Key stat: 71% of US shoppers who use AI at least monthly turn to AI assistants when making purchasing decisions, according to an April survey from Profitero.

Beyond the chart:

• Shoppers lean on assistants because the answers make them feel more confident about spending. In fact, 60.8% of consumers say AI increases their confidence in buying decisions, according to Bloomreach.
• Meanwhile, the conversation and the transaction happen in different places. Just 10% of AI-assisted digital shoppers usually complete the purchase on the AI platform itself, compared with 69% who buy on a retailer's site or app, according to a survey from Publicis Commerce and EMARKETER.

Use this chart: Drop this into your AI commerce deck to show where shoppers actually ask their questions. Use it to defend budget for assistant-ready product content, and show it to leadership pouring every AI dollar into search summaries when the assistant is doing twice the work.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• The Next Era of Retail (EMARKETER subscription required)
• The Agentic Commerce Ecosystem 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the July 2026 Profitero report "Digitally Influenced Shopper Report 2026 - US." 1,000 US shoppers ages 18+ were surveyed during April 2026. Respondents were a nationally representative sample of US primary or joint household purchase decision-makers.