AI assistants are sending more shoppers to retail web sites as Google, OpenAI, and retailers develop shopping tools that connect product discovery with merchant product data and checkout systems.
Adobe Digital Insights found that AI-driven traffic to US retail web sites increased 138% 12 months over 12 months in May 2026. AI-referred shoppers generated 53% more revenue per visit and converted at a 54% higher rate than traffic from non-AI sources throughout the month.
Reuters reported recently that retailers including Walmart, Ulta Beauty, and Wayfair are adjusting their online operations as shoppers use services similar to ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini to research products. Many want purchases to stay inside their very own commerce systems, where they’ll retain information on browsing habits, basket sizes, and former purchases.
That information supports functions including product recommendations and loyalty programmes. Retailers interviewed by Reuters said maintaining the transaction on their very own platforms also preserves the direct relationship with the customer.
Adobe’s data also shows a change in the standard of AI-referred traffic. In March 2026, visitors arriving from AI services converted 42% higher than non-AI traffic, compared with March 2025, when AI-referred traffic converted 38% worse.
A March survey of greater than 5,000 US consumers conducted by Adobe found that 39% had used AI assistants for online shopping. Of those respondents, 85% said AI assistants had improved their online shopping experience.
AI shopping moves closer to checkout
Google introduced Universal Cart in May, allowing shoppers so as to add products while using services including Search and Gemini. Consumers can complete supported purchases using Google Pay or transfer products to a retailer’s website before trying out.
Google said retailers remain the merchant of record whatever the checkout route. Universal Cart can even use payment-method advantages, loyalty information, and merchant offers stored in Google Wallet.
Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, and Wayfair are among the many retailers Google said would support chosen checkout features through its Universal Commerce Protocol, or UCP. The company said Universal Cart was rolling out across Search and Gemini within the US throughout the summer, with YouTube and Gmail to follow.
Wayfair was certainly one of the retailers that helped develop UCP. The retailer said its integration enables eligible customers to examine out from Wayfair without leaving Google’s interface, while Wayfair stays chargeable for pricing, fulfilment, and customer support.
Ulta Beauty can be connecting its commerce systems with Google’s AI services. The retailer announced in April that its assortment would grow to be shoppable through AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app, while Ulta AI launched on Ulta.com.
Ulta said its assistant draws on insights from greater than 46 million members to supply personalised shopping guidance. Reuters also reported that the retailer is working with Google to include shopping carts and its Ulta Beauty Rewards programme into shopping experiences inside Gemini.
“We all the time need to be wherever our guest is,” Josh Friedman, Ulta Beauty’s head of digital and e-commerce, said. Ulta is seeing twice the conversion and buy intent from shoppers finding its products through Gemini and ChatGPT, in accordance with Reuters.
Walmart can be participating in external AI shopping services while developing experiences by itself digital properties. Walmart and Google said their Gemini integration will allow customers to link their accounts, receive recommendations based on previous online and in-store purchases, and mix recent items with existing Walmart or Sam’s Club carts.
Product data for AI discovery
Retailers are also addressing how their product information is accessed by AI systems. Adobe analysed US retail sites using its AI Content Visibility Checker, which measures the proportion of webpage content the tool determines is readable by AI systems.
Retail homepages recorded a mean visibility rating of 75%, while category pages averaged 74% and individual product pages 66%. Customer-service pages scored higher at 79%.
Adobe’s later evaluation found that cosmetics led the retail categories it assessed for AI citation readability, which Adobe attributed partly to editorial, educational, and customer-service content.
Structured product feeds provide one other route for retailers to provide information on to AI shopping services. OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol allows merchants to supply product data to be used in ChatGPT’s search and shopping experiences.
OpenAI says merchants can supply feeds containing information similar to descriptions, prices, inventory, images, and fulfilment options. Its documentation calls for repeatedly refreshed feeds so ChatGPT can display current product information, including price and availability.
OpenAI also developed specifications for checkout integrations during which ChatGPT collects buyer, delivery, and payment information while the merchant’s systems handle the transaction. The merchant validates the order, calculates tax, processes the payment through its existing provider, and decides whether to just accept the order.
The company modified its broader shopping approach in March after concluding that the initial version of Instant Checkout didn’t provide enough flexibility. OpenAI said merchants would give you the chance to make use of their very own checkout experiences while it focused on product discovery, although deeper native integrations remain available through ChatGPT apps.
OpenAI says it will not be the merchant of record under the Agentic Commerce Protocol.
Measuring AI visibility
The expansion of AI shopping can be producing recent measurement tools for merchants. 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 variety of US Merchant Center accounts, includes share-of-voice data that compares a merchant’s visibility with competitors. Google separates conversational shopping queries into discovery, evaluation, and buy stages.
Merchant Center can even surface common query types and discover product attributes, similar to size, color, or material, that appear in AI shopping searches but are missing from a retailer’s structured product data. The current report covers organic AI traffic and doesn’t include paid promoting traffic.
(Photo by Eduardo Soares)
See also: Michaels says AI shopping assistant greater than doubles conversions
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