment with different approaches before deploying to real customers
Target's Demand Profiler Innovation
Target's innovation team built a "Demand Profiler" that generates synthetic digital orders matching expected shopping patterns. These simulated orders let Target optimize inventory and staffing by forecasting how many items might sell in multi-item orders.
The system uses sophisticated algorithms to produce rich, dynamic order profiles that help with labor planning through ship-from-store operations and unit forecasting, significantly improving operational efficiency.
24/7
Continuous Forecasting
Real-time synthetic order generation for demand planning
100%
Privacy Safe
No real customer data used in the synthetic modeling process
Fraud Detection and Security
Synthetic identities pose major fraud risks to retailers, while synthetic users are used defensively to train anti-fraud systems. Fraud rings create synthetic shopper accounts by combining fake names with real stolen credentials, making malicious purchases that look like normal shopping.
Fraud Pattern Training
Banks and fintech use generative techniques to create mock transaction histories including fraudulent patterns, then train classifiers to spot anomalies
Security Protocol Validation
Financial institutions simulate unauthorized payment attempts via synthetic users to validate their security protocols
Risk System Testing
Companies use AI-generated merchant and consumer profiles to stress-test their risk detection systems
AI-Powered Virtual Shopping Assistants
Companies are rolling out AI agents that act as virtual personal shoppers, powered by large language models and computer vision. These conversational assistants represent the future of retail customer service.
Walmart's Sparky
An AI chatbot in the mobile app, trained on retail-specific data to help customers find products, compare items, and plan events. Sparky can answer product questions and summarize reviews, with plans to add multimodal capabilities for image, audio, and video input.
The company also prototyped an AI "Associate" agent for employees and a "Marty" agent to streamline seller operations.
The Rise of Robot Shoppers
Walmart is preparing for "robot shoppers" – treating AI agents as new customers. Their CTO envisions an ecosystem where third-party shopping bots interface with retailers' systems, handling routine tasks like reordering staples and building shopping lists.
1
Voice Shopping
Amazon's Alexa enables voice-activated purchases on Echo devices
2
AI Checkout
Amazon tests "Buy for Me" - an AI assistant that completes transactions
3
Chat Commerce
ChatGPT integrations allow users to shop directly from chat interfaces
Synthetic Influencers and Marketing
Brands have adopted entirely synthetic spokesmodels – CGI personas built with AI – to promote products on social media. These virtual influencers offer complete brand control and creative freedom.
KFC's Virtual Colonel Sanders
A CGI version of the chain's founder that posts humorous content online. KFC maintains full control over the Colonel's image and dialogue, generating high engagement through spoof cross-promotions with other virtual characters.
LG's Reah Keem
An AI influencer created to unveil products at trade shows, drawing media attention to the blend of technology and marketing innovation.
Future Directions and Considerations
The use of synthetic users in retail will expand as AI models grow more capable. Generative AI can craft entire personas and simulate complex conversations, enabling large-scale scenario testing across different demographics.
Privacy Protection
No real customer data is used in synthetic testing scenarios
Edge Case Testing
Safely explore rare user profiles and unusual shopping behaviors
Counterfactual Analysis
Test "what if" scenarios by replaying synthetic data under new rules
Accelerated Innovation
Rapid prototyping and testing without recruiting real participants
The Synthetic Future of Retail
Across U.S. retail segments, synthetic users are being leveraged for UX testing, personalization, fraud prevention, and innovation. Companies like Walmart and Amazon are publicly embracing AI assistants and personalized services for shoppers.
Future stores may routinely recruit "robot shoppers" to drive decisions, and brands may deploy virtual ambassadors on social platforms. For executives, synthetic users offer powerful tools to innovate quickly and cost-effectively, but real human insight must still anchor retail strategies.
24/7
Always Available
Synthetic users enable continuous testing and optimization
100%
Scalable Testing
Unlimited synthetic personas for comprehensive scenario coverage
0%
Privacy Risk
No real customer data exposed during synthetic testing processes
References
[1] [2] Greenberg, B. (2022, July 5). Build Your Own Synthetic User Testing. New Relic Blog. https://newrelic.com/blog/how-to-relic/synthetic-user-testing
[3] Entropik Insights. (n.d.). Synthetic Users: Revolutionizing UX Testing and Digital Performance. Entropik Blog. https://www.entropik.io/blog/synthetic-users-revolutionizing-ux-testing-and-digital-performance
[4] Rosala, M. & Moran, K. (2024, June 21). Synthetic Users: If, When, and How to Use AI-Generated “Research.” NN/g. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/synthetic-users/
[5] Walsh, G. (n.d.). The Complete Guide to Synthetic Data: Transforming AI and Machine Learning. GWI Blog. https://www.gwi.com/blog/synthetic-data
[6] [7] Levine, I. (2024, Sept 19). How Amazon is Using Generative AI to Improve Product Recommendations and Descriptions. Amazon News. https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-generative-ai-product-search-results-and-descriptions
[8] [9] [10] [11] Maheshwari, A. (2025, July 21). Unlocking the Power of Synthetic Digital Orders in Retail. Tech Target. https://tech.target.com/blog/synthetic-digital-orders
[12] S. Hunter-Lascoskie, S. (2024, March 11). Synthetic Identities, Synthetic Shoppers, and the Impact on eCommerce & Retail. AuthenticID Blog. https://www.authenticid.com/fraud-prevention/synthetic-identities-synthetic-shoppers-and-the-impact-on-ecommerce-retail/
[13] Entropik Insights. (n.d.). Synthetic Users: Revolutionizing UX Testing and Digital Performance. Entropik Blog. https://www.entropik.io/blog/synthetic-users-revolutionizing-ux-testing-and-digital-performance
[14] [15] [16] Duckett, B. (2025, June 11). Walmart Introduces its Sparky Virtual Assistant to New Shoppers. Digital Commerce 360. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2025/06/11/walmart-sparky-virtual-agentic-ai-assistant/
[17] [18] [19] [20] March, F. (2025, May 19). Walmart Gets Ready for Robot Shoppers as Customers Use AI to Shop Online. CX Today. https://www.cxtoday.com/loyalty-management/walmart-gets-ready-for-robot-shoppers-as-customers-use-ai-to-shop-online/
[21] [22] [23] (2024). 5 Examples of Brands Successfully Using AI Models and Influencers. AI Influencer Agency. https://aiinfluencercompany.com/5-examples-of-brands-successfully-using-ai-models-and-influencers/
[24] Rosala, M. & Moran, K. (2024, June 21). Synthetic Users: If, When, and How to Use AI-Generated “Research.” NN/g. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/synthetic-users/
[25] Cavale, S. (2025, July 24). Walmart Bets on AI Super Agents to Boost E-commerce Growth. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/walmart-bets-ai-super-agents-boost-e-commerce-growth-2025-07-24/
[26] March, F. (2025, May 19). Walmart Gets Ready for Robot Shoppers as Customers Use AI to Shop Online. CX Today. https://www.cxtoday.com/loyalty-management/walmart-gets-ready-for-robot-shoppers-as-customers-use-ai-to-shop-online/