Why discovery matters

Discovery should reduce overwhelm

Shoppers increasingly say they want help narrowing and understanding their options, rather than simply being shown more products. In Coveo's 2026 Commerce Relevance Report — a survey of 4,000 shoppers in the U.S. and U.K. — the reported friction sits in discovery itself, not in the number of products available.

• 82% of shoppers report experiencing online product-discovery problems. (Coveo, 2026 Commerce Relevance Report)
• Too many choices and poor filtering, difficult search, and irrelevant recommendations are among the most commonly reported problems. (Coveo, 2026 Commerce Relevance Report)
• 59% say they're more likely to buy when guided to exactly what they're looking for. (Coveo, 2026 Commerce Relevance Report)

These studies looked at online shopping broadly. They did not specifically study adaptive products, and they describe what shoppers report — not a proven cause-and-effect outcome.

Discovery should understand intent

Most people don't start with a product name. They start with a situation. Adaptiv is built so you can describe what you're trying to do, without already knowing the right brand, product name, adaptive-industry terminology or diagnosis.

• “I'm recovering from surgery.”
• “I need shoes that work with an AFO.”
• “I dress while seated.”
• “I'm looking for sensory-friendly clothing.”
• “I'm shopping for someone I care for.”
• “I need something easier to put on independently.”

Research into recommendation systems suggests that understanding higher-level user intent — what someone is actually trying to accomplish — can improve the relevance of what gets recommended. That's the idea behind Adaptiv's Explore by Experience collections and needs-based search.

Personalization should support people, not decide for them

Adaptiv guides discovery while keeping you in control. Our job is to organize and explain — never to decide what's right for your body, your recovery or the person you care for.

• Adaptiv can help you understand options.
• Adaptiv can help you narrow products.
• Adaptiv can help you compare relevant features.
• Adaptiv can help you discover products around your needs.
• Adaptiv can help you decide what works for you.

Adaptiv is not an autonomous AI shopping agent. Where AI assists with content or classification, we disclose it, and recommendations are always informational. Adaptiv does not provide medical advice and cannot guarantee that a product is appropriate for anyone's condition, recovery or accessibility needs.

Sources & further reading

All statistics belong to the organizations below. They are third-party research, not Adaptiv's own study.

• Fortune Business Insights — Adaptive Clothing Market

  Source of the projected global adaptive clothing market figure of $30.31 billion by 2034.

• Coveo — 2026 Commerce Relevance Report

  Survey of 4,000 shoppers in the U.S. and U.K.; source of the product-discovery problem and guided-shopping figures cited above.

• commercetools — Reimagining Retail

  Source of the finding on how quickly finding what you want shapes brand perception.

• Stanford Report — Behavioral insights enhance AI-driven recommendations

  Research on using higher-level user intent to improve recommendations.

• Nielsen Norman Group — Individualized Recommendations: Users' Expectations & Assumptions

  Usability research on what people expect from recommendations.

• Coveo — Product Embeddings & Recommendations

  Technical background on how product relationships can power recommendations.

• ACM Digital Library — recommendation systems research

  Peer-reviewed literature on recommendation and discovery systems.

• Intelliverse — The Power of Personalized Product Recommendations

  Industry overview of personalized recommendations in retail.