Shoppers Coming From AI Are Worth 83% More To Retailers Than Those From Traditional Channels

Americans are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to decide what to buy, and online retailers are discovering that customers arriving through AI tools can be considerably more valuable than those coming from traditional search engines and other digital channels.

A new Adobe analysis found that visits to U.S. retail websites from AI platforms generated 83% more revenue per visit in September than traffic arriving through other sources, including search engines, social media and email.

Those visitors were also 90% more likely to complete a purchase, suggesting that people using AI to research products may be reaching retailers with a clearer idea of what they want.

The shift could introduce a new challenge for Google and other search platforms that have traditionally played a central role in connecting online shoppers with retailers.

For years, people looking to buy a product typically searched Google, browsed different websites, compared prices and read reviews before making a decision. AI assistants are increasingly handling parts of that research, helping users narrow down their choices before directing them to a store.

Adobe's research covers more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail websites, representing approximately 100 million products across 18 categories. The company also surveyed more than 5,000 American consumers in September to examine their shopping habits.

The findings measure people who clicked through to retailers from generative AI services, rather than everyone who used an AI assistant during their shopping journey.

Traffic arriving from these services increased 71% in September compared with a year earlier. Adobe has recorded substantial monthly growth in AI referrals since it began tracking the category in October 2024.

What makes the latest findings particularly interesting is how dramatically the quality of that traffic has changed. In August 2025, visitors arriving through AI tools were 9% less likely to make a purchase than shoppers coming from other sources. Just over a year later, they were converting into buyers at nearly twice the rate.

AI-referred visitors also spent 73% more time browsing retail websites and viewed 25% more pages during each visit. They added products to their shopping carts at a 53% higher rate.

The figures point to a change in how consumers approach online shopping. Rather than visiting multiple websites to begin their research, some shoppers are using AI tools to compare products, identify suitable options and gather information before clicking through to a retailer.

Adobe's findings show a strong relationship between AI referrals and purchasing behavior, although they do not establish that using AI directly causes consumers to spend more.

For retailers, the growing importance of AI recommendations creates another challenge: making sure their products are visible to the systems providing those recommendations.

Adobe examined how effectively AI tools could interpret information on retail websites using its Citation Readability Score, which measures how much content AI systems can understand and cite.

The average U.S. retail homepage scored 63% in September, meaning more than one-third of its content was not readily accessible to the AI systems Adobe evaluated.

Electronics retailers performed considerably better, scoring 79%, helped by detailed specifications, product guides and customer service information.

Grocery websites scored 55%, while general merchandise homepages managed just 40%. Pages containing clear product descriptions, frequently asked questions, buying guides and return policies were easier for AI systems to interpret than websites relying heavily on promotional images and navigation menus.

That creates a different challenge from traditional search engine optimization, where businesses have spent years competing to rank prominently in Google results.

Retailers now also need to consider whether AI assistants can find accurate information about their products and include them in recommendations to shoppers.

The growing importance of AI comes at a critical time for the U.S. retail industry. Adobe's 2026 holiday shopping forecast projects that Americans will spend a record $275.1 billion online between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, an increase of 6.7% from last year.

Cyber Monday is expected to generate $15.1 billion in online sales, followed by Black Friday at $12.9 billion.

AI referrals could become an increasingly important part of that spending. Adobe expects traffic from AI services to rise 159% from a year earlier on Thanksgiving, 95% on Black Friday and 88% on Cyber Monday.

These are projections rather than confirmed sales figures, and Adobe has not established that AI is replacing traditional search as the dominant source of online retail traffic.

Still, the research offers a glimpse of how the competition for online shoppers is changing. Google has built a substantial advertising business around people searching for products and services. AI assistants introduce another way for consumers to discover retailers, potentially changing where businesses spend money to attract customers.

Meanwhile, Adobe's separate consumer research found that 77% of respondents who had used AI for online shopping felt more confident about their purchases, while 69% said they were less likely to return items they bought.