Less than a year after ChatGPT threatened to wipe out ecommerce, big retailers are building their own AI assistants that help shoppers find, compare, and buy products. While these tools are still nascent, retailers are seeing initial success, suggesting AI search is driving bigger orders than traditional search.
In May, Walmart CEO John Furner said customers who use its AI assistant, Sparky, have an average order value 35% higher than customers who don't. Similarly, 44% of app sessions in July that used Amazon's AI assistant, Alexa for Shopping, resulted in a sale, according to data from Sensor Tower. That's up from 34% in July 2025 when Amazon used its former assistant, Rufus.
How retailers are building AI assistants
Kroger, Walmart, Albertsons, and Amazon have all launched AI shopping tools. Amazon and Kroger already run ads within their assistants. The assistants help people find products, compare options, and decide what to buy without leaving the retailer's app or site.
Sales professionals should note that AI assistants are not just search tools. They reshape buying behavior by guiding customers through the decision process, which often leads to larger orders. Walmart's numbers suggest the tools are not a fad: For Walmart, Sparky users have order values one-third above average.
What the data says about AI sales
The Amazon data from Sensor Tower shows the conversion rate for Alexa for Shopping hit 44% in July-far above monthly averages for retail apps generally. This means nearly half of sessions that used the assistant resulted in a purchase. The conversion rate for the predecessor, Rufus, was 34% a year earlier when it launched. The 10-point gain inside 12 months signals the technology is proving out.
For salespeople, the takeaway is that buyers who use AI assistants are pre-qualified. They have already been guided through comparison and selection before they hit "buy." That makes the assistant a channel that delivers high-intent customers at higher average spend.
What comes next
These numbers are driving retailers to embed more AI features. Ad opportunities within AI assistants are also expanding. If assistants can convert 44% of sessions to sales, the ad placements inside them become valuable real estate for partners and suppliers. This creates a new direct channel between brands and shoppers.
The AI for Sales sector now has concrete revenue data to work from. For retail managers, tools like an AI learning path for retail managers can help teams adjust to how customers are already shifting their buying behavior inside retail platforms.
Why this matters for sales professionals
For people in sales jobs, the key point is that AI assistants at big retailers already produce significantly larger orders at higher conversion rates than traditional search. This is not a future prediction. Walmart and Amazon have the numbers now. That means sales strategies for retail partners must account for AI-assisted discovery, because these assistants control what products a customer sees, how they compare them, and whether they buy. Sales professionals who do not understand how these tools rank, filter, and suggest products during shopping lose control over the most important part of the purchase funnel.
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