AI ShoppingAI Shopping Hit Mainstream in Q1 2026. Most Brands Aren't Ready.
TL;DR
In Q1 2026, five independent consumer polls and Adobe's commerce analytics landed on the same story. Between 30% and 50% of US online adults used AI for shopping in some form, with an IBM-NRF global study of 18,000 consumers reporting 45%. AI-referred traffic to US retailers grew 393% year over year. AI visitors now convert 42% better than humans. The question stopped being "will consumers use AI to shop?" It is now "which brands are visible when they do?"
What five independent
