The data: AI traffic to US retail sites rose 62% YoY in July, according to Adobe data shared with EMARKETER.

Behind the numbers: While the share of US consumers relying on AI platforms for shopping recommendations remains small, these tools appear more effective at driving conversions. Traffic from AI sources converted 60% better than non-AI traffic in July, the 11th-straight month that AI conversion outpaced non-AI sources.

As in previous months, Adobe found that shoppers referred from AI platforms have higher engagement rates, spending 59% more time on retailers’ sites while being 33% less likely to bounce. AI users also added items to their carts at higher rates than non-AI users.

Retailers are seeing similar traction for their own AI tools.

• Albertsons sees a roughly 10% lift in average order value when shoppers use its basic conversational search function and up to a 26% increase when they use its assistant’s more advanced capabilities, Jill Pavlovich, senior vice president of digital shopping experiences, told The Wall Street Journal.
• Average order value for consumers who use Sparky, Walmart’s AI assistant, is 35% higher than for those who don’t, while 44% of app sessions that used Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping in July resulted in a sale, per Sensor Tower data cited in Adweek.

Implications for retail: While there is growing evidence that AI tools are helping drive purchases, shopping remains one of the least popular use cases for regular users. Less than 17% of US internet users use genAI weekly for shopping purposes, which includes researching products, asking for recommendations, and comparing prices, according to EMARKETER’s “AI in the Consumer Journey: H1 2026” survey. And over half (56%) of US digital shoppers are either uninterested in AI shopping or don’t know what it is, per a separate EMARKETER and Bizrate Insights survey, showing that it is far from mainstream.

Promising early results from retailers show that the technology can drive sales, increase baskets, and deepen engagement. But with the majority of consumers—even dedicated AI users—steering clear of AI shopping features, the road to adoption could be longer than anticipated. That’s a key constraint to realizing greater retail gains from AI.