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March 17, 2025
AI-Driven E-Commerce Traffic Soars 1,200%: Is GenAI Adoption the Future of Online Retail?
Recent Adobe Analytics data delivered some surprising conclusions regarding the adoption of generative AI models into the retail e-commerce and marketing spaces.
The March 17 report from Adobe Analytics reinforced prior findings that generative AI is playing a growing role in driving online shopping traffic. During last year’s holiday season, traffic to e-commerce sites from GenAI soared over 1,300% compared to the previous year, with AI chatbot-driven traffic spiking 1,950% year-over-year on Cyber Monday 2024 alone.
This most recent data outlines that, for February 2025, traffic rose by more than 1,200% compared to six months ago in July 2024. Adobe’s data was derived from over 1 trillion consumer visits to U.S. retail sites.
According to MarTech, these extremely high gains are at least partially due to the relatively nascent nature of GenAI’s adoption into the retail space, with ChatGPT launching less than three years ago in late 2022. Regardless, by drilling down further into the data, more relevant insights come to the forefront.
AI-Assisted Shopping Is Gaining Widespread Adoption Among American Consumers
The report appeared to highlight a significant increase in the number of U.S. consumers who were actively engaging with GenAI or AI tools when considering (and making) purchases online.
Out of 5,000 American shoppers surveyed, 39% said they have used generative AI when shopping online, with more than half of respondents — 53% — saying they were interested in doing so this year.
Nearly half (47%) consulted with AI for product recommendations, while 43% employed the assistance of AI to find bargains. A little over one-third of respondents (35%) said they used GenAI to come up with gift ideas or to find unique product offerings, and 33% indicated that they had a little help from AI agents when crafting their shopping lists.
GenAI Drives Engagement Among Shoppers, Per the Data
Forbes reported that artificial intelligence could also be counted on to increase commitment from online shoppers.
Adobe data underscored the fact that AI-driven visitors showed higher degrees of engagement, spending 8% more time on sites, bouncing 23% less frequently, and browsing 12% more pages per visit compared to the baseline.
“Online shoppers are finding value in using an AI-powered chat interface, as it shortens the time it takes for them to receive information that is personalized to their needs,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement offered alongside the report.
“In our survey, we found that of those who have used AI for shopping, 92% said it enhanced their experience, with 87% saying that they are more likely to use AI for larger or more complex purchases,” Pandya added.
There are still some hurdles to clear when it comes to consumer confidence in AI-assisted shopping, however. Traffic spurred by AI was 9% less likely to result in a sale than other sources of traffic, but that number is down from July 2024, when it stood at 43%.
“The narrowing gap shows that consumers are also increasingly comfortable completing a transaction directly after an AI-powered chat experience,” Adobe indicated.
Discussion Questions
Will generative AI-assisted tools eventually overtake more “traditional” (email, paid search) marketing or ad-driven traffic over the course of the next few years?
What are the obstacles, in your estimation, blocking AI agents or GenAI-assisted shopping experiences from gaining market dominance in the near term? How can the operators of these models produce a more frictionless experience for both retailers and consumers?
Which retailers (or segments) are most likely to benefit from the booming interest and acceptance of AI-assisted online shopping? Which have more work to do to ensure they remain competitive?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lucille DeHart
Principal, MKT Marketing Services/Columbus Consulting
Nicola Kinsella
SVP Global Marketing, Fluent Commerce
Cathy Hotka
Principal, Cathy Hotka & Associates
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As a search tool and traffic driver, AI is still in its comparative infancy, so it is hardly surprising that there is very strong growth from last year. The question is: how much of a role does it play in the future? On this front, I think the answer is a more significant one. AI is already optimizing search and making recommendations for consumers, which is helping them sort through the clutter and noise of the vast assortment available online.
AI-driven commerce will dominate, but not in the next few years. Anticipate lots of developments before it is the default.
While generative AI-assisted tools offer innovative ways to engage audiences, they may be subject to regulatory scrutiny and ethical concerns.
Additionally, businesses can have a hard time transitioning to AI-driven marketing strategies because they have a strong trust and familiarity with traditional marketing methods. A seamless and effective marketing strategy will require balance between these tools and established practices.
In order to enhance customer engagement and personalization, companies can integrate AI with traditional marketing techniques.
With artificial intelligence, brands and retailers can identify trends and preferences based on vast amounts of data. As a result, traditional methods enable brands to build lasting relationships with customers by providing a human touch and brand authenticity.
AI in retail shopping, in grocery shopping will cross a threshold when its used less as a marketing tool ON customers, and more of a good tool FOR customers to problem solve, save time, save money, save hassle, build loyalty. “Hey AI, I need a 100% pure, non-blended certified organic olive oil to cook this afternoon. Please list the two closest stores to my house with 1-2 highly rated brands, who have it on the shelf/in stock, noting if there is a coupon or promo price, and if I can pick it up at the door in 10 minutes”.
Marketers can get all kinds of information out of this ask, and without ever having to advertise to or intrude on customers.
First of all, this isn’t going to happen. It is happening. Unless the consumer is on a mission and knows exactly what they want, AI tools that help shoppers get what they want will be important to both the consumer and the retailer. When the retailer can create a better experience, everyone wins.
