AI shopping assistants drove a 138% increase in traffic to US retail websites in May 2026 compared with the previous year, according to Adobe Digital Insights. Those visitors spent 53% more per visit and converted at a 54% higher rate than shoppers arriving from non-AI sources, making the channel a priority for retailers that also want to keep customer data within their own systems.
Retailers including Walmart, Ulta Beauty, and Wayfair are adjusting their online operations as shoppers use services such as ChatGPT and Google's Gemini to research products, Reuters reported. The challenge is that many retailers want purchases to remain within their own commerce systems, where they can retain information on browsing habits, basket sizes, and previous purchases. That data powers product recommendations and loyalty programmes.
Adobe's data shows the quality of AI-referred traffic has shifted. In March 2025, visitors arriving from AI services converted 42% better than non-AI traffic, compared with March 2024, when AI-referred traffic converted 38% worse. A separate March survey of more than 5,000 US consumers found that 39% had used AI assistants for online shopping. Of those, 85% said AI assistants improved their experience.
Google's Universal Cart brings AI closer to checkout
Google introduced Universal Cart in May, allowing shoppers to add products while using Search and Gemini. Where possible, consumers can complete supported purchases using Google Pay or transfer products to a retailer's website before checking out. Google says retailers remain the merchant of record regardless of the checkout route. Universal Cart can also use payment-method benefits, loyalty information, and merchant offers stored in Google Wallet.
Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, and Wayfair are among the retailers supporting selected checkout features through Google's Universal Commerce Protocol. Wayfair helped develop the protocol and said its integration enables eligible customers to check out without leaving Google's interface, while Wayfair remains responsible for pricing, fulfilment, and customer support.
Ulta Beauty is also connecting its commerce systems with Google's AI services. The retailer announced in April that its assortment would become shoppable through AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app, while it also launched an AI tool on its own site. Ulta is working with Google to incorporate shopping carts and its loyalty programme into Gemini experiences. "We always want to be wherever our guest is," said the retailer's head of digital and e-commerce. According to Reuters, Ulta is seeing stronger conversion and purchase intent from shoppers finding its products through Gemini and ChatGPT.
Walmart is participating in external AI shopping services while developing its own experiences. Walmart and Google say their integration will let customers link their accounts, receive recommendations based on past online and in-store purchases, and build on existing carts.
How retailers feed product data into AI systems
Retailers are also addressing how their product information gets read by AI systems. Adobe analysed US retail sites using its AI Content Visibility Checker, which measures the proportion of webpage content readable by AI. Retail homepages recorded an average visibility score of 75%, while category pages averaged 74% and individual product pages 66%. Customer-service pages scored 79%. Cosmetics led the categories for AI citation readability, which Adobe attributed partly to educational and customer-service content.
Structured product feeds provide another route for retailers to supply information directly to AI shopping services. OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol lets merchants provide product data for use in ChatGPT's search and shopping experiences. OpenAI says merchants can supply info including descriptions, prices, inventory, images, and fulfilment options. It calls for regularly refreshed feeds to keep ChatGPT displaying current product information. OpenAI also developed specifications for checkout integrations where ChatGPT collects buyer, delivery, and payment details while the merchant's systems handle the transaction. The company said it adjusted its broader shopping approach in March after concluding the initial version of checkout did not offer enough flexibility.
New measurement tools for AI shopping traffic
Google's AI performance insights report in Merchant Center measures how brands appear across AI Mode and AI Overviews. The report - currently in pilot with a limited number of US accounts - includes share-of-voice data comparing merchants' visibility against competitors. Google separates conversational shopping queries into discovery, evaluation, and purchase stages. The report also identifies product attributes, such as size, colour, or material, that appear in AI shopping searches but are not yet covered by retailer data. The current report covers organic AI traffic only; paid advertising traffic is not included.
Why this matters for marketers
The data shows that AI-referred shoppers are not just more numerous - they're more valuable. For marketers, this means investing in structured product feeds and AI-readable content on product pages and category pages directly influences conversion rate and revenue per visit from this channel. Retailers that make their product data available to services like ChatGPT and Gemini, while maintaining their own checkout, stand to capture both the traffic boost and the customer data that fuels retention and loyalty. If you're involved in e-commerce marketing, optimising for AI visibility should now be as standard as AI for marketing that covers search and social optimisation.
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