• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 19, 2025

Adobe Analytics has identified a 1,300% spike in traffic to retail sites driven by generative AI-powered chatbots.

The data is part of the company's latest report that explores how chatbots do not just drive traffic, but have begun to influence shopper behaviors.

It shows that web traffic to U.S. retail sites from generative AI (GAI) sources jumped 1,200% from July 2024 to February 2025.

The data is based on direct transactions online, showing the impact of GAI on the digital economy.

The retail insights are based on analysis of more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites. A survey of more than 5,000 U.S. respondents provided context on how consumers think about AI in their daily lives.

Some 39% of shoppers have used GAI for online shopping, with 53% planning to do so this year. Fifty-five percent of consumers say they use GAI to research possible purchases, while 47% use it for product recommendations, 43% seek deals, 35% get present ideas, 35% find unique products, and 33% create shopping lists.

Although GAI’s share of visits remains modest compared to non-AI traffic sources like paid search or influencers, growth doubled every two months since September 2024, per Adobe.

The data also shows that consumers who arrive on a retail site from a GAI source are more engaged. Visits are 41% and browsing times per individual have grown by 12% for more pages. 

Consumers, however, using GAI are much less likely to make a purchase — only 9% — but that has improved since July 2024, when the gap was at 43%. Purchase propensity is higher in categories including electronics and jewelry. 

Traffic from GAI sources predominantly comes through desktop devices, 86% compared to mobile, with consumers seemingly finding it easier to have a back-and-forth conversation on a laptop or desktop computer.

Overall ecommerce activity suggests desktop share-of-visits came in at just 34% during the same time period.

Ecommerce categories tracked by Adobe see conversion rates from GAI traffic highest in electronics and jewelry, and lowest in the apparel, home goods and grocery category. This indicates that for products such as televisions, consumers are leaning on AI to narrow options based on individual preferences.

The survey found that baby boomers remain the least frequent AI users, but are seen as having the strongest growth in adoption and perceived quality.