LLMs are totally disrupting the way people do research. Including product discovery. LLMs like Perplexity have enabled shopping. No doubt others will too. And I have no doubt they’ll want to offer payment capture as a revenue stream in the future. At that point, what you need to be asking yourself is, how can I surface the right data to enable a PDP-like experience anywhere – think product information, inventory availability, and pricing and promotions.
It will also be interesting to see how LLMs surface product information. Will the brand’s own website be used as a sourcing of truth even if availability shown is from a local retailer? Will the richness of content be an even bigger differentiator in capturing an audience via LLM? I think so. Which means brands that have invested in detailed product information that is accessible on the PDP (not just attributes hiding, in say, faceted search) will be at a huge advantage.
AI is very exciting, sure, however the technology is very much in early stages, something that has been noted here before (by me of course :), and others!). Before it takes over the world and recreates the Terminator film franchise in real life, it is going to take a long long time to reach peak efficacy. All that is happening now is giving marketing departments another bucket to spend their budgets on.
Retail leaders like Walmart, Amazon and Sephora will benefit most from AI-enhanced shopping. They have the resources to invest in AI to make the shopping journey more personalized, relevant and convenient.
While larger retailers certainly have more resources to pour into this, smaller organizations can also get ingested into the AI search results. I’ve done this with some very small organizations and in less than a day. The key is to explore and test things today to get ahead of others.
Things are already moving this way. The ability to search using AI tools is in many of the Gen AI tools already and I’m starting to see activity in Google Analytics from AI search. Further, two out of ten online grocery shoppers indicated they are already using AI as part of their shopping experience. Keep in mind that we are only a couple years into this and the technology is multiplying at a very rapid pace.
AI-driven search tools will be refined over time. As they are, they will become as ubiquitous and widely used as Siri to answer simple research on an iPhone, or GPS to get you from point A to B to C. As long as the answers are accurate, more consumers will engage.
“Why would you browse a website or search for something on a website when Agentic AI can do it for you?”
This was a question I read recently about the impact of the ongoing development of GenAI and its impact on business. The reality is it is the same for consumer shopping.
Why would you search for something when an AI agent – or even a well-written prompt – can both find and evaluate options for you.
While GenAI may increase ecommerce traffic it may also change the profile of that traffic – in terms of both when and whether it is human or not. This will be fascinating to watch.
In a word, YES. AI will become the dominent shopping tool as customers look to simplify the search and transactional process. Smart technology will become more integrated and make AI the center of intelligence for your fit, preferences, decor tastes, network special event reminders and suggestions and more. This will present a new challenge for marketers as you are now trying to influence a data-driven decision maker vs an emotional or impluse buyer.
AI tool is in its infancy but proves popular to help consumers drive through offers and information (accurately or not is a different question). Any retailer that has multidimensional products from grocery (ingredients) to a electronics. The key would be the accuracy of the source data which it is learning from and how well it can upsell / cross sell without being too intrusive. It is an area that retailers will have to decide how much to invest in via outside services or develop in house
Wait, so it enhanced the experience and increased time spent browsing but resulted in lower conversion? Not sure that’s a win?
Any tool that enhances the consumer experience will be embraced, and any tool that improves sales efficiency while driving growth and profit will be adopted by retailers and ultimately succeed—it’s inevitable.
The main challenge lies in misconceptions about AI—what it can do and how it influences purchasing decisions. AI is a powerful tool for intelligent suggestive selling, not a replacement for customer service training but a complement.
t’s an excellent tool for emerging categories, offering detailed technical information and intelligent suggestive selling to ensure customers have everything they need for their project, event, or service.
Huge percentage on a tiny base… We’ve seen this kind of growth rate before, when virtual retailing was first introduced and early adopters drove the trend.
But there is little doubt that the share of AI-influenced digital retailing will grow very rapidly. Users really won’t have a choice, since the ‘bots and agents are being installed just about everywhere you surf on the WWW.
This isn’t “AI-driven” I don’t think. Merely “AI-enabled.”
Face it. Product search and algorithm-driven chatbots generally suck, but we’ve learned how to get by with them. Embedding AI into these processes promises to make them more responsive and require less subtle user knowledge to deliver acceptable results.
For a great many user experiences, AI will simply be there. The huge caveat at present is its unreliability. AI answers can’t really be trusted today. So we are in for a period of peril and hilarity while the entities continue to learn how to serve us.
Generative AI is rapidly transforming e-commerce, but high engagement doesn’t always lead to higher conversions. While AI-driven traffic is skyrocketing, trust and usability gaps remain significant. Consumers don’t just want more automated recommendations but they expect intelligent, personalized assistance that truly understands their needs.
The key to adoption, AI must be intuitive, effortless, and highly responsive. Retailers should refine recommendation algorithms, ensure smooth AI-human transitions, and create frictionless checkout experiences. Luxury and high-consideration purchases will see the greatest benefits, while mass-market retailers must prioritize simplicity and practicality.
AI won’t replace traditional marketing, it will amplify it. The true winners will be those who integrate AI to enhance the shopping journey without making it overwhelming.
AI-driven commerce is becoming more common, as early AI use cases have proven the ROI of investments in AI technology like AI-first product discovery, payments solutions and conversational commerce applications. That said, there is still a need to keep humans in the loop, as our human talent’s insights, such as our merchandising teams, can evaluate the results of AI platforms to ideate, A/B test, and optimize strategies and campaigns. AI will not replace existing channels and tactics but instead augment our capabilities with them.