Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept and has already become part of the daily routine of millions of people, including when purchasing products and hiring services. With an eye on this new scenario, service platforms that connect customers to specialized service providers are betting on AI to enhance the experience for users and professionals.
According to the Retail Report 2025, by global financial technology platform Adyen, 35% of consumers already use AI tools for shopping, a 45% jump from the previous year. The trend is clear: consumers want speed, personalization, and convenience.
Challenges and opportunities for small businesses
Professionals who choose to start their own businesses instead of seeking formal employment face various difficulties. Initial investment and customer acquisition are two of the most common challenges, despite the existence of service platforms and marketplaces that assist in this process today.
With the growth of e-commerce after the pandemic, business digitization has become practically mandatory for most entrepreneurs. Gaining visibility and online presence has become a new challenge and a priority for many freelancers and small to medium-sized businesses.
Now, in addition to digitizing communication and sales channels, there is a need to adapt to other new technologies, such as AI.
The proper use of currently available AI tools can help entrepreneurs and business owners improve internal efficiency, making better use of time and minimizing potential errors.
Generally, integrating AI solutions into business processes appears to be linked to better customer experiences and increased loyalty, especially when there is consistency between physical and digital channels.
Currently, there are accessible AI tools available to anyone, which can be very useful for various tasks: product recommendations, appointment scheduling, inventory management… There are even solutions to automate customer service and streamline accounting-related tasks.
Moreover, many tools aimed at professional use have already recognized the need to adapt to new times to offer the best solutions to entrepreneurs looking to carve out their space in the market. This is the case with Cronoshare, a service platform specialized in connecting customers to specialized professionals.
The platform allows professionals to register for free to receive service requests from interested customers. Then, each professional can choose which requests to accept: to unlock the data of the person requesting the service, the platform’s virtual currency, cronos, must be used, and it’s up to the professional to close the deal with the customer.
Professionals control their investment at all times, and the platform also offers a guarantee that allows them to recover part of the cronos invested in contacts that do not result in service completion. Now, Cronoshare is seeking new ways to continue improving the product with AI assistance.
Carlos Alcarria, co-founder and CMO of Cronoshare, explains: “For some time, we have been working on an indicator, already in the testing phase, to help professionals better filter received requests, offering maximum transparency in this aspect.”.
This is the CS Index: an indicator that will classify requests on a scale from 1 to 10, according to the level of customer interest. Lower scores will be assigned to customers who may need more time to decide, while higher scores will indicate customers seemingly more determined to hire the requested service.
To perform this filtering, AI algorithms are being used, based on various criteria (contact method chosen by the customer, urgency of the service, request origin, etc.). The goal is for professionals to know in advance the likelihood of being hired, allowing them to make decisions based on this data.
Recent changes in the consumption habits of Spanish customers
Increasingly, consumers take advantage of tools like ChatGPT for inspiration, personalized shopping recommendations, or price comparisons before purchasing a product or service. In fact, more customers are willing to buy products when receiving personalized recommendations from AI.
Returning to Adyen’s report data, Generation Z (people aged 16 to 27) is the demographic group that uses AI the most when shopping. Specifically, up to 66% of this group trusts AI for this purpose.
This trend is also followed by 47% of Millennials (aged 28 to 43) and is generating growing interest among older generations. In the last 12 months, there has been a 64% increase in AI usage by Baby Boomers, and 48% among Generation X.
In summary, the data points to a significant shift in the consumption habits of most of the population, justifying the efforts of entrepreneurs and small businesses to adapt to this new reality.